Water Act 1989

If the Minister has appointed an Authority under section 64GA, the Authority must, for each water season for each declared water system for which the Authority has been so appointed, determine, the water that is available in the water system for that season—

for each class of water shares issued in that system; and

for each bulk entitlement in the system in respect of which the water available to be taken, in any water season, under the entitlement is not able to be established from the terms of the entitlement; and

for each environmental entitlement in the system in respect of which the water available to be taken, in any water season, under the entitlement is not able to be established from the terms of the entitlement.

A determination under subsection (1) must be made before the commencement of the water season to which it relates.

An Authority that has made a determination under subsection (1) may, from time to time during the season, if the Authority is of the opinion that there is additional water available in the system, determine that additional water is available in the water system—

for each class of water shares issued in the system; and

for each bulk entitlement in the system; and

for each environmental entitlement in the system.

An Authority must not make a determination under this section until the Authority has assessed the amount of water available in the system to be taken and the amount reserved for the environment—

in any case where a bulk entitlement applies to the system, by applying the rules specified for the purposes of any such determination in any Order granting the bulk entitlement; or

in the case where a bulk entitlement does not apply to the system, by applying the rules specified for the purposes of any such determination in the management plan, approved under section 32A, applying to the system.

In making a determination under this section, the Authority may have regard to the state of the system in the part of the season to which the determination relates and the expected state of the system.

A determination under this section must apply—

to each water share in a class of water shares in the same proportion; and

to each bulk entitlement in the same proportion; and

to each environmental entitlement in the same proportion—

any rules specified for the purposes of any such determination in any Order granting any bulk entitlement in the system; or

any requirement, restriction or condition contained in a management plan under section 32A in relation to the allocation of water; or

any condition that applies to the allocation of water under this section determined by the Minister.

An Authority that has made a determination under this section must cause a notice of the determination to be published in a newspaper generally circulating in the area that is the subject of the determination or the area served by the water system that is the subject of the determination.

In the case of a determination under this section as to the amount of water available for water shares in a water system, the determination may be expressed as a percentage of the maximum volume of water that has been determined for each water share.