Water Management Act 2000

A corporation must for each year commencing on 1 July fix the rates and charges payable in respect of each landholding that is a landholding owned or occupied by its members for which the corporation may exercise functions, or for which it provides water or drainage services in that year.

In determining the amount of rates and charges payable, the corporation must fix an amount that it considers is sufficient to meet the estimated costs of the following—

the corporation’s likely costs in providing irrigation, water supply and drainage services for that year,

the liabilities of the corporation,

the corporation’s likely costs relating to corporation works, including (but not limited to) maintenance, improvement and replacement of works and new works,

provision for a sinking fund (if necessary),

any other matters prescribed by the regulations.

The rates and charges payable may (but are not required to) be fixed on the basis of any one or more of the following—

the volume or quality of water supplied or proposed to be supplied to a landholding,

the area of a landholding,

whether or not water or drainage services are or are proposed to be provided to a landholding,

the purpose for which water services are supplied or proposed to be supplied to a landholding.

If rates and charges are payable on the basis of the area of a landholding, a landholding that has an area equal to a number of hectares and a remaining fraction of a hectare is to be rounded up to the nearest hectare.

A corporation may also fix the following charges—

termination charges payable by a member or former member in connection with the corporation ceasing to supply water to the member or former member (whether because of the transformation of the member’s water entitlement to an access licence or otherwise),

charges payable for the delivery of water to a member or former member after transformation of the whole or part of the member’s water entitlement.

A corporation must give notice of its fees and charges for a year in the manner prescribed by the regulations and must specify in the notice the basis on which the rates and charges are calculated.

The rules of a corporation must provide for the procedures for setting rates and charges and the period within which rates and charges must be paid.