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Author: CATHARINE MUNRO Source: Sydney Morning Herald
HUNTER wine-growers and thoroughbred breeders may still be banned from taking water from their river at the end of the month, despite the flooding of the region.
The Department of Environment is still expected to slash the amount of water that licence holders on the Hunter are permitted to take when they review entitlements on July 1.
A briefing by a department official, obtained by the Herald, says unless Glennies Creek Dam and Glenbawn Dam recover to a combined level of 37 per cent, licence holders will not be allowed to take water.
Most of the rain that devastated the lower Hunter in the past fortnight drained into the Goulburn River, leaving the dams at only about 30 per cent capacity.
