THE District Council of Loxton Waikerie has moved to carryover up to 20 per cent of its water entitlements to the 2020-21 irrigation year following a record low allocation projection.
In April, the Department of Environment and Water (DEW) projected the 2020-21 water year’s minimum allocation at just two per cent – the lowest figure former Murray Darling Association Lock 5 chairman Peter Hunter could recall.
Under the revised River Murray plan, up to 20 per cent of unused water can be carried over into the next irrigation year if the minimum opening allocation is projected at 50 per cent or less.
District Council of Loxton Waikerie CEO David Beaton said the council had decided to carryover its class three water entitlements into the next year to ensure there was a buffer if allocations were less desirable down the track.
“We run on about 70 per cent of our allocation normally,” he said.
“So we’ve only got to get to another 50 per cent for us to be in a position to maintain our parks, gardens and irrigation for the whole year.”
However, with recent above average rainfall and the DEW’s updated projection of eight per cent minimum allocation, Mr Beaton said there was a lot more positivity around what the 2020-21 water year would look like.
“The Bureau of Meteorology have given a forecast that there’ll be good rains in the southern part of Australia, especially the Murray River,” he said.
“So that looks promising for us, (but) we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with the weather.”