The hearing for the sentencing of Mr Barlow will be next February 2019. The total maximum penalty for each offence is $247,500. Mr Barlow's parents Margaret and Frederick Barlow were also both facing one charge each of failing to comply with the water embargo. These charges were withdrawn and both cases are now closed, a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court said. Loading David Harris, chief executive of WaterNSW, said Monday's outcome was the culmination of a long period of work that began in July 2016. “Today’s result sends a strong message to those water users who do not follow the rules – your actions will have serious consequences," Mr Harris said, adding the "vast majority of water users...conscientiously follow the rules”.

Government agencies had been criticised for the lengthy time taken to bring charges for alleged water theft after the Four Corners report. The Berejiklian government on Monday welcomed Mr Barlow's guilty plea. Niall Blair, Minister for Regional Water, said there was no place for water thieves in the state. “No one is above the law and anyone who thinks they can illegally take our most precious resource will be held to account," Mr Blair said, noting the government had set up the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) and will implement stronger metering regulations from next month. “We will continue to ensure that all water users, whether they’re small or large, at the top or bottom of the system - know that their right to this critical asset, is protected,” he said.

The Environmental Defenders Office NSW said it had worked for years to draw attention to non-compliance only for its concerns and those of its clients to be ignored by the government - until the media exposed it. Loading "In deciding the appropriate punishment, the Court will weigh up a range of factors [including] deterrence," the EDO said. "As noted by Chief Justice Preston in a previous matter relating to land clearing “courts have repeatedly stated that the sentence of the court needs to be of such magnitude as to change the economic calculus of persons in relation to compliance with environmental laws”. 'Rotten' management Labor's water spokesman, Chris Minns, said “water management went bad in this state when the National Party took over both the Commonwealth and State water portfolios [and had] been rotten ever since.”

“The National Party cannot be trusted with this most precious of resources, there is only one way to protect water in inland waterways and that is for the National Party to be stripped of the water portfolio at the Commonwealth and State level,” he said. Jeremy Buckingham, Greens water spokesman, also welcomed the guilty plea by a big irrigator but said legal over-extraction for cotton irrigation was leading to the demise of rivers and wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin. “It is good to see an actual prosecution take place for water theft, given that the NSW Ombudsman found that water compliance and enforcement was effectively stopped for many years under this government, he said. Industry response The New South Wales Irrigators’ Council said it "strongly condemns any action water theft".