Mallee CMA salinity charges push reserves to $36m

Victoria’s richest catchment management authority is sitting on millions of salinity offset funding, despite keeping salt levels below target for the past 15 years.

The move from flood to drip irrigation, in combination with higher environmental flows have eliminated much of the Murray Valley’s salinity levels below target for the past 15 years.

Victoria’s richest catchment management authority has accumulated $36 million in salinity charges from irrigators to fund salt interception schemes – despite more efficient drip irrigation and higher environmental flows keeping salinity levels below target for the past 15 years.

The Mallee Catchment Management Authority’ 2022-23 financials show its salinity offset reserve has grown from $25m in 2015 to $36m, as of June 30 this year.

The Weekly Times raised the issue with the then Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning in 2019, when the CMA’s salinity fund was sitting at $30m, and was told “a review was underway to help decide on the next raft of projects”.

But the only significant salinity project to be completed in recent times was a $1.34m maintenance and upgrade of the existing Mildura-Merbein Salt Interception Scheme, the cost of which was split between the CMA, Goulburn Murray Water and the Murray Darling Basin Authority, to replace some pipes, valves and improve the chlorination system.

The 2022-23 Mallee CMA annual report shows most of the $2m the CMA spent on salinity projects went to:

$238,318 to “targeted communication efforts to address policies and frameworks that are current and emerging”;

$142,870 on a program of consolidating research and recommended actions across multiple organisations over a 20-year period;

$315,436 to manage “statutory responsibilities”; and

$25,764 for on-farm irrigation incentives to assist irrigators upgrade infrastructure to generate water-use efficiencies.

Water Minister Harriet Shing’s office responded to the underspend by stating a review of the salinity impact charge in 2020 had already resulted in it being cut by 24 per cent.

“The pandemic and the 2022-23 floods significantly affected Mallee CMA’s ability to deliver large-scale projects over the past three years,” Ms Shing’s office said.

“The CMA is currently undertaking an aerial electromagnetic scanning project to better understand the risks of salinity in the region and inform future projects.”

The next Salinity Impact Charges Levee review is scheduled for 2025.