NSW Government cuts flood plain harvesting in the Gwydir Valley, but will it save downstream communities?

Irrigators in northern New South Wales will feel some pain as the State Government moves to cut the amount of flood plain water they harvest, the Water Minister has warned.

A report on flood plain harvesting in the Gwydir Valley, a big cotton growing area, has shown the water take is 11 per cent above the cap allowed under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The NSW Government will clawback 52 gigalitres from July 1 when it issues licences for flood plain harvesting for the first time.

That will limit the take from the flood plains in the Gwydir…