AN UNUSUAL role-reversal of Basin Plan politics is playing out over climate change in the ambitious river reform.
The Wentworth Group of eminent scientists is a prominent supporter of the Basin Plan. While the group has criticised elements of rollout it has repeatedly championed a full and fast implementation.
But the group’s latest report said the Basin Plan’s scope must be expanded to integrate water planning with natural resource management.
There is insufficient understanding of potential future environmental stresses from extreme weather events and a lack of climate change adaptation programs in place, the Wentworth Group said.
“The government hasn’t proposed a response to climate change in the Basin Plan.
The 2010 guide (to the Basin Plan) proposed some measures, which were subsequently abandoned,” said lead author of the group’s latest report, Associate Professor Jamie Pittock.
“The excuse at the time was the Basin Plan was meant to operate for just 10 years, but of course that has now been extended to 2026.
“The Basin Authority and government have no effective policy on who wears the cost of climate change. There must be clear rules in place.”
On the opposite bank is the agricultural lobby, which is sceptical of many elements of the Basin Plan, but nevertheless backs its ability to accommodate climate change.
National Irrigators chief executive Steve Whan said he welcomed the Wentworth Group’s contribution to the debate, but disagreed with their focus on fixed outcomes in the face of increasing climate variability.
“Climate variability impacts water availability and the environment, we can’t assume all environmental goals can stay the same,” Mr Whan said.
“Planning for climate change as a nation is something we obviously need to do, but I am not supportive of revising the plan.
“Water allocation adjusts to to drier times with lower allocation of irrigation water, and water storages in the Basin can help smooth some impacts from variability as well.”
National Farmers Federation water taskforce chairman Les Gordon criticised the Wentworth Group’s “fixation with numbers”.
“We have got to be flexible and adaptive when we apply our learning. If we remain set in stone, we won’t be able to build resilience into the system,” Mr Gordon said.
Mr Gordon said the Wentworth Group’s report, comprised of contributions from specific academic, was inherently flawed, and failed to reflect social and economic issues in particular.
“We need a multidisciplinary approach to the Basin Plan. Viewing it through a single context won’t ever be able to reflect reality.
“But looking at it through a diversity of views, and a focus on outcomes not volumes of water recovery, you will have a more optimistic view of the world.”
Dr Pittock said CSIRO projections suggest a range of climate change scenarios, from a minor increase in water availability in the Northern Basin through to a massive drying in the Southern Basin.
“The main issue at the moment is that water allocation isn’t designed to deal with climate change.
“States handle water allocation, and as a year gets drier, more water is allocated to agriculture, and less to environmental assets. The argument being that the Australian environment is adapted to drought, so it can bounce back.
“But climate change projections are for drought durations to increase and wetlands can dry out for so long, it gets beyond the threshold of of flora and fauna to survive and causes a major shift in the environment.”
