NO CEASE TO PUMP
The proposed ‘cease to pump’ rule, where authorities
determine our allocations based on salt measurements
- will kill agriculture in the Lower Hunter.
There are 204 licences to extract water for irrigation
across 3 water sources: the Paterson tidal pool, 1km
below Gostwyck to Hinton Bridge; the Hunter tidal
pool – Rosebrook to Duckenfield; and Wallis Creek.
By nature, and experience, these irrigators are self-
regulated. The health of their animals and crops
depend on the quality of the water.
The affected farms provide food - vegetables, meat,
horticulture, hay, they service the slow food
movement and markets in the local area. They are
dairies, beef, lucerne and turf farms and include the
historic Tocal Agricultural College.
It seems extraordinary that stopping these farmers
from extracting 23,000ML out of a total extraction of
622,000ML in the Hunter Catchment will ‘save’ the
health of the Hunter River estuary.
We need to protect our valley - surely COVID taught
us to protect our local food sources and the green
curtilage of Maitland.

Our operations are threatened by the
proposed 'cease to pump' rule in the Review
of our Water Sharing Plan.
We wish to continue to self regulate, as many
of our farmers have for generations.
Our unregulated system is governed by the Water
Sharing Plan for the Hunter Unregulated & Alluvial
Water Sources 2009 – 2019. Our section of the
Water Sharing Plan is known as the tidal pool.
Regulated irrigators in the Hunter have access to
water released from dams as per their order and
their licenced amount of water.
Unregulated irrigators access the flows at their
pump sites, according to their licenced extraction
limit and the quality of water. The businesses that
have been created are based on this access.