The plan devised by the Murray Darling Basin Authority is the second to be released in 18 months after the first plan drew the ire of regional communities and farmers.
The initial plan suggested cutting 4000 gigalitres of irrigation entitlements within the basin – which stretches from Queensland, through NSW and Victoria and into South Australia. This water would ensure more water coursed through the rivers and wetlands in the basin.
That plan drew crowds of angry farmers to community meetings, where they burned copies of the plan. Irrigators, farmers and regional leaders said such cuts would destroy thousands of jobs and therefore local communities.
The new plan – released this week – was overseen by a new MDBA chairman put in place by the minority Federal Government. Although it has reduced the amount of irrigation water it says is needed to protect the health of the Basin to 2750GL, State Governments, farm groups band irrigators say little else has changed.
Their key concern is the Federal Government entering the water market and buying water rights back from farmers, putting pressure on communities and irrigators that want to remain.
Environment groups and the Greens – who the Federal Government rely on to hold office – say the plan does not release enough water to ensure the health of the river system.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Peter Tuohey said the MDBA’s consultation process – which involved travelling around Australia to listen to concerned parties at community forums – had been a sham.
“They’ve failed to listen to our call that all further water for the environment be recovered by more efficient watering of wetlands and river operations – not just buyouts of irrigators’ water,” Tuohey said.
“Failure to include these measures means the Federal Government will just rely on buyouts.”
Tuohey said the revised draft Murray Darling Basin Plan handed to State Water Ministers does not include crucial changes needed to minimise the impact of draining water out of irrigation communities.
National Irrigators Council chairman Gavin McMahon said the plan does not include an environmental watering plan to explain where the water will be used.
“How has the Government come up with any number when it doesn’t know and won’t know for at least another three years how, when, where, why or what it wants to water?” McMahon said.
Australian Dairy Industry Council Basin Taskforce chairman Daryl Hoey said he was particularly concerned about misleading information in the plan’s socio-economic summary report.
He said an example was the claim irrigators only face a 19% reduction in water, after accounting for infrastructure savings.
However, this is a proportion of all water diverted in the basin, including for Adelaide, other towns, manufacturing and mining, as well as agriculture.
“In truth, the reduction will be about 30%, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data of actual irrigation water use – and the Government is only targeting irrigators’ water for purchase for the environment,” Hoey said.
MDBA boss Craig Knowles has said environmental works – which could achieve desired environmental outcomes with less water through new infrastructure - would be considered as part of a review of the basin plan in 2015.
But the VFF has said that’s not good enough.
“We want these changes enshrined in the final plan, not left to some distant review,” Tuohey said.
Hoey agrees: “The authority is trying to palm off the hard decisions to the 2015 review, when it knows full well it is legally locking the Federal Government into buybacks as the investment priority in the meantime. So by the time we get to 2015, the socio-economic damage will have been done.”
