The announcement on Tuesday afternoon of the strategic purchase of more than 28GL from the lower reach of the Queensland section of the Condamine-Balonne catchment has been described as protecting small family farms and communities.
The announcement was made by federal Water Resources Minister, Barnaby Joyce, who said it represented 70 per cent of the remaining local water recovery task for the catchment under the 320GL Northern Basin water recovery target proposed by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
With 11.4GL still to be recovered to meet that target, Maranoa MP David Littleproud said Healthy Headwaters infrastructure programs and some smaller buybacks upstream means the Lower Balonne buyback target was effectively complete.
He described it as “the best of a bad situation” that could be achieved once revised water targets became known in November last year.
Although Balonne shire representatives said at the time that the recovery of another 35ML would be “absolutely devastating” for the towns of St George and Dirranbandi, mayor Richard Marsh said on Tuesday that the announcement gave some certainty back to the communities.
“There will be some impact (from the loss of water) but it’s not the big cruncher that cuts into your production,” he said.
The water has come from a corporate seller, who Mr Littleproud said still had its irrigation licence.
“This is overland flow,” he said. “According to the independent study we commissioned NC Economics to do, this will mean 2 to 3 per cent of peak production will be lost.
“In dry and medium flow years, there won’t be any economic impact on jobs, but when there are big flows, you won’t see those eight to 10 casual jobs.
“The seller will still be producing cotton but we’ve protected small family farms, which is the most pleasing thing.”
The water buyback alarm and the impact on the Balonne shire has been sounding since 2014, when one of the biggest operators, Ballandool Station near Hebel, relinquished its flood-harvesting licence, effectively knocking out 2800 hectares of irrigated cotton country in one hit.
Mr Joyce acknowledged there were communities where the prospect of any further water recovery would be met with concern.
“We understand that every job is important for rural communities, however, the impacts of this water recovery have been independently assessed to confirm that this purchase of overland flow licences should have a relatively low impact on regional production and casual employment.
“The company that has sold their water entitlements will continue their mixed-farming business, including irrigation, and so will continue to contribute significantly to the local economy.”
He said the acquisition was a unique opportunity to secure a significant volume of water in a catchment of particular strategic importance to achieving the triple-bottom line outcomes of the Basin Plan.
St George is also expected to reap flood mitigation benefits from the deal, as the seller is required to decommission and modify structures on the property, at their own cost.
Mr Littleproud understood they were pushing floodwaters back in the direction of St George and the changes would allow water to get away quicker, while still being available for irrigators to pump.
He called on Queensland’s Labor Senators to put on the public record their support for the Northern Basin review and its 320GL target when parliament resumed.
“We’ve had bipartisan support from the states for the review, and now we need support from Senators, particularly Queensland Labor.
“There’s nothing stopping them since their states have given their direction.
“I call on them to give confidence to Queensland communities.”
As to when the review would be introduced, Mr Littleproud said the 4 Corners program alleging some NSW farmer may have taken more water than they were entitled to, had added another element to the government’s legislative program.
“There’s issues we’ve got to work through, and the minister will make the decision on when he will introduce the review.”
Cr Marsh said he would still be looking to the federal government for funding to offset “past hurts”.
“They won’t go away just because this has been resolved,” he said. “We’d like to see something to help us with alternative productive capacity – feral fencing so we can get back into sheep, and developing horticulture in the area, that sort of thing.”
Fast facts
- This strategic water acquisition will count towards the federal government’s 1,500 GL limit on surface water purchasing. Total recovery through purchase remains well below this cap.
- The value of agricultural production in the Queensland Border Rivers and Condamine Balonne regions increased from $2.75 billion in 2011–12 to $2.85 billion in 2014–15.