WaterNSW denies bore water crackdown

WaterNSW has denied that it was planning a statewide crackdown on bore water use.

Spokesperson for the government agency, Mr Tony Webber, said allegations of a statewide crackdown on bore water use were false.

He was responding to reports in the Central Coast Express Advocate on November 4 that thousands of Woy Woy Peninsula residents were at risk of being slapped with non-compliance fines for not having the correct approvals to operate bore or spearpoint pumps.

Landowners have been entitled to extract water from their land for domestic use with no water access licence.

However, new water supply approvals ushered in by the NSW Government in 2012 required owners to have a water supply work approval and stipulated that all bores needed to be installed by licensed drillers.

The new requirements came with application costs of $369.04 for online applications or $403.23 for a hard copy application.

Peninsula residents responded saying it implied an impost on their lifestyle and water usage as residents over the largest residential bore field in NSW.

The article cited an "industry expert" as the source for the information that had one Woy Woy couple adamant they'd rather go to jail than pay to use water sourced from their own land.

Mr Webber said the allegations of a surveillance operation by WaterNSW on the Central Coast were entirely false.

He said that the journalist responsible for the article spoke with him over a number of days and did not once ask him about the supposed "crackdown" or "aerial surveillance".

"A recent Central Coast newspaper article contained reports of a WaterNSW 'crackdown' involving 'hi-tech aerial surveillance' which are completely unfounded.

"People wishing to install or operate a bore on their property must apply to WaterNSW for approval.

"While penalties apply in extreme cases, WaterNSW prefers to work with customers to ensure their water use complies with government regulations," he said.

"WaterNSW had 40 phone calls from Peninsula residents within hours of that article's publication but I want to make it clear that those allegations are unfounded and that WaterNSW does not know where this journalist received her information," the Spokesperson said.

Interview, 10 Nov 2016

Tony Webber, WaterNSW

Reporter: Dilon Luke