Field introduced a motion on April 30 to disallow new regulations that would have enabled billions of dollars worth of licences to harvest flood waters across the state’s Northern Basin. Under the MDBA, NSW is required to take control of these unmonitored and unmanaged extractions and return over-allocations of water. Dramatic increases in floodplain harvesting in the Northern Basin are blamed for reductions in river flows, which have had a devastating impact on Southern Basin water users, wetlands and inland biodiversity. Water policy consultancy Slattery and Johnson estimated that on-farm storage has blown out to approximately 1500 gigalitres this year, from 400 gigalitres in 1994. They said the floodplain plans are devastating for the environment.