Moree irrigation company Henry Payson Pty Ltd fined in NSW Land and Environment Court for water breaches

Henry Payson Pty Ltd was convicted and fined in the NSW Land and Environment Court on Tuesday, for four separate offences against the Water Management Act, after admitting to the charges.

It was fined a total of $353,750 after the company was first taken to court by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) in 2021.

The Moree company committed the offences at the property Binneguy Station, off the Gwydir Highway at Biniguy, about 39km out of Moree.

The company admitted to knowingly taking water from a water source while metering equipment was not operating properly between September 3, 2016, and March 21, 2017; and between December 7, 2017, and February 20, 2018.

The company also pleaded guilty to constructing a dam between February 8 and March 9 in 2016, and then using the dam.

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The offences related to knowingly taking water from the Gwydir Regulated River water source when its metering equipment was under-recording the water being taken, and to constructing and using a dam to store water for the purposes of irrigating cotton crops without holding the required approval to do so. A section of the Gwydir River runs adjacent to Binneguy Station.

Justice Rachel Pepper said in her 44-page judgement there was a need for specific deterrence in the penalty.

"Payson took water while the meter was not operating properly and in doing so engaged in conduct that fundamentally undermined the ability of the regulator to manage a shared water resource for the benefit of the community and the environment," Justice Pepper said.

"Payson not only knowingly took water while the meter was not operating properly, but it did so knowing that the meter was under-recording to what, on any view, was a material extent."

NRAR inspected the property in October 2018 and found the sensor for the water meter was not compliant.

"As was the case with the 2016/2017 cotton season, the meter was not operating properly during the 2017/2018 cotton season as a result of the incorrect positioning of the Doppler sensor in the pipe, which under-recorded the volume of water taken," Justice Pepper found.

"Likewise, on each occasion that Payson pumped water from the water source, Payson, through [its director], knew that the meter was under-recording the volume of water being taken."

The company was fined $550,000 in total, but each sentence was given a 12.5 per cent discount for early guilty pleas.

The court also ordered the company to pay NRAR's costs, as well as more than $2000 for the investigation into its illegal activities.

"I consider that the commission of both meter offences to be towards the upper end of objective seriousness for offences of this kind," Justice Pepper said.

During the offending periods, Payson operated a farming business that involved, among other things, the irrigation of cotton crops at Binneguy Station.

The total capacity of the unlawful dam was approximately 610ML, and along with an approved dam on the property, was used to irrigate crops on Binneguy Station.

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