2 Oct 2018
The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has welcomed the transfer of the SunWater Theodore distribution scheme to Theodore Water Pty Ltd after local management attracted overwhelming support amongst local irrigators.
Theodore irrigators accepted an offer for the channel assets to be transferred from SunWater in June 2018, with Theodore Water Pty Ltd taking over ownership and management of the scheme this week to become the second of Queensland’s irrigation schemes to transition to local management.
QFF President Stuart Armitage welcomed the transition as the final step towards empowering the Theodore community to manage and grow irrigated agriculture in the region.
“The Local Management Arrangement (LMA) has benefits for both irrigators and the local community by giving them a greater say in scheme operations and the distribution price of irrigation water while improving transparency and accountability,” Mr Armitage said.
“Local irrigators now have direct responsibility and control of key water infrastructure comprising of 46 kilometres of pipelines and channels, and distribution to 44 customers irrigating 3,000 hectares of land.”
“Congratulations to Theodore Water Pty Ltd, Chairman Malcolm Finlayson and the board for successfully managing the transition of operations and control from SunWater to local management.”
“QFF also commends the Queensland Government for understanding the importance of moving forward with locally managed irrigation schemes and looks forward to the successful transition of the Emerald and Eton schemes next year, should irrigators in those regions choose LMA.”
The post Theodore successfully transitions to local water management appeared first on Queensland Farmers' Federation.