New South Wales Consolidated Acts

SOIL CONSERVATION ACT 1938 - SECT 20

20 Catchment area

(1) Where the Minister is of the opinion that the stability of:

(a) a river, lake, dam, port, harbour, bay, lagoon, creek, swamp or marsh, or catchment thereof, or

(b) a number of those watercourses, bodies of water or catchments,

is adversely affected or liable to be adversely affected by soil erosion, siltation or land degradation, the Minister may notify in the Gazette an area of land as the catchment area of the watercourse or body of water, or of the watercourses or bodies of water, as the case may require.

(2) The Minister may modify or revoke any notification under this section by a further notification published in the Gazette.

(3) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), an area of land may be described by reference to a map or maps kept by the Service.

(4) An area of land:

(a) notified as a catchment area under subsection (1) of this section, or

(b) constituted as a catchment area under section 21,

as in force before the commencement of the Soil Conservation (Amendment) Act 1985 , shall, as from that commencement, be deemed to be an area of land notified as a catchment area under subsection (1).

(5) The amendment, by the Soil Conservation (Amendment) Act 1985 , of the provisions of this Act relating to the constitution or notification of catchment areas does not affect any scheme of operations or project in existence under section 10 or any protected land defined under Division 2 before the commencement of that Act.

(6) If, on the revocation or modification of a notification of a catchment area, an area of land within that catchment area becomes part of another catchment area or remains part of the catchment area as modified:

(a) any scheme of operations or project in existence under section 10, and

(b) any protected land defined under Division 2,

in respect of the area of land immediately before the revocation or modification shall (unless the Minister otherwise orders in the notification of the revocation or modification) be deemed to remain in existence or remain defined, as the case may be, in respect of that area of land as if the notification of the catchment area had not been revoked or modified.