The release of the Guide to the Murray Darling Basin Plan, which currently recommends an increase to environmental flows of up to 37 per cent, has been met with mixed reactions.
Developed by the Murray Darling Basin Authority, the Guide was released in October. It has been immediately followed by a series of community consultations in affected areas.
The Murray Darling Association, which represents more than 100 councils, community groups, businesses and others interested in ensuring the Murray Darling Basin remains a viable asset well into the future, believes the current recommendations are achievable and that anything less would compromise the Basin’s capacity to maintain farming in the future.
But irrigators along the Basin are outraged, claiming the proposed cuts to irrigation would destroy communities.
In an article titled ‘Compromise won’t save the Murray Darling’ in the Sydney Morning Herald (19 October, 2010), Australian National University Water Economist, Professor Quentin Grafton disputed the irrigators’ claims that cuts of about 40 per cent would mean their doom.
He pointed out that during the long drought of the past decade, many farmers had to work with more severe water reductions than are proposed in the plan, yet the effect on production was minimal.
The article said that between June 2001 and June 2008, water availability fell by almost 70 per cent, but the gross value of irrigated agricultural fell by barely one per cent because of more efficient water use and trading that directed water to the most valuable uses.
Professor Grafton believes that the Basin’s economy should actually fare better under the plan than in the drought, because farmers will sell their water instead of simply receiving less without compensation, and because they will be able to plan for the cuts rather than losing money from crops ruined by lack of rain.
If Basin communities continue to extract water at unsustainable levels, it could result in increased river salinity, increased soil salinity and acidity, and associated loss of vegetation cover and productivity. These are hardly ideal conditions for irrigated agriculture.
There is no doubt that restoring healthy environmental flows has to be the prime concern, and reasonable irrigators realise that without a healthy river system, there will be no irrigation.
Following widespread adverse reaction to the release of the Guide, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority will continue to consult widely, as well as inquire into the social and economic impacts of proposed water entitlement cuts before releasing a draft plan and then the Plan itself next year.
The Senate will also examine the Guide’s recommendations and their impact on farmers, farming communities and the long term effect on consumers.
Entwined in this is a diverse range of complex local issues.
It is crucial that Local Government contributes to this discussion. Councils in the Basin know the needs of their communities, industries and stakeholders, and they know their environment.
To ensure your council’s view is heard, make a submission to the Senate inquiry. Submissions must be made by 15 December 2010. Email rat.sen@aph.gov.au
