979
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“Water use across the Basin is fully compliant with the Sustainable Diversion Limits set by the Basin Plan,” said Zara Lowien, CEO of the
National Irrigators’ Council (NIC).
“It’s very clear that over-extraction is no longer the issue for the Murray-Darling Basin.”
]]>
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2026-07-16 01:22:00
978
405
13 July 2026, Canberra ACT: Communities in the Murray-Darling Basin are calling on the Federal Government to stop, after
SunRice attributed major changes to Australian milling sites directly to slashed water for farming under the Basin Plan, putting hundreds of
jobs at risk.
“The industry has been warning the Federal Government of this exact risk for years, and now the worst-case scenario is unfolding,” said Zara
Lowien, CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council (NIC).
[continued]
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/sunrice-cuts-show-water-recovery-has-gone-beyond-tipping-point/
2026-07-13 02:34:11
977
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“The environmental outcomes from these projects cannot be achieved by ‘just adding more water’,” said CEO of the National Irrigators’
Council (NIC), Zara Lowien, “in fact, these projects are essential to actually use all the water the Government has already recovered from
farmers.Withdrawing these projects is a lose-lose situation for communities and the environment." [...]
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/basin-projects-withdrawn-is-a-lose-lose-for-communities-and-the-environment/
2026-07-02 09:38:00
975
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/sunrice-cuts-show-water-recovery-has-gone-beyond-tipping-point/
2026-06-24 01:59:27
973
405
A new NIC review has found the Government’s 450 GL additional environmental water program has moved well beyond its original budget and
purpose, with taxpayers facing a potential multi-billion-dollar bill despite growing evidence that further water purchases are delivering
diminishing environmental returns.
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/are-billions-at-risk-government-water-buybacks-fail-economic-test/
2026-06-17 23:13:10
955
405
23 April 2026, Sydney, NSW: The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) met in Sydney today to finalise a response to the
Murray-Darling Basin Plan Review, issuing a sneak peek.
“The balance has been struck when it comes to sharing water, with three-decades of reforms shrinking the share for farmers by one-third,”
said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien.
“The Government’s own science says there’s no need to further reduce water from farming, showing 92% of environmental indicators across the
Basin’s rivers would not change.”
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/now-is-the-time-for-stability-irrigators-submit-to-basin-plan-review/
2026-04-23 04:51:00
964
405
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url
https://www.buzzsprout.com/922864/episodes/19115061-farmer-ceo-zara-lowien-how-does-government-policy-making-and-decisions-affect-community-wellbeing
2026-04-06 01:02:00
934
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page
https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/review-finds-its-time-to-move-beyond-just-adding-water-to-the-basin/
2026-02-04 18:30:00
928
405
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page
https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/national-epbc-listing-in-mdb-just-words-not-action/
2026-01-15 03:10:04
927
405
The NIC Office will be closed from Monday, 22nd December 2025 until Monday 5th January 2026.]]>
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none
2025-12-19 05:25:02
924
405
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page
https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/analysis-finds-governments-additional-water-buyback-spree-is-flawed/
2025-12-11 18:20:00
922
405
“Water use has drastically declined since the Basin Plan,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien “with one in three litres of irrigation water, now out
of production and new Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs) set by the Basin Plan in force". [...]
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/basin-plan-blowout-continues-as-failed-projects-open-gap-in-southern-mdb/
2025-12-07 20:18:01
919
405
“All climate change scenarios will have significant risks on water security for Australian agriculture,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien “farmers
are adapting every day to changing climate, but can only adapt so far, water security is critical” [...]
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/water-security-for-farming-must-be-a-focus/
2025-11-26 22:21:03
917
405
“The report findings call into question the Government focus on just water, with a $1.3 billion blowout, and their own science saying
priorities have shifted” said NIC CEO Zara Lowien [...]]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/wesa-outcome-review-needed-as-13-billion-buyback-blowout-looms/
2025-11-26 02:35:52
916
405
“This was a missed opportunity for Minister Watt to put politics aside and send a strong message about refocusing the Basin Plan on
outcomes, not just numbers” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien. [...]
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/golden-opportunity-missed-at-basin-leaders-summit/
2025-11-12 21:35:46
906
405
National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan exposes the risks to Australia’s
agriculture sector from climate change, particularly water security for irrigation to grow food and fibre. “Climate change poses a very real
risk to irrigated agriculture,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien. [...]
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/national-climate-risk-assessment-exposes-water-security-threats-to-farming/
2025-09-15 05:36:57
905
405
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url
https://issuu.com/irrigationaustralia/docs/spring_journal_2025
2025-09-09 14:00:00
896
405
“The report confirms Sustainable Diversion Limits are being enforced and in fact, water diversions are well under these limits,” said
National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Zara Lowien.
“Getting water use below these Sustainable Diversion Limits was a huge feat, and it means 1 in 3 litres of irrigation water are now out of
production and remain in rivers.”
]]>
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page
https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/mdb-irrigation-water-use-remains-in-full-compliance-with-sdls/
2025-08-25 22:39:00
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405
shares the concerns of stakeholders regarding the halting of licenced environmental water
delivery in NSW but emphasises this is a dispute between the State Government and the Commonwealth Environmental Water holder, not
irrigators.]]>
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2025-08-19 14:00:00
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405
water for the environment is essential, but on its own is likely not sufficient”
[MDBA Overview]... The National Irrigators’ Council has described many parts of the Evaluation as refreshing and
a wakeup call needed to shape thinking in the Basin going forward and is calling for more quick thinking on how to determine and prioritise
a package of strategic environmental investments in these complementary (non-flow) measures to inform next steps on the Basin Plan, given
the Evaluation found this as a missing piece of the current Plan puzzle. [...]
]]>
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/mdba-declares-game-changing-positive-results-for-the-basin-but-sends-the-clear-message-its-time-to-shift-from-just-adding-water/
2025-07-23 14:00:00
886
405
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page
https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/basin-commuities-fear-being-overlooked-in-upcmoing-evaluation/
2025-07-22 14:00:00
869
405
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/irrigators-celebrate-australian-made-week-and-call-for-the-national-food-security-strategy-to-include-water-security-for-farming/
2025-05-22 21:50:36
862
405
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page
https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/new-government-new-leaders-new-opportunities/
2025-05-14 01:08:00
859
405
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page
https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/budget-failures-by-both-sides-must-be-addressed-by-the-48th-parliament/
2025-03-28 01:14:00
857
405
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https://www.irrigators.org.au/news/media-releases/irrigators-respond-albanese-governments-muddied-budget/
2025-03-26 03:36:24