The Supreme Court held that the 'Goulburn water system' declared by the 2007 Order, in referring to the 'Pyramid-Boort irrigation areas of the Goulburn-Murray irrigation district', does not encompass all waterways within that geographical area but only those parts of the water system within the area that enable the Authority to discharge its delivery obligations to serviced properties under Part 11 of the Water Act. Lake Meran, though geographically within the Pyramid-Boort irrigation area, was not part of the declared water system because the Authority had no infrastructure to store, convey or deliver water from it to serviced properties. The Court confirmed that 'water system' and 'geographical area' are distinct concepts under the Water Act, and that the principle of harmonious construction applies to interrelated subordinate instruments forming part of the same regulatory package, with the Trading Rules' classification of Lake Meran as part of a non-declared system reinforcing this construction.
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