Truce in water wars between Federal Government and the Murray Darling Basin states has broken down
The truce in the water wars between the Federal Government and the Murray Darling Basin states has broken down. PETER JEAN analyses what it means for South Australia.
The truce in the water wars between the Federal Government and the Murray Darling Basin states has broken down. PETER JEAN analyses what it means for South Australia.
What is the Murray Darling Basin Plan?
The plan regulates the amount of water that can be extracted from the Basin for urban, industrial and agricultural purposes.
It is designed to ensure that the water in the 23 Basin rivers and their catchments is used sustainably to meet the needs of communities, the environment and agriculture. It is enshrined in the Federal Water Act and came into force in November 2012.
How was it Brokered?
The development of the plan began under the Howard Government in response to the millennium drought and the excessive extraction of water from the system.
The Howard Government promised $10 billion to improve water efficiency and prevent the over-allocation of water.
Infighting between Basin states South Australia, Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the ACT made progress difficult.
The Advertiser’s I Love Murray campaign helped force the breakthrough that was needed to finalise the plan.
How much water must be recovered?
The plan seeks to recover between 2750 billion and 3200 billion litres of water to help protect the health of the Basin.
To achieve this, the Murray Darling Basin Authority estimates that the average annual level of use for surface water should be 10,873 billion litres.
The Federal Parliament last year agreed to cap the amount of surface water that can be purchased through buybacks at 1500 billion litres. The Federal Government is increasingly focused on funding on and off-farm infrastructure and irrigation efficiency projects that reduce water waste.
How much water has been delivered?
About 1996 billion litres.
What Is the Authority Proposing?
The MDBA conducted a review of the Northern Basin, which stretches from Queensland to Orange in NSW.
It has recommended that the water recovery target in the Northern Basin be reduced from 390 billion litres to 320 billion litres. The MDBA says the reduction will minimise the social and economic impact of the Basin Plan on local communities, while delivering “almost equivalent” environmental outcomes by pursuing a more targeted approach to water recovery and ensuring environmental flows in sensitive areas.
A public consultation process will now begin before final recommendations are made.
How much water could SA lose?
Flows to SA would be reduced by about four billion litres. Adjustments could also be made in the future to the amount of water that is recovered in SA for environment purposes.
What do environmentalists say?
Green groups say co-operation between the Murray-Darling states seems to be unravelling. The Australian Conservation Foundation says increasing the amount of water that upstream irrigators can take risks harming lakes, wetlands, rivers and downstream communities.
What does the Federal Government say?
Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce is supportive of the MDBA plan and says it will have no impact on SA. He compared the Basin to a lounge room carpet: He says tipping a bucket of water on one end of the carpet won’t necessarily have an impact on the end. Mr Joyce, who represents the NSW seat of New England, is a former senator for Queensland, where he was a strong supporter of irrigators. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a former water minister, says environmental, social and economic concerns in the Basin need to be carefully balanced.
Could the proposal be stopped?
Premier Jay Weatherill has threatened to launch court action to prevent the MDBA’s recommendation from being implemented, claiming that it breaches an agreement between the Commonwealth and the Basin states. Amendments to the Basin Plan must be tabled in both houses of Federal Parliament and can be disallowed by the Senate.
Premier runs risk of backing SA into a corner
ANNE RUSTON
PREMIER Jay Weatherill faces a stark choice on the Murray Darling Basin Plan: blow it up or sit down at the table and help make it work.
The Australian Government is committed to delivering the Basin Plan in full. The Commonwealth’s policy has not changed, there is no proposed amendment.
The SDL Adjustment Mechanism, which is the part of the plan that delivers an additional 450GL of environmental water on top of the 2750 Plan, requires the agreement of all states.
Premier Weatherill and his Minister for Water know that.
But they know they can sit down with us and have a mature, adult conversation — without swearing — about how we can achieve the Basin Plan’s objectives within the legislation; delivering the water needed for the river’s health without smashing river communities across the Basin, including the Riverland in South Australia — the community in which I live!
Instead they are rapidly cornering South Australia into a position from where it may be politically unable to discuss solutions for achieving the water recovery targets.
They are putting the Basin Plan on a path to destruction. While there is fierce agreement between Basin states on delivering the plan, there remain upstream interests who would delight in seeing the end of it.
Mr Weatherill’s obstinacy is playing right into the hands of these interests, and going directly against the interests of South Australia.
Premier, currently it is me who is standing up for South Australia and the Murray River.
Are you going to join me or are you going to keep playing politics?
Senator Anne Ruston is Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources
We’re standing firm in this battle for our future
IAN HUNTER
THE Murray River is critical to our state’s future. We rely on it for our drinking water, and a healthy river is the backbone of our agricultural, tourism and industrial sectors.
That’s why all South Australians fought for and secured a plan to save the River Murray in 2012 — a plan that’s now under serious threat from the Federal Government.
When I found out about the plan to unravel this historic deal, I was angered.
I was angered that the Federal Government would join with the upstream eastern states to dud us.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was a strong supporter of the original Murray Darling Basin Plan. Now he faces a true test of his leadership.
We understand how precious water is in South Australia. We fought hard for the Basin Plan in 2012 to have 3200 gigalitres of water returned to the River Murray.
And we are doing our fair share of the hard work that needs to be done to identify and return water to the river system.
South Australia is leading the country and is on track to meet our Basin Plan targets to return around 180 gigalitres of water to the river as we promised, on time and in full. We want the same commitments met from other states, and we want the Commonwealth to keep its promises.
Instead what we have is a Federal Water Minister with his eyes on $1.77 billion allocated to providing 450GL of critical environmental water, wanting to hand it out to his mates upstream.
South Australians won’t let that happen. We have already seen a Federal Government kill off Holden, try to kill off our submarine and ship building industry, and now they’re happy to kill our river too.
Not on the watch of this Government. We’re standing up for South Australia.
Ian Hunter is SA Water Minister