The national water ‘cop’ visited Shepparton recently but there weren’t any arrests.
The title has been applied to the Inspector-General of Water Compliance, Troy Grant, but doesn’t readily use the term.
The Inspector-General of Water Compliance aims to ensure water management and use within the Murray-Darling Basin is lawful, transparent and accountable, and authorities comply with the Water Act and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
Mr Grant was visiting Shepparton as part of a tour of the southern basin and talking to stakeholders, including farmers, irrigators, catchment management authorities, environmental groups and, in Shepparton, the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority and a Landcare organisation.
Mr Grant pointed out that while state bodies are responsible for enforcement at a water user level, the inspector-general works at a larger scale and is responsible for holding regulators to account.
He described his organisation’s role as being three-fold — firstly, integrity of organisations; secondly, a regulator; and thirdly, an oversight role to monitor performance.
Water commentators have been critical of NSW delaying the implementation of the Water Resource Plans that were supposed to have been completed by 2019.
Mr Grant acknowledged they were due years ago and said his office had been applying pressure to see the plans were completed.
He said they were 80 per cent completed and he was hopeful the rest would be completed soon.
“I called it out when I first started in 2022 and there was an improvement due to our intervention.
“I am keeping tabs on how that work is progressing, and over-sighting that work to ensure they comply.”
The hold-up lay in securing First Nations engagement due to a change of leadership requiring new consultations.
The four remaining plans are in the Gwydir and Namoi catchments.
Mr Grant said the ‘policing’ part of his job was probably the smallest.
“The reality is that the oversight and inquiry role is far more powerful.”
At the top of his list for transparency has been the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
“We have already done a body of work to prove that there was no transparency with the Commonwealth Government.
“We called that out and my inquiry with the northern basin is one further example of that.”
Mr Grant encouraged anyone with a concern to contact his office. If it was outside the authority’s role, they would gladly direct the inquiries to the appropriate place. The phone number is 134 492.