Basin plan fails to curb fish kills and boost flows

A four-year study of the Murray Darling Basin found the basin plan failed the environment, despite slashing irrigators’ water use.

A group of 12 scientists, including four members of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, say the basin plan has failed to boost environmental indicators.

The $13 billion Murray Darling Basin has failed the environment, despite irrigators’ water usage declining by “one-third and one-quarter from 2012–13 to 2021–22”, according to 12 Australian university academics.

The researchers assessed the impact of the plan and 30 years of water reform using 27 social, economic, indigenous and environmental indicators, which they say showed “‘irrigators came out of each subsequent stage of the reform process better placed than the environment”.

Of the 12 environmental indicators, the team found the plan had failed to reduce fish kills and boost river flows, waterbird populations, salt discharge from the Murray Mouth and the proportion of time the Murray Mouth was open without dredging.

Of the remaining measures, flooding of Ramsar wetlands, wetland vegetation condition, occurrence of threatened species, salinity in the Murray River, and mitigation of cold-water pollution showed no clear trend, while nutrient pollution declined and populations of large bodied fish in NSW and Victoria improved.

The team, which included four members of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, also found “at the Basin scale, irrigation communities are not necessarily experiencing severe economic hardship as a result of the implementation of the Basin Plan, as claimed by some”.

“Our results support the finding that ‘irrigators came out of each subsequent stage of the reform process better placed than the environment’.

“Surface-water take, primarily for economic purposes, has declined since 2012–13 by nearly 2500 gigalitres, which appears to indicate that the Basin Plan is affecting take.

“Yet, (the) gross value of irrigated agricultural production has remained steady and the production value of irrigation water has increased markedly, again indicating a lack of evidence for a significant economic downturn for the irrigated-agriculture sector.”

But National Irrigators Council chief executive Zara Lowien said “over half of their (the researchers) economic indicators, which have apparently increased, are for the local government regions overall, not the individual communities, and the analysis is based on data up until 2018-19 and 2015-16, before Sustainable Diversion Limits even commenced”.

“We invite the Wentworth Group to come out to our communities and see how their desktop study aligns with the practical reality and lived experiences of those living in the Basin,” Ms Lowien said.

“Perhaps we can go to Collarenebri part of the Moree Plains local government area where the community had 66 per cent of the irrigation water recovered, resulting in the area population declining by 36 per cent and employment by 37 per cent or Wakool within the Murray River Council region, where 38 per cent of available water in that community was recovered and the population decreased by 46 per cent and farm employment fell by 72 per cent.”

A total of 2133GL has been taken from the consumptive pool, under the basin plan to boost environmental flows.