Water flows to parched NSW wetlands could be turned back on within weeks as drought fears loom

Water flows to parched New South Wales wetlands where an urgent rescue mission to save dying wildlife unfolded are a step closer to resuming after legislation passed the state parliament’s upper house. The water minister, Rose Jackson, told the parliament on Thursday night the impact of a halt to water flows in the internationally significant Gwydir region had been “devastating” as she introduced legislative amendments she said would allow flows to resume. It came after NSW experienced its second driest April on record. A former senior environmental bureaucrat called for an investigation into separate revelations of repeated delays of environmental watering in favour of farming by the NSW environment and water department. WaterNSW stopped flows to the Gwydir region in March after concerns were raised about flooding of private land. Scientists were filmed digging turtles out of mud in a rapidly drying waterhole in the Gingham watercourse, while a grazier described the deaths of birds, frogs and sheep on separate wetlands on his property. Jackson told the parliament the legal amendments were necessary to ensure the state water agency was not exposed to civil liability claims when it carried out its usual operations. She said the legal uncertainty was not confined to environmental flows and could also extend to water released for operational or consumptive purposes. …