| A Werribee South man has pleaded guilty to interfering with a water meter and two counts of wrongfully taking water during a total ban.
Amando Perri appeared before the Werribee Magistrates Court on 23 March, charged with interfering with a water meter belonging to Southern Rural Water and with taking groundwater during a total ban.
The court was told that during two separate inspections, Southern Rural Water field officers observed that a groundwater bore meter on a property leased by Mr Perri showed that bore water had been used. At the time, Werribee South was on a total groundwater use ban.
Further inspection of the meter on another visit showed it had been tampered with so that water use was not recorded.
Mr Perri, who has two prior convictions for wrongful taking of water, pleaded guilty to the three charges. He was convicted and fined a total of $7500, and was also ordered to pay costs to Southern Rural Water of $5500.
“This is a timely reminder for farmers in the Werribee area that there has been a total ban on using groundwater in their area since 2006,” said Manager Groundwater and Rivers, Craig Parker. “The ban is in place because groundwater levels are so low, there is a risk of saltwater flowing back into the aquifer from the bay.
“We rely on bore owners to do the right thing so that we can protect the water supply for the future.”
Southern Rural Water encourages members of the public to report possible breaches of the Water Act for investigation.
For more information about water licences, please contact Southern Rural Water on 1300 139 510.
ENDS.
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