(ii) if the entitlement is the right of a trust to take and
use water, a reference to the trust.
(2) The Ministerial Corporation may, by
order published in the Gazette, declare that the flow or supply of water in
any river, lake or section of a river has been augmented, stabilised or
assured by a work of the Crown.
(2A) The Ministerial Corporation may, by
order published in the Gazette, declare that the sharing and use of water from
any river, lake or section of river is managed by the State.
(2B) The
Ministerial Corporation may, by order published in the Gazette, declare that
the storage or conservation of water in any specified dam or specified class
of dam is managed by the State.
(3) Where a work in respect of which an
entitlement is held:
(a) is used for the purpose of irrigation or water supply
for stock, for industrial use or for such other use as may be prescribed, and
(b) is connected with a river, lake or section of a river in respect of which
an order under subsection (2) or (2A) is in force,
the holder of the
entitlement shall, subject to and in accordance with this section, pay a
charge for the right to take and use water from the river, lake or section in
addition to the fee (if any) payable for the entitlement.
(3A) The holder of
an entitlement in respect of a dam to which an order under subsection (2B)
relates must, subject to and in accordance with this section, pay a charge for
the right to store or conserve water in the dam in addition to the fee (if
any) payable for the entitlement.
(4) The charge payable under subsection (3)
or (3A) shall:
(a) subject to subsection (4A), be fixed by the Ministerial
Corporation from time to time,
(a1) be paid:
(i) in respect of each complete
year during which the entitlement is in force, and
(ii) if the entitlement is
not in force for the whole of a year--in respect of the part of the year
during which it is in force,
after the date of the order referred to in
subsection (2), (2A) or (2B),
(b) be calculated at a rate which may vary
according to the nature of the entitlement but is not greater than the maximum
rate which shall be prescribed according to:
(i) the purpose or purposes for
which the water is to be taken and used,
(c) be paid at the prescribed times
and in the prescribed manner,
(d) to the extent of a minimum annual amount
fixed by the Ministerial Corporation in each case, be payable even if the
entitlement is suspended or the work to which it relates is not used, and
(e)
be on the basis of a fixed charge and either:
(i) the quantity of water taken
and used by means of the work during the relevant year, or part of a year,
referred to in paragraph (a1), or
(ii) the area of land irrigated with water
so taken and used,
even if the water is taken and used while the entitlement
is suspended.
Without limiting the above, the charge payable under subsection
(3) or (3A) may be a specified amount if means for measuring the quantity of
water taken and used are not available or if there is other good cause to do
so.
(4A) Where the Ministerial Corporation varies the amount it has fixed as
the charge payable under subsection (3) or (3A), the variation shall take
effect on such date as the Ministerial Corporation may determine.
(5) The
Ministerial Corporation shall, in every entitlement referred to in subsection
(3), specify which of the alternative charges shall be paid.
(6) The
Ministerial Corporation shall, when fixing the amount of a charge payable
under this section in connection with an order under subsection (2), have
regard to:
(b) the
augmentation, stabilisation or assurance of the water supply provided by that
work.
(6AA) The Ministerial Corporation must, when fixing the amount of a
charge payable under this section in connection with an order under subsection
(2A), have regard to the benefits received by the holder of the entitlement
(including, in relation to a group licence, each of the
group licence occupiers) as a result of the management by the State of the
sharing and use of water from the river, lake or section of river.
(6AB) The
Ministerial Corporation must, when fixing the charge payable under this
section in connection with an order under subsection (2B), have regard to the
benefits received by the holder of the entitlement (including, in relation to
a group licence, each of the group licence occupiers) as a result of the
management by the State of the storage or conservation of water in the dam.
(6A) Any amount due and unpaid under subsection (3) or (3A):
(a) bears
interest on a daily basis at the prescribed rate until paid, even if judgment
for the amount has been given by a court,
(b) is, together with any such
interest, recoverable as a debt due and payable to the Ministerial Corporation
by the holder, or jointly and severally by the holders, of the relevant
entitlement, and
(c) is, together with any such interest, a charge on the
land supplied with water under the entitlement.
(6B) A payment made in
respect of a charge payable under subsection (3) or (3A) shall be applied
first in payment of any interest borne by the charge.
(7) If, in the opinion
of the Ministerial Corporation, a benefit is not received as a result of the
work of the Crown by the holder of the entitlement (including, in relation to
a group licence, any 1 or more of the group licence occupiers), a charge in
connection with an order under subsection (2) shall not be fixed under this
section in respect of the entitlement.
(8) Any order under subsection (2),
(2A) or (2B) may be amended, altered, modified, revoked or corrected by the
Ministerial Corporation by order published in the Gazette.
(9) If the holder
of an entitlement (not being the right of a trust to take and use water) fails
to pay the charge required under this section within the prescribed period,
the Ministerial Corporation may suspend the entitlement until the charge is
paid.
(10) The Ministerial Corporation may remit or waive the payment in any
year of any charge paid or payable under this section.
(11) In this section,
a reference to a year in relation to payment of a charge for the right to take
and use water from a river, lake or section of a river, is a reference to:
(b) if the Ministerial Corporation by order
published in the Gazette specifies a different year for the river, lake or
section of a river--the specified year.
(12) Where a change of the year
relating to payment of a charge affects an existing right to take and use
water, the order making the change may also make provision for the
transitional arrangements leading to the change.