The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) has responded to Roy Butler's referral to ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption).

Mr Butler, the Member for Barwon, where Toorale National Park is located, earlier released a statement saying he wanted the use of water at the conservation area investigated.

The CEWH has replied to our request for a statement on the issue, and said while investigations are underway, they are unable to comment in detail.

"The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) is aware that the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) is reviewing the use and operations of infrastructure at Toorale," a spokesperson told Back Country Bulletin.

"The CEWH is assisting NRAR and is not able to comment further on active enquiries.

"The CEWH is externally regulated the same as other water users (eg. debiting of water from our accounts, and compliance) and we welcome scrutiny to provide public confidence in our operations. The CEWH does not own or manage infrastructure such as weirs and dams and is not a system operator.

 "The CEWH is aware of recent media coverage regarding referral of this matter to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The CEWH has not been formally advised of this development and is not able to comment further at this stage."

The CEWH also said it has several resources available online, regarding its operations at Toorale.

"The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has published information on its Toorale operations at: Toorale and the Western Floodplain - DCCEEW

"The accounting arrangements in place for CEWH water on the Western Floodplain are set out in the Toorale water management infrastructure operating and maintenance plan.

"NSW operates the infrastructure and measures the amount of water used using the approved methods in the plan.

"They then report the volume of water used to WaterNSW for charging and debiting from the licence."