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Maitland NSW 2320
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Skype Username: Kellie_Tranter
Maitland NSW 2320
TELEPHONE:
+61 2 4933 0564
FACSIMILE:
+61 2 4933 0585
EMAIL OUR OFFICE
Skype Username: Kellie_Tranter
Water Management Act 2000
Maitland Mercury, 10 November 2003
By Kellie Tranter
As the Water Management Act 2000 (WMA), amongst other things, provides for the separation of water rights from land ownership (i.e. it will no longer be necessary to own land in order to hold a WMA access licence), it is most important for a person(s) requiring water rights, to fully understand the effect of the provisions in the WMA, scheduled to commence on 1 January 2004.
Some of the key areas of the WMA which will require careful consideration include:
- section 83A which provides that an access licence may become the subject of a “security interest” (i.e. securing the payment of a debt or the performance of some other obligation under a contact or other legally enforceable arrangement);
- wills may need to be revised where it fails to make provisions for a water access licence;
- as indefeasibility of title does not apply (i.e. registered transactions and security interests have priority over non-registered), access licence and security holders must ensure that security interests are registered; and
- whether the principles espoused by section 5 of the WMA (for example, maximising social and economic benefits to the community) will be closely governed in order to prevent the creation of “water barons”.