Broader responsibility over water security, allocation, and quality management should continue to recognise the primary role of States and Territories. National Standards must complement and not duplicate or displace existing jurisdictional water management arrangements.
The principles outlined in the draft National Water Agreement are important benchmarks. Data centres must be subject to the same existing water regulatory frameworks as other commercial water users including requirements for water access entitlements and compliance with applicable allocation and access rules. They also should not receive special or preferential treatment that would undermine the integrity of existing water entitlement frameworks or the rights of existing users as per the current principles of water management.
Consistent with this, we oppose the creation of any new water entitlement type for data centres including arrangements that provide preferential access to water or otherwise undermine the reliability of allocations for existing entitlement holders and integrity of established property rights.
View NFF’s full submission here.