South Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Act 1992

This

Act may be cited as the South

Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Act 1992.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

authorised officer means a person appointed by the Board or the Council as an authorised officer under this Act;

the

Board means the South Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Board (see

Part 2);

the

Board's area means that part of the South East that does not fall within the

Council's area;

the

Central Electoral Zone means that part of the South East defined as the Central Electoral

Zone in Schedule

3, as modified by regulation consequent upon any alteration of the area comprising the South East by regulation;

the

Council means the District Council of Millicent;

the

Council's area means the area of the Council under the Local

Government Act 1934, but excluding the land described in Schedule

2;

drain does not include a drain within a township;

drainage hole means an artificial or natural hole capable of allowing surface water to drain into the underground water system;

drainage reserve means any Crown lands that are dedicated, reserved or set aside for drainage purposes;

the

Eight Mile Creek area means the Hundreds of Caroline and MacDonnell;

eligible landholder, in relation to an electoral zone or the area served by an advisory committee, means a person who is a landholder of more than 10 hectares of land within that electoral zone or that area, as the case may require;

lake means a natural lake and includes a natural lagoon, swamp, marsh or spring;

landholder means—

an owner or occupier of land in the South East; and

in relation to eligibility for membership of the Board, includes a director of a company that is an owner or occupier of land in the

South East;

the

Northern Electoral Zone means that part of the South East defined as the Northern Electoral

Zone in Schedule

4, as modified by regulation consequent upon any alteration of the area comprising the South East by regulation;

owner of land means—

in relation to land alienated from the Crown by grant in fee simple—the holder of the fee simple;

in relation to land held under Crown lease or licence—the lessee or licensee;

in relation to land held under an agreement to purchase from the

Crown—the person entitled to the benefit of the agreement;

the relevant authority in relation to the South East means the Board or the Council, as the case may require;

the repealed Act means the South-Eastern

Drainage Act 1931;

River

Murray Protection Area means a River Murray Protection Area under the River

Murray Act 2003;

the

South East means that part of the State described in Schedule

1 including any land added to the South East by the regulations but excluding any land excluded from the South East by the regulations;

the

Southern Electoral Zone means that part of the South East defined as the Southern Electoral

Zone in Schedule

5, as modified by regulation consequent upon any alteration of the area comprising the South East by regulation;

surface water means water that collects on or flows onto or from the surface of land, and includes the water in any water management works, lake or watercourse;

the

Upper South East means that part of the South East that comprises the Northern

Electoral Zone;

watercourse means a river, creek or other natural watercourse;

water management works means—

any drain, artificial drainage hole, dam, bank or other device or works constructed or used for the purposes of conserving, draining or altering the flow of surface water from or onto land or utilising any such water, including any ancillary access road, bridge or culvert or other ancillary works; and

any works constructed for the purpose of lowering water table levels.

The

Minister may, by notice in the Gazette—

direct that any specified private water management works vest in the relevant authority for the area in which the works are situated; or

direct that any specified Board or Council water management works vest in some other specified person or authority.

The

Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, vary or revoke a notice under subsection (1).

The

Minister cannot issue a notice under this section except at the request of, or with the approval of, all persons and authorities (other than the Board) in whom the works the subject of the notice are vested or are to be vested.

Where the water management works are vested or are to be vested in the

Board, the Minister must consult with the Board before issuing a notice under subsection (1).

Subject to this Act, this Act is in addition to and does not derogate from the operation of any other Act and the Board and the Council must, in exercising powers under this Act, comply with the provisions of relevant Acts.

Subject to subsections (3) and (5), this

Act does not apply in relation to any area that is within the

Project Area under the Upper

South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act 2002.

The

Minister to whom the administration of the Upper

South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act 2002 is committed may—

enter into agreements or other arrangements with the Board or the Council to undertake, co-ordinate or advance activities, works or other initiatives that are relevant to the operation of that Act and this

Act; and

delegate any power or function of the Minister under that Act to the Board or to the Council.

A power or function delegated under subsection (3)(b) may, if the instrument of delegation so provides, be further delegated.

The

Governor may, by regulation, declare that a provision of this Act, with or without modification, will extend in its operation to an area or areas within the Project Area under the Upper

South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act 2002 (and any such regulation will have effect according to its terms).

The

Minister may delegate any of his or her powers under this Act (except for this Part and Part

2) to the Board.

A delegation under this section—

must be by instrument in writing; and

may be absolute or conditional; and

is revocable by the Minister at will; and

does not derogate from the power of the Minister to act in any matter.

The objects of this Act are—

the prevention or minimisation of damage to agricultural production and the natural environment caused by flooding within the South East;

and

the improvement of the soil quality and the productiveness generally of rural lands in the South East; and

the enhancement or development of natural wetlands and the natural environment generally in the South East.

The

Minister, the Board, the Council and all other bodies or persons involved in the administration of this Act must, in carrying out that administration, act consistently with and seek to further the objects of this Act.

The

Minister, the Board, the Council and all other bodies and persons involved in the administration of this Act must, if or when taking any action under this Act within, or in relation to, any part of the

Murray-Darling Basin within the meaning of the Murray-Darling

Basin Act 1993, act consistently with and seek to further—

the objects of the River

Murray Act 2003;

and

the

Objectives for a Healthy River Murray under that Act, (insofar as they may be relevant).

The

Board under the repealed Act continues in existence under the name

South

Eastern Water Conservation and Drainage Board.

The

Board—

is a body corporate with full juristic capacity to exercise any powers that are by their nature capable of being exercised by a body corporate; and

holds its property on behalf of the Crown.

Where an apparently genuine document purports to bear the common seal of the Board, it will be presumed in any legal proceedings, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that the common seal of the Board was duly affixed to that document.

The

Board will consist of eight members as follows:

four members will be persons appointed by the Governor on the nomination of the Minister, being persons who have, in the opinion of the

Minister, knowledge or experience appropriate to the administration of this Act and at least one of whom has knowledge or experience in the field of environmental management; and

one member will be a person appointed by the Governor on the nomination of the Local Government Association of South Australia; and

three members will be persons elected to office as follows:

one, being an eligible landholder in the Northern Electoral Zone, will be elected to office by the voters for that zone; and

one, being an eligible landholder in the Central Electoral Zone, will be elected to office by the voters for that zone; and

one, being an eligible landholder in the Southern Electoral Zone, will be elected to office by the voters for that zone.

Elections of Board members will be conducted by the Electoral Commissioner in accordance with rules prepared by the Commissioner and approved by the Minister.

Where it is proposed to hold an election under this section—

if there is only one candidate for election, the Electoral Commissioner may declare that candidate duly elected without a vote being taken;

if there are no candidates for election, the Governor may appoint an eligible landholder from the relevant electoral zone to the vacant office, and, in either case, the person will be taken to have been duly elected to the Board in accordance with this Act.

Where elections for more than one electoral zone are to be held at the same time, a person cannot be a candidate for more than one zone.

The voters roll for the purposes of an election to fill a vacancy on the

Board will be prepared by the Board with the assistance of the

Valuer-General.

The following persons are entitled to be enrolled on the voters roll for an electoral zone:

a natural person who is the sole owner or occupier of more than 10 hectares of land in the zone;

a body corporate that is the sole owner or occupier of more than 10 hectares of land in the zone;

a group of persons (consisting of natural persons, bodies corporate or partly natural persons and partly bodies corporate)—

who are joint owners, owners in common or joint occupiers of more than

10 hectares of land in the zone; and

at least one of whom is not enrolled on the roll for the zone under paragraph (a) or (b).

A body corporate or a group that is entitled to be enrolled on a voters roll in pursuance of subsection (2) may, by notice in writing (in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed declarations) lodged with the Board—

nominate a natural person to act as an elector on its behalf; or

cancel any such nomination previously made and make a fresh nomination in its place.

A person may not be nominated as the nominated agent of a body corporate or a group under subsection (3) unless that person—

in the case of a nomination made by a body corporate—is a director, manager or other employee of the body corporate;

in the case of a nomination by a group—is a member of the group or a director, manager or other employee of a body corporate that is a member of the group.

A nomination in force under this section must be recorded by the Board in the voters roll alongside the name of the body corporate or group by which the nomination was made.

A person whose name is recorded in the voters roll as a nominated agent will be regarded as having been enrolled as an elector.

The validity of a voters roll is not affected by a misdescription or any other error in the roll.

The following persons are entitled to vote at an election for an electoral zone:

a natural person whose name appears on the electoral roll as an elector for the zone; and

in the case of a group of natural persons that is on the electoral roll as an elector for the zone but in respect of which no nomination under subsection (3) is in force—the member of the group whose name is listed first on the electoral roll, (the electoral roll referred to in this subsection being the electoral roll as in force on the day on which nominations for the election open).

A person who is entitled to vote at an election as a member of a group pursuant to subsection (8)(b) will, for the purposes of subsections (9) and (10), be taken to be the nominated agent for that group.

Where an elector's name appears in the voters roll used for an election both as an elector in his or her own right and as a nominated agent, the elector is entitled to vote at the election both in his or her own right and as a nominated agent.

Where an elector's name appears in the voters roll used for an election as a nominated agent under a number of separate nominations, the elector is entitled to vote at the election in respect of each of those nominations.

The voters roll to be used for an election must be made available for inspection by members of the public at the Board's principal office.

A voters roll is conclusive evidence of the entitlement of any person whose name appears in the roll to vote at an election at which the roll is used.

A person whose name has been omitted in error from a voters roll used for an election is entitled to vote at the election as if the error had not occurred.

The

Governor will appoint one of the members of the Board to be the presiding member of the Board and one other member to be the deputy presiding member of the Board.

An appointment cannot be made under subsection (1) unless the Minister has first consulted with and considered any recommendations of the Board in the matter.

The

Governor may appoint a suitable person to be the deputy of any member of the Board (other than the presiding member).

A person appointed under subsection (3) as the deputy of a member may, in the absence of the member, act as a member of the Board.