What it does
This Act vests ownership and operational control of the waters in the Googong Dam Area in Australia and confers on the Australian Capital Territory Executive (the Executive) the functions and powers necessary to plan, construct, operate and protect dams, pipelines and associated works for the collection, storage, treatment and supply of water from that area (s 4(1)‑(2), s 11(1)‑(2)). It creates a statutory regime for entry on, occupation of and use of land in and around the Googong Dam Area for those purposes (ss 5, 8, 9, 10). The Act makes the Executive responsible, on behalf of the Commonwealth, for managing the Googong Dam Area in a way that is to be consistent with the objects of the Water Resources Act 2007 (ACT) (s 4(1)). It also sets out environmental duties the Executive must observe (s 6), and contains procedures for compensation where owners or occupiers suffer loss or damage by reason of the exercise of the Act’s powers (s 13).
The Act prescribes enforcement mechanisms, including criminal offences for damaging works and for taking, wasting or diverting water (ss 14‑16), offences relating to the removal or defacement of signs (ss 21, 22), and summary penalties for contravening entry and conduct restrictions in the Googong Dam Area (ss 17‑19). Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code applies to the offences in the Act (s 3A). The regime permits authorised persons to enter land for surveying and testing where consent is given or a warrant is obtained (s 8), and permits occupation of land for construction and other works on consent or under warrant (s 9). Where entry or occupation is effected by warrant, a Justice of the Peace may issue the warrant upon satisfaction of oath or affirmation that consent was refused or impracticable to obtain and the entry or act is reasonably necessary for the Act’s purposes (s 10).
The Act preserves, to the extent practicable, the operation of State laws of New South Wales in the Googong Dam Area but also provides mechanisms to modify that effect: it seeks concurrent operation where possible (s 27(1)), alters the application of the Commonwealth Places (Application of Laws) Act 1970‑1973 in specified respects for the Googong Dam Area (s 27(2)), and allows regulations under this Act to exclude the application of State provisions in relation to the Area (s 27(3)). The Act authorises the Executive to declare areas of the Googong Dam Area open to the public and to place regulatory signs; it also makes non‑authorised entry to other parts an offence (ss 17‑18). It provides that compensation claims for loss or damage are to be determined by reference to Part VIII of the Lands Acquisition Act 1989 as if works under this Act had been done under the earlier Part III regime (s 13(6)).