The Future of Water in South Australia
The Water Research Cluster of the University of Adelaide hosted a public forum on the Future of Water in South Australia on 24 October 2007. The presenters were:
- The Hon Karlene Maywald, Minister for Water Security and Minister for the River Murray (includes podcast and Powerpoint)
- Mr Chris Stathy, Managing Director of Philmac Pty Ltd (includes podcast)
- Associate Professor David Paton, University of Adelaide (includes podcast)
- Dr Rod Oliver, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO (includes podcast)
Minister Maywald spoke about the historically low flows in the Murray Darling Basin which, when coupled with the drought conditions in the Mount Lofty Ranges, threatens water security for the city of Adelaide. Her analysis was sobering, and it looks as thought Adelaide could run out of water in two years if there is not significant rainfall in the next 12 months.
Chris Stathy’s perspective was that some of the water security problems facing South Australia could be solved if industry was given a greater opportunity to invest its ideas, energy and capital into clever new solutions. He noted that the current restrictions in water use are causing severe economic hardship for some businesses in Adelaide and suggested that Perth stands out in Australia as a city with best practice in water management.
David Paton described the horrible decline of birds, plants, fish and invertebrates in the Coorong system, as a result of years of man-made and natural drought conditions. The result is likely to be the extinction of some species in this area, and perhaps will contribute to the compete extinction of the Fairy Tern.
Rod Oliver gave a disturbing presentation on the ecological health of the River Murray. The Council of Australian Governments agreed to provide 500 GL pa of water for environmental flows in the River Murray system to protect six ecological systems along the River Murray that they call “icon” sites. The results of a thorough analysis by CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country shows that so far the governments of Australia have provide zero extra environmental flows for the river. Furthermore, while they have identified 380 GL pa that could be saved for environmental flows, this will not be enough to save ecological systems along the River. The CSIRO analysis found that 2,000 GL pa will be required to protect the six “icon” sites.
All of this is pretty depressing.
Three things struck me as being important messages from all four talks.
1. While there are some positive things being done to provide extra water sources for Adelaide and South Australia, including water recycling, storm-water capture and recovery and improvements in water use efficiency by individuals and industries, the overwhelming issue is that humans are taking too much water from the Murray Darling System. The over-extraction of water from the system has lead to a dying Coorong, a sick and declining River Murray and wetlands, and water security problems for irrigators and urban residents of much of South Australia. The solution seems to be a wholesale clawing back of water from irrigators who use over 70% of flows in the Murray Darling Basin. The mechanism of how this is done requires some smart thinking. Some suggestions as to how this could be achieved that were put forward by speakers and audience members. They include
- buying back all of the water and then selling a lesser percentage at a higher price to those uses prepared to pay (including urban users),
- the government making a decision to leave larger volumes of water in the river and allocating a lesser percentage of water to all users under existing licensing arrangements,
- buying back licenses from irrigators for environmental flows.
All of these mechanisms create winners and losers, however it seems to me that under the current arrangements, everyone and everything in the Murray Darling Basin is a loser.
2. Acts of Parliaments such as the EPBC Act and Ramsar Act, and plans and agreements such as the Murray Darling Basin Agreement and The Living Murray Agreement have completely failed to protect the riverine environment of the Murray Darling Basin. This should be cause for sober reflection and re-assessment by government as to what it is required to protect environmental assets against legitimate economic interests.
3. Blaming government, irrigators, the media, or even the NSW government (my pet hate) is not going to solve the challenge of protecting the water security for South Australia and its environment. In South Australia we are facing a crisis, if not a catastrophe right now. Many irrigators are going to lose their livelihood in the Riverland this year. Businesses in Adelaide have collapsed as a result of water restrictions. The southern lagoon of the Coorong is being read the last rites. The wetlands and redgums along the River Murray are dying or are dead. Now is a time for government, industry and the community to work together to get through these tough times. We need a concerted effort that involves the energy, ideas, investment and cooperation of all people with an interest in a healthy Marray Darling Basin system.
This presentation is available on the LitFuse feed. You can register for the feed on your i-tunes: http://feeds.litfuse.com.au
[...] a public forum on the Future of Water in South Australia on 24 October 2007. I have created a more detailed blog on this event. The presenters [...]
David Paton on the Death of the Coorong « LitFuse said this on October 25, 2007 at 3:03 am |
[...] The Water Research Cluster of the University of Adelaide hosted a public forum on the Future of Water in South Australia on 24 October 2007. I have created a more detailed blog on this event. [...]
Rod Oliver on the Future Health of the River Murray « LitFuse said this on October 25, 2007 at 3:04 am |
[...] 10.25 The Future of Water in South Australia [...]
Chris Stathy: Industry Perspective on the Future of Water in South Australia « LitFuse said this on October 25, 2007 at 3:09 am |
[...] The Water Research Cluster of the University of Adelaide hosted a public forum on the Future of Water in South Australia on 24 October 2007. I have created a more detailed blog on this event. [...]
Karlene Maywald: The Future of Water in South Australia « LitFuse said this on October 25, 2007 at 3:09 am |
The messages from the forum on Water Security for South Australia were grim, convincing and urgent, and raise once again the question of why we can’t get the urgent action that is needed. Today is the anniversary of the Prime Minister’s urgent meeting of state Premiers to discuss the dire state of the Murray-Darling Basin, and it appears that no real progress has been made in the last 12 months.
We need to take back the over-allocated water, at least 17% according to Rod Oliver, and we need to do it now, according to David Paton. The Prime Minister’s grand plan has been scuttled by the National Party and Victoria ruling out compulsory acquisition of water. Mike Young says there is not enough water (by orders of magnitude) available from ‘willing sellers’ to fix the problem.
As a start, we need to find another name for ‘environmental flows’ — they are getting lots of bad press and seen as competing with people, rather than being essential to maintain a healthy working river. Then we can lobby for water to be shared with the river, instead of the current zero allocation. How about ‘riverfresh’ or ‘survival flows’? ‘rivercare’?
FAIR WATER USE (AUSTRALIA)
- Our river systems are not a corporate resource
FAIR WATER USE (AUSTRALIA) is a new lobby group formed by Australians from all walks of life, with a shared vision of a revived Murray-Darling basin and the sustainable environmental, community and economic benefits that would flow from its recovery.
After the recent rains in Queensland, the dams on Cubbie Station now contain over three years supply of water which will be used for the cultivation of cotton in a country ravaged by drought.
Sadly, Cubbie is only one of several huge enterprises, some at least partially-owned by overseas interests, which have directly impeded the flow of a vast and essential river system. Cubbie Station is licensed to take 460,000 megalitres – more than enough to fill Sydney Harbour – extracted from the Murray-Darling catchment virtually free of charge. There is strong evidence that dam construction continues on a huge scale.
Whilst there is no suggestion that these groups are acting dishonestly, an increasing body of public opinion considers the ecological and societal costs of their operations to be unacceptable.
The following statement currently appears on the Cubbie Group web-site:
“Cubbie Group management believes that production of irrigated cotton and a viable environment can co-exist in a sustainable manner and the group has designed and managed their properties to achieve this goal.”
In reality there is irrefutable evidence that the plight of the Murray-Darling Basin is, to a significant extent, a consequence of the cultivation of inappropriate and unnecessary crops in this the driest continent on earth.
It is time to resolve this anathema.
The fact that Australian irrigators make efficient use of their water allocations is an irrelevance. The large scale irrigation of cotton and rice continues to cause major damage to the environmental health of much of south-eastern Australia.
On the global stage, Australian cotton and rice-growers are minor players. The Australian cotton-growing industry accounts for only 2-3% of total international production (ICAC 2005) and historically employs less than 2% of the national agricultural workforce (ABARE 2001). The indirect employment benefit is very limited, as well over 90% of Australian-grown cotton is shipped directly overseas for processing (ACSA 2004), with little value-adding occurring in this country.
Australian rice growers employ on a similar scale, an estimated 8,000 people nationwide, and produce a mere 0.2% of the global rice harvest (About Rice 2008).
The producers and their work-force would not be expected to walk off the land empty-handed. As a nation we cannot afford to let the environmental degradation continue, but with a budgetary surplus projected to exceed 15 billion dollars in the current financial year, we can afford to provide appropriate financial reparation to growers and their employees. As advocated by Mr Rupert Murdoch in November 2006: “The Government should get a billion dollars – or whatever it is – and buy back the water rights from the people who use the most”.
Fair Water Use is calling upon the Prime Minister of Australia and his Government to take the necessary, decisive and constructive action to put an end to the massive sequestration of the nation’s water by the cotton and rice sector.
We also ask the directors of cotton and rice producing enterprises – and those institutions which support them – to search their corporate consciences, to agree to cease such activities and to let the rivers run again – for the sake of the nation’s future.
A nationwide campaign is currently being devised and we are in communication with a high-profile environmentalist who has expressed interest in acting as our spokesperson.
For maximum impact, we must create as large a supporter base as possible: If you would like to register your support or are able to assist with the planning and delivery of this campaign, please contact FWU coordinator Ginny Douglas at fairwateruse@internode.on.net, stating your name, current occupation and postcode.
Please spread the word.
Fair Water Use (Australia)
PO Box 384
Balhannah
South Australia
5242