MURRAY Darling Basin communities are shouting ‘give us water – not ice’ as the negative social and economic impacts of water planning measures escalate.
That’s the warning message underpinning Cotton Australia’s submission to the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the social and economic impacts of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
Cotton Australia’s submission made 11 recommendations, including demanding the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder be given “much greater discretion in the trade of environmental water, with proceeds available to advance environmental outcomes”.
Cotton Australia said approximately 90 per cent of the water available for irrigation in the Northern Basin is used on cotton, “as it provides the best economic return per megalitre of water”.
But a fully implemented Basin Plan, across the Northern Basin, would reduce access to water on average by about 390,000 megalitres, or 390,000 bales of cotton, worth $195 million to the farmers “and just under $600 million to Northern communities”.
“The situation across the whole Basin is equally stark,” Cotton Australia said while citing part of the National Irrigators' Council’s (NIC) submission to the Inquiry.
NIC said irrigated agriculture contributes to the social and economic wellbeing of rural and regional communities and to the national economy, producing goods such as milk, fruit, vegetables, rice, grains, sugar, nuts, meat and other commodities like cotton.
The total gross value of irrigated agricultural production in Australia was $13.4 billion in 2012-13, constituting 28pc of the total gross value of all agricultural production ($48 billion) over the same period.
“The total gross value of irrigated agricultural production in the Murray-Darling Basin in 2011-12 was $6.7 billion, with the volume of water applied in the same period, 5.9 million megalitres. (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
"This represents a gross value of irrigated agricultural production across the Murray-Darling Basin of $1,135 per megalitre,” NIC said.
But Cotton Australia said - based on the NIC’s submitted data - that the full 3200GL Basin Plan target was acquired from existing entitlements, the annual impact on farmers would be $3.6 Billion, “translating to a $10 billion loss to the communities of the Basin”.
“The question that must be answered is - do the environmental gains, justify the social and economic costs?” Cotton Australia said.
“As social and economic crises worsen across the Basin, a common catch-cry is becoming - ‘give us water not ice’.”
Cotton Australia was also critical of the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s inability to explain the Basin Plan’s specific environmental goals to local groups.
“Cotton Australia agrees that we all have an obligation to maintain river health and the environment, but we also have an obligation to maintain our people, our communities and our economy,” it said.
“With this in mind, Cotton Australia remains very concerned with the Basin Plan across a number of areas including; the almost single-focus on hydrology – ‘Just add water and the environment will be fine’.
“That there has not been enough emphasis placed on the social and economic impacts.
“The Authority did not, and still largely does not, have the data to adequately take into account the social and economic impacts.
“That while there has been a high level communication by the Authority that the Basin environment is suffering, the problems have not been clearly explained at a catchment and community level.”
MDB Plan a 'bad one'
In his submission, Griffith Business Chamber president Paul Pierotti said Griffith housing price value had dropped by 20pc and commercial property by over 40pc since the Basin Plan.
“It cannot be disputed that taking productive water from Basin communities like ours creates an everlasting detrimental impact to everyone who chooses to remain and live within the Basin – many having no choice but to stay as their life long accumulated asset value has been stripped,” he said.
“This is re-enforced even by the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the government with their acknowledgement and legislation on the 1500 gigalitre buy-back cap.”
Mr Pierotti said water trading rules also needed to be changed so water speculators are not distorting the market.
“Only agriculturalists and government should be permitted to trade water,” he said.
“Water speculators and investment companies should not be allowed to trade as they are distorting a limited resource to the point that makes most agricultural commodities unsustainable and uncompetitive.
“We not only need a good plan that is credible, transparent and balanced we need a complete revision of this fundamentally flawed and destructive Murray Darling Basin Plan.
“We also need our new Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull, our Minister for Agriculture and Water Barnaby Joyce, and all other levels of government to step up and actually deliver on making Australia the Food Super Power of the world.
“As our previous Prime Minister Tony Abbot said 'I will not sign off on a bad Plan'.
“The Plan that is currently in place is clearly a bad one and should not have been signed off by anyone who cares for the future of Australia.
“We must fix it now.”
Inquiry kicks off in St George
The special Senate inquiry into the Basin Plan’s impacts was anointed in late June and is being chaired by NSW Liberal Democratic Party Senator David Leyonhjelm
Independent Victorian Senator John Madigan helped initiate the investigation after conducting “listening” tours of Basin communities earlier this year where farming and community groups expressed strong concerns about the Basin Plan’s impacts.
Its terms of reference include looking into the Basin Plan’s direct and indirect effects on agricultural industries, local businesses and community wellbeing and evidence of any environmental changes.
The plan‘s Constraints Management Strategy – which underpins delivery of an additional 450 gigalitres in environmental water flows to South Australia on top of the base-line 2750GL target – will also be heavily scrutinised.
The deadline for submissions closed last Friday while a public hearing will be held today at St George in Queensland, where irrigators, business and community groups will give evidence ahead of an expected reporting date of February 26, next year.