Irrigators water war warning on Vic rationing rules

The risk of water rationing has led the Victorian Government to grant irrigators tools to trade their pumping rights, but they are concerned what the rules may lead to.

Almond plantation owners will need to buy more extraction shares to avoid rationing during summer shortfalls. Picture Yuri Kouzmin.

Irrigators have warned there would be a “war” over water if the government tries to restrict how much they pump from the Murray River during a heatwave to the “tiny” extraction share volumes attached to their licenses.

But that’s where the Victorian Government is headed, in what a spokesman said was a bid to “make sure that rationing could be managed equitably if a shortfall did occur and to empower water users to manage their own delivery risks”.

The Water and Catchment Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, currently before parliament, makes it easier for irrigators to go out and buy more extraction shares to offset any rationing during a heatwave-driven surge in demand.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority already faces major challenges getting water through the Barmah Choke to Lower Murray irrigators, due to the build-up of sediments that have reduced its capacity from 11300 ML a day to 9200 ML/day.

Adding to the problem is the Victoria Government’s decision to cut the Goulburn River’s summer flows to the Murray River from up to 80,000ML a month in previous seasons down to 30,000ML a month, to protect the environment.

During a shortfall the Minister can ration water, restricting irrigators to a weekly cap, worth seven times their daily extraction share or a percentage of that dictated by the Minister.

“(However) the changes allow the Minister to cap these extraction shares and allows for these rights to be traded,” the government spokesman said. “As is the case now, irrigators pumping will not be restricted unless there’s a shortfall.

“This new power will protect existing rights and the environment and give irrigators tools to manage their own risks in a shortfall.”

Most irrigators contacted by The Weekly Times said they were still getting their heads around the Bill.

But one large Robinvale tablegrape grower said no-one had spare extraction shares to trade and that any attempt to ration usage to the tiny volume or a less would not be tolerated.

“If she (Water Minister Lisa Neville) limits people to their extraction shares there would be a full war,” the tablegrape grower said. “There’s not that much extraction share.”

However the government spokesman said “we expect a market will develop, because of the differing profile of water users and their demand”, with the expectation that all water users would comply.

Anyone who fails to comply with rationing faces hefty new penalties of up to 10 years in prison or a $220,000 fine for an individual or up to $1m for a corporation.