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Snowy Hydro shows its contempt of government water licence agreements: IngramBy Craig Ingram - 2nd May 2005 - Back to News Independent Member for Gippsland East, Craig Ingram, has called on the Acting Premier John Thwaites in State Parliament to place on the record the government’s position on the future of environmental flows released from of the Mowamba Weir into the Snowy River.
Mr Ingram said that Snowy Hydro’s three shareholding governments should pull the generation company into line, after its latest attempt to politically sabotage the Snowy Water Licence agreements.
"There has been some ongoing debate about the future of the Snowy River’s increased flows released from the Mowamba and Cobbon aqueduct - most of it at the direction of Snowy Hydro, which has used misinformation and compensation threats in a brazen attempt to control the Snowy River’s environmental flows for electricity generation.
"Snowy Hydro is attempting to pressure the participating governments to redirect the historic first major environmental flow release in Australia back into Jindabyne Dam," Mr Ingram said.
"I have written to the Ministers responsible at both state and federal government levels, drawing their attention to the Snowy Water Licence issued on the 30th of May 2002. This document is quite clear on the future of the increased flows down the Mowamba River and Cobbon Creek.
"If Snowy Hydro is allowed to get its way by the three governments, this will clearly place them all in breach of the water licence agreement and set an appalling precedent in the national water reforms.
"Snowy Hydro has been conducting an underhanded propaganda campaign, incorrectly blaming the Mowamba and Snowy River environmental flows for all of its own management inefficiencies.
"The Snowy River has given more than its fair share in the name of hydro power and the Snowy community downstream of the Jindabyne Dam will not accept the environmental outcomes being compromised by Snowy Hydro’s greed.
"It’s time the three governments sent a clear message to Snowy Hydro - that its environmental vandalism and flouting of state and federal laws and agreements pre-corporatisation will not be tolerated in its new post-corporatisation operating environment," Mr Ingram concluded.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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