After details were published of a letter written by TasWater chairman Stephen Gumley to then Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett over the security of the potable water supply and the Rural Water Use Strategy, a TasWater spokesperson said they no longer held concerns, and the letter was 16 months old.

"The letter was written 16 months ago, prior to the formation of the Rural Water Use Strategy in 2021 during the consultation period. TasWater is working collaboratively with the Department of Natural Resources Tasmania," the spokesperson said.

"TasWater has a keen interest in, and is supportive of, the Rural Water Use Strategy. We are a key contributor of the Rural Water Roundtable, and provide input and advice to government on appropriate, sustainable water use including river health monitoring and management."

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One of the major concerns in the letter was the security of Tasmania's water supply as emerging and increasing demands such as power, hydrogen and irrigation continued to expand.

The expansion of irrigation schemes and other industrial uses have been linked to marked river health decline in internal and external scientific reports.

It has caused scientists and academics to sound the alarm over how much further the river system can be pushed, until ecosystem collapse on the scale of the Murray Darling will be seen in Tasmania.

However, what assurances the government made to address those concerns have not been made public.

"Any questions regarding specific actions by the government are best directed to them," the spokesperson said.

One of the issues raised in the letter was the security of drinking water supply as opposed to other industries.

An example of this is industrial customers at George Town, who are switched to a TasWater-owned raw water supply during the summer months to take demand off the local water network.

The TasWater spokesperson confirmed during winter the supply is easily met, but it is not as easy in summer, which is typically a time of lower rainfall due to climate change and weather cycles.

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"The George Town area summer water demands have been recently assessed and upgrade works for the St Leonards reservoirs and trunk mains around White Hills are planned to meet future growth requirements," the spokesperson said.

Primary Industries Minister Jo Palmer also did not share what surety was given to get TasWater's support for the strategy and address the concerns raised in the letter.

"The letter outlined issues that were subsequently addressed or identified as outside the regulatory powers of the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, now Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania," she said.

"Former Primary Industries and Water Minister, Guy Barnett, wrote to TasWater at the time the letter was received and met with Mr Gumley several times to satisfactorily address the issues raised."

Greens Leader Cassy O'Connor, whose party received the letter under a Right to Information Request said river health had been declining over many years.

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The Greens have used Parliament Question Time, and budget estimates to grill the government over such matters, however Ms O'Connor said she remained unconvinced the severity of the issue was getting through.

"The Rural Water Use Strategy is in effect a policy document to enable AgriVision 2050," Ms O'Connor said.

"There has been no attention paid to urban water use, and very little attention paid to river health as a whole, it's an industry-driven document, not an environmental one."

Ms O'Connor said the Greens had been hearing of this issue for years, but would push to establish a parliamentary inquiry.

Ms O'Connor said attempts made to find out information from the government was like "pulling teeth" and criticised the "shady language" the Greens received when they asked for more information.

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