Water trial in Environment Court

Pumps on the Darling River Photo: TWH

The trial of cotton farmers accused of illegal pumping from the Barwon River has begun in the NSW Land and Environment Court.

Michael Elliott SC told the court the defendants, Peter and Jane Harris, will challenge every aspect of the water laws they are accused of breaching; including the accuracy of the government’s water gauges and administrative procedures followed.

The Harris’s are charged with breaching a licence condition attached to their water licences at “Beemery”, a large grazing and irrigation property on the banks of the Barwon River between Bourke and Brewarrina.

Read more in the printed edition of the Western Herald.