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Evarson Farmers’ Petition Introduced in State Parliament

SCAVELL (8 September)— Today, member of State Parliament Naomi Black submitted a petition created by farmers in the Evarson area protesting a government plan to reduce their water licences.

Water licences authorize their holders to use specific, large amounts of groundwater. —[1]—. The government’s reduction plan would slowly shrink the amount of water that licence-holders in the agricultural industry are entitled to by 10% over the next five years. It was developed by the Evarson Water and Agriculture Taskforce (EWAT) as a way to combat the regions increasing dryness.

“Everyone has to adjust,” said Alvin Brooks, EWAT’s chair. “The state government has already cut its own water use through actions like replacing grass in public parks with stone gravel. The licence plan will encourage farmers to use water more efficiently.”

However, the farmers complain that reductions will unfairly devalue their land and damage the local economy. —I[2]—. Courtney Grant, head of the Evarson Farmers Association (EFA) and one of the creators of the petition, said, “We already use water efficiently. All that the reductions will do is lower our output.” EWAT representatives and EFA members discussed the plan at a public meeting soon after its announcement last month, but were unable to find a mutually acceptable compromise. —[3]—. The association then wrote and circulated the ‘“Petition for Responsible Water Resources Management”. The petition proposes that the state government invest in finding or developing additional water sources instead. —[4]—. Now that it has been officially introduced into State Parliament, it will be referred to the appropriate parliamentary committee for review.