Major changes to Murray Darling Basin Plan rile environmentalists
Governments will pour millions more dollars into reforming the Murray-Darling system as the Federal Minister announces an overhaul to focus on saving water away from farms.
SA News
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The biggest overhaul of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan since its inception 12 years ago has been unveiled, with a focus on off-farm efficiencies.
Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt announced the commonwealth would invest $234.2m – including $37.6m in South Australia – recovering the 450 gigalitres needed to achieve enhanced environmental outcomes.
“But I will not put further pressure on irrigators to recover this through buybacks – my focus will be on off-farm efficiencies,” he said.
“Basin governments are pushing forward with recovery of the 450GL, but I recognise recovery is slower than anticipated. I don’t want to see the environment go backwards and it’s good to see progress on 150GL of projects.”
But the announcement has been slammed by conservationists, who said that taking buybacks off the table would guarantee the plan’s failure.
Conservation SA chief executive Craig Wilkins said the threat of buybacks could keep other states focused.
“Without the threat of buybacks, upstream states simply won’t meet their water recovery targets,” Mr Wilkins said.
SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said scrapping buybacks was a huge blow to the environment and hung SA out to dry.
But SA Murray Irrigators chair Caren Martin saidbuybacks could have detrimental effects on the community – from businesses, to schools to council rate bases – as many farmers sold their entitlements and moved from the region.
“However, from a very selfish irrigator perspective, if the buybacks were at the right price, and that money could be put back into our farms or into a tourism venture or into a secondary industry or something like that, we have argued that, at a premium price, some irrigators would partake in buyback,” she said.
Primary Producers SA head Rob Kerin said farmers in SA were “great fans of efficiency measures because the payback is really good”.
However, Mr Kerin was concerned irrigators in other states were “obsessed with how much water is used as opposed to how much produce is grown”.
SA Water Minister David Speirs said the program had the potential to provide the sort of win-win South Australians saw in the Basin Plan – a healthier river system, stronger communities, better recreation and profitable industries.