Murray River irrigator fined $131k for pumping water from river while account was in deficit

A country solicitor has been fined more than $130,000 for repeatedly pumping water from the Murray River onto his irrigation property when he was not authorised to do so.

The offences took place on eight occasions between April 2016 and September 2018, when Brian Vance O’Haire took 1,378 megalitres of water while his general security water account was in deficit.

The NSW Land and Environment Court heard O’Haire had been warned multiple times between 2014 and 2016, when his account had gone into deficit and WaterNSW officers told him to buy more water before continuing to pump on his property, Tapaulin Farm, near Euston.

O’Haire was given two penalty infringement notices for taking water while his account was negative in 2015,…