RIVER reform will be rise up the national agenda once again, with a fresh round of Murray Darling meetings kicking off tomorrow and culminating with the Basin Authority deciding if state’s water saving projects pass muster.
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) met Thursday night last week, where Basin state premiers and the Prime Minister will meet for the first time.
At the end of this week, a standing process will see the Ministerial Council of Basin state water ministers, or Minco, convene again on Friday June 15.
Murray Darling reform was put on COAG’s agenda by Malcolm Turnbull in December 2016, following a threat from South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon to block the federal government’s signature industrial relations reforms by withholding his party’s votes for the contentious building and construction Bills, unless a 450GL of “upwater” flows were guaranteed for his home state.
COAG’s inaugural agenda is hazy. It will pre-empt a key process which is still undecided, at least until Minco hears states have been given the go-ahead on key water saving infrastructure projects .
Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA have made about 37 water saving project proposals in total, which have been assessed by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).
If the MDBA assessments finds the proposals fell short of the cumulative 650GL goal, states must return to the well for fresh ways to get more water for the river.
Painful recovery
Any deviation or delay to the Basin Plan will raise the ire of irrigation communities, which are already stressed by the impact of reduced water entitlements.
Speaking about the Minco process, National Irrigators chairman Steve Whan wants the MDBA and Minco to approve the proposed projects and progress the Basin Plan.
“I am hoping for more certainty a lot more certainty and confidence that the 2750GL recovery target can be achieved, including the amount of 650GL offsets,” Mr Whan said.
Mr Whan said farmers remained nervous about the MDBA’s assessment of the offset projects, and if they fall short, what further steps could be taken to recover water.
Conservation groups have reiterated they want to ensure water recovery is completed “on time and in full”, with more than a dozen organisations, including the Wilderness Society and Australian Conservation Foundation, issuing a joint statement.
They will scrutinise the MDBA’s assessments and the Minco meeting for any sign of deviation from the Basin Plan.
“We must restore rigour to the SDL adjustment process in the southern Basin. A full range of efficiency, constraints and supply measures with robust business cases and risk assessments should be submitted to MDBA for assessment and the assessment must occur within the limits of change hardwired into the Basin Plan,” said John Pettigrew, water spokesperson for Environmental Farmers Network.
The Basin Plan requires water use be reduced by 2750GL, to reset the maximum annual take to 10,873GL (the sustainable diversion limit, or SDL).
Within this target, up to 650GL can be come from works and measures that deliver an equivalent to water saving by improving flow, and reducing wastage.
This process is called the SDL adjustment mechanism. The water it keeps in play for irrigation is known as downwater.
The states and MDBA must agree on the downwater projects. In Basin Plan jargon the projects are termed SDL adjustment mechanisms.
Following Minco agreement, MDBA will then report back to the Commonwealth, and and all going well, project funding could be distributed by the end of the year.
Upwater upswell
Another potential topic for Minco is the contentious “upwater” element of the Basin Plan, which prompted Mr Xeonophon’s unfulfilled ultimatum to Mr Turnbull.
The upwater is a 450GL bucket of water to be recovered for the environment from consumptive use through “works and measures”.
A plan to recover this water has not been formed. So far the only scheme proposed has delivered a SA pilot program to upgrade farm infrastructure to deliver water more efficiently.
The Water Act states the upwater will only be recovered if it causes no negative socio-economic impacts.
Irrigators, particularly those in NSW, Queensland and Victoria argue alternative “non-flow” measures to boost environmental health, that do not redirect water from farms like the on-farm pilot program, should be employed.
This includes native fish propagation, like the carp virus, designed to remove the damaging introduced pest and restore the natural balance.
The Australian Conservation Foundation urged governments to push on with upwater.
“We have seen nothing but delay from the Turnbull Government,” said ACF policy coordinator James Tresize.
“Another delay on the promised 450 GL of water for the river would be a kick in the guts for our native wildlife and the people of South Australia.”
