{"id":"irrigation-regulations-2024","name":"Irrigation Regulations 2024","slug":"irrigation-regulations-2024","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":235660,"registerId":"sa-irrigation-regulations-2024-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Irrigation Regulations 2024","content":"South Australia\nIrrigation Regulations 2024\nunder the Irrigation Act 2009\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tCommencement\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tEstablishment of trust\n5\tNotice of discontinuance or reduction of supply\n6\tOrder of irrigation of properties\n7\tDamage to meter\n8\tOwnership of meter\n9\tTesting meters\n10\tAssessment of quantity of water supplied\n11\tProtection of channels and other works\n12\tInterest on charges\n13\tRecovery rights\n14\tService of notices\nSchedule 1—Fees\nSchedule 2—Repeal of Irrigation Regulations 2009\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Irrigation Regulations 2024.\n2—Commencement\nThese regulations come into operation on the day on which they are made.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the Irrigation Act 2009.\n4—Establishment of trust\nFor the purposes of section 5(4)(a)(ii) of the Act—\n\t(a)\tthe prescribed manner and form for verifying a consent to vest property in the trust is by notice in writing, addressed to the Minister and signed by the person consenting; and\n\t(b)\ta prescribed interest would be any of the following:\n\t(i)\tan interest as owner of the property;\n\t(ii)\tan interest by virtue of a mortgage or other form of charge.\n5—Notice of discontinuance or reduction of supply\n\t(1)\tSubject to this regulation, an irrigation trust must give the owner or occupier of any serviced property reasonable notice of its intention to restrict or suspend the supply or delivery of water to the property.\n\t(2)\tIn an emergency notice need not be given if it is not reasonably practicable to do so.\n\t(3)\tThis regulation is subject to the terms and conditions on which an irrigation trust supplies water.\n6—Order of irrigation of properties\nServiced properties will be supplied with water in the order determined by the irrigation trust.\n7—Damage to meter\n\t(1)\tIf the owner or occupier of a serviced property knows or suspects that—\n\t(a)\ta meter installed to measure the quantity of water supplied by the irrigation trust to the property has been damaged or is not measuring the quantity of water supplied accurately; or\n\t(b)\tany part of the irrigation system provided by the trust has been damaged or is not functioning properly,\nthey must report the matter to the trust.\nMaximum penalty: $2 500.\n\t(2)\tIf the owner or occupier of a serviced property damages, removes, repairs or in any way interferes with a meter installed to measure the quantity of water supplied by the trust to the serviced property (without the authority of the trust), in addition to any other penalty provided under the Act, the trust may—\n\t(a)\tcut off the supply of water; and\n\t(b)\trefuse to restore the supply,\nuntil another meter has been installed or the existing meter repaired and the cost of replacing or repairing the meter and cutting off and restoring supply has been paid to the trust.\n8—Ownership of meter\nThe ownership of a meter installed to measure the quantity of water supplied by an irrigation trust to a serviced property is vested in the trust whether it is supplied by the trust or the owner of the serviced property or by any other person.\n9—Testing meters\n\t(1)\tIf a person liable to pay a charge for water supplied by an irrigation trust is dissatisfied with the accuracy of the meter that measured the quantity of water supplied, the person may, on payment of the fee specified by the trust, request the trust to test the meter.\n\t(2)\tAn irrigation trust may dispense with the requirement to pay the fee referred to in subregulation (1).\n\t(3)\tIf, on examining or testing a meter (whether at the request of a person under subregulation (1) or not), the trust finds—\n\t(a)\tthat the quantity of water as measured by the meter was not more than 5% more or less than the quantity of water actually supplied, the quantity of water measured by the meter will be the quantity in respect of which the charge is payable; or\n\t(b)\tthat the quantity of water as measured by the meter was inaccurate by more than 5% and the trust is able to determine the degree of inaccuracy, the trust may serve a further notice under section 50 of the Act (but only in respect of any charges that remain outstanding) based on the quantity of water supplied appropriately adjusted; or\n\t(c)\tthat the quantity of water as measured by the meter was inaccurate by more than 5% but the trust is unable to determine the degree of inaccuracy, the trust may serve a further notice under section 50 of the Act (but only in respect of charges that remain outstanding) based on the trust's assessment of the quantity of water supplied.\n\t(4)\tIf the trust finds that the quantity of water as measured by the meter was inaccurate by more than 5%, the trust must refund the fee referred to in subregulation (1).\n10—Assessment of quantity of water supplied\n\t(1)\tAn irrigation trust may make an assessment of the quantity of water supplied by it to a serviced property in the following circumstances:\n\t(a)\ta meter has not been installed to measure the quantity of water supplied;\n\t(b)\tthe meter that has been installed has not been approved for that purpose by the trust;\n\t(c)\tthe meter has been removed or a pipe by‑passing the meter has been installed;\n\t(d)\tin the circumstances referred to in regulation 9(3)(c).\n\t(2)\tAn assessment under subregulation (1) by an irrigation trust of the quantity of water supplied to a serviced property will, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be taken to be the quantity of water supplied unless it is proved that the assessment was not made in good faith.\n11—Protection of channels and other works\n\t(1)\tA person must not permit cattle, sheep, horses or other stock to be in a channel or on an embankment or other works forming part of the irrigation system provided by the trust without the written approval of the trust.\nMaximum penalty: $2 500.\n\t(2)\tA person must not deposit any rubbish or other waste material in a channel or on an embankment or other works forming part of the irrigation system provided by the trust.\nMaximum penalty: $2 500.\n12—Interest on charges\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of section 46(2) of the Act, the prescribed rate is—\n\t(a)\t5% of the charges that are unpaid after the first month; and\n\t(b)\t1% of the charges that are unpaid at the expiration of each subsequent month.\n\t(2)\tFor the purposes of section 46(3) of the Act, the prescribed period is 1 month after the date on which the charges became payable.\n13—Recovery rights\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of section 51(1) of the Act, any charge or accrued interest will correspond to a mortgage in favour of the irrigation trust over the relevant land that ranks ahead of any mortgage, encumbrance or charge.\n\t(2)\tFor the purposes of subregulation (1), the relevant land is the land in respect of which water is supplied or delivered, or is drained.\n14—Service of notices\nIf a notice is to be served on the land to which the notice relates under section 68(1)(d) or (2) of the Act, the person acting under that section must—\n\t(a)\tseal the notice in a clear wrapper that is reasonably waterproof; and\n\t(b)\tfix the notice, as wrapped, to a conspicuous part of the land (including by fixing it to a post and then by fixing the post into the ground in a conspicuous place on the land).\nSchedule 1—Fees\n\nApplication fees\nApplication for establishment of irrigation trust\n$500\nApplication for amalgamation as a single irrigation trust\n$500\nApplication for dissolution of trust\n$500\nSchedule 2—Repeal of Irrigation Regulations 2009\nThe Irrigation Regulations 2009 are repealed.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal regulations\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2024\n75\nGazette 1.8.2024 p2280 \n1.8.2024: r 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The regulations expressly repeal the Irrigation Regulations 2009 (Sch 2) and replace them with a detailed operational regime covering trust establishment (r4), meter ownership and testing (rr7–10), interest and recovery (rr12–13), notice procedures (rr5,14) and a fees schedule (Sch 1). Mechanically, they shift regulatory detail into the new instrument—affecting billing, enforcement and security‑of‑payment mechanisms—while not altering the Act's stated objects in the text provided."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to the Irrigation Act 2009 (eg. s5(4)(a)(ii), s46, s50, s51, s68) require reading primary legislation to understand effect.","Discretion left to irrigation trusts on operational matters: order of supply (r6), testing‑fee waiver (r9(2)), and meter approval (r10(1)(b)).","Clear rules on meter ownership and interference: trust ownership vested (r8) and power to cut or refuse supply where meters are tampered with (r7(2)).","Technical accuracy rule and remedies: 5% accuracy threshold for meters and consequential adjustment or assessment powers (r9(3), r10).","Enforcement and property consequences: unpaid charges accrue interest under a formula (r12) and are treated as a mortgage that ranks ahead of other encumbrances (r13(1)).","Procedural requirements for notices and physical service on land (r5, r14) create specific compliance steps.","Penalties for failure to report damage or for fouling channels (r7(1), r11) introduce criminal/penal exposure (max $2,500).","Immediate commencement (r2) and repeal of the 2009 regulations (Sch 2) change existing regulatory baseline."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out how irrigation trusts and owners/occupiers of serviced properties manage water supply, meters, charges and enforcement. They prescribe how trusts are formed, notice and emergency supply rules, meter ownership and testing (including a 5% accuracy threshold), interest and recovery of unpaid charges (as a priority mortgage), penalties and a small schedule of application fees, and repeal the 2009 regulations. This matters because it determines who decides supply and billing, who pays for meter faults and penalties, and how unpaid charges can encumber land."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not accessible. The submission contained only a broken webpage response, not the content of the Irrigation Regulations 2024."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the source URL returned a 404 Page Not Found error","The submitted text contains only website navigation elements, error messages, and acknowledgement boilerplate, not actual legislative text","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the actual instrument"],"plain_english_summary":"The Irrigation Regulations 2024 text could not be retrieved, so a full analysis isn’t available. Broadly, these regulations would affect farmers, irrigators, water‑licence holders and land managers in South Australia by setting rules on water use, licensing, irrigation infrastructure and obligations to manage risks like waterlogging and salinity — matters that directly influence legal water access and on‑farm operations."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations maintain the traditional scope of irrigation regulation in South Australia. They cover trust establishment, water supply management, metering, infrastructure protection, and debt recovery — all core functions consistent with the parent Irrigation Act 2009. The 2024 version appears to be a straightforward re-enactment/update of the 2009 regulations (which are repealed by Schedule 2) without significant expansion into new regulatory areas."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused instrument with only 14 operative regulations plus schedules","Minimal defined terms (only 'Act' defined in interpretation section)","Straightforward conditional logic (simple 'if-then' structures in regulations 5, 7, 9, 10)","Limited cross-referencing (references to specific sections of the parent Irrigation Act 2009, but no complex interdependencies)","Clear penalty structure with fixed monetary amounts rather than calculated or tiered penalties","No nested exceptions beyond the single emergency exception in regulation 5(2)","Schedules limited to fee table and repeal provision without substantive content"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the rules for how irrigation trusts operate in South Australia. An **irrigation trust** is a body that manages water supply to farms and rural properties through channels, pipes, and meters.\n\n**What the regulations do:**\n\n*   **Set up trusts**: They explain how property owners can formally agree to transfer their land into a trust's management, including what interests (like ownership or mortgages) need to be declared.\n\n*   **Manage water supply**: Trusts must give reasonable warning before cutting off or reducing water, except in emergencies. They decide the order in which properties receive water.\n\n*   **Protect meters**: The trust owns all water meters, even if the property owner bought them. If you damage or tamper with a meter, you face a **$2,500 fine**, plus the trust can cut off your water until you pay for repairs.\n\n*   **Meter testing**: If you think your meter is inaccurate, you can pay for a test. If the meter is off by more than 5%, you get your money back. The trust can adjust your bill if the meter was wrong.\n\n*   **Estimate water use**: If there's no meter, an unapproved meter, or someone bypasses the meter, the trust can estimate your water use. This estimate stands unless you can prove it was made in bad faith.\n\n*   **Protect infrastructure**: You can't let livestock into channels or dump rubbish on irrigation works — both carry **$2,500 fines**.\n\n*   **Late payment penalties**: Unpaid water bills attract 5% interest after the first month, then 1% each additional month.\n\n*   **Debt recovery**: Unpaid charges act like a **mortgage** (a legal claim over land) that takes priority over other debts.\n\n*   **Serving notices**: Official notices can be sealed in waterproof wrapping and posted on the land itself.\n\n*   **Fees**: It costs **$500** to apply to create, merge, or dissolve a trust.\n\nThese regulations replace the 2009 version and ensure rural water supply is managed fairly while protecting the infrastructure that delivers it."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/irrigation-regulations-2024","history":"/api/acts/irrigation-regulations-2024/history","analysis":"/api/acts/irrigation-regulations-2024/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/irrigation-regulations-2024/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/irrigation-regulations-2024/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/irrigation-regulations-2024/documents"}}