Irrigators keen to harvest water stuck in a legal no-man’s land as flood passes them by

Irrigators in north-west New South Wales may not be able to touch floodwaters passing their gate, due to confusion about their legal entitlement.

Earlier this year the NSW Parliament rolled back regulations that gave irrigators the right to harvest floodwater.

With no new regulations in place, and floodwater on the way after recent rain, irrigators are asking, “Can I take the water?”

Flash flooding after heavy rain has moved inland in NSW with falls of up to 200 millimetres recorded in the past 24 hours across the north-west of the state.

Some residents of the…