Water Pricing
Water Pricing
NSW farmers' water bills are set to soar by 100-341% by 2030.
These exorbitant price hikes currently before IPART will drive family farms out of business and Aussie food off the shelves.
Compare these exorbitant price hikes proposed by WaterNSW and DCCEEW-Water with the proposal to increase Sydney household water bills by about 50% by 2030.
Australian farmers are already struggling to compete against the rising tide of imported fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat and cereals, with cheap food imports surging by $7 billion in two years to almost $40 billion in 2023-24.
If the NSW Government wants NSW households to eat local and support our farmers, then it must intervene or risk exorbitant water bills proving the final straw. Many farmers are already under intense financial pressure with rising input costs in interest rates, fuel, insurance, machinery, wages and energy, and price impacts from environmental water recovery.
IPART (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal) will publish a draft determination for stakeholder feedback in March 2025. The final determination will be published in June 2025, with the pricing determination to take effect from 1 July 2025.
Learn more on the IPART website: Prices for WaterNSW regional and rural bulk water from 1 July 2025. Tell IPART why you can’t afford these price rises by getting in touch with IPART or emailing ipart@ipart.nsw.gov.au.
Tell your local Member of Parliament and ministers how water pricing will drive farmers out of business.
Irrigators cover most of the cost for managing NSW’s rural water resources, including water planning, infrastructure and operations. This includes activities that serve the broader community, or public interest.
For example, inland irrigators use only about 25% of total flows, but pay for:
- 100% of systems operation and water availability management;
- 80% of environmental water management;
- 80% of the development of water planning and regulatory frameworks;
- 95% of water delivery and other operations;
- 80% of water quality monitoring;
- 80% of flood operations;
- 80% of environmental planning and protection;
- 100% metering and compliance.
