Farmers have welcomed changes to Federal legislation, giving greater flexibility in the use of water trade sales.
Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) Murray Darling Basin Task Force chair Daryl Hoey said freeing up the Water Act had been something the industry had been pushing for a long time.
He said allowing the CEWH to use money from trades for water saving projects could deliver an extra 250 Gigalitres of water to irrigators and other users.
“I think it was fairly critical, giving the water holder flexibility - if they did sell it, they had to go back into the marketplace and buy it back,” Mr Hoey said.
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said the Water Amendment (Review Implementation and Other Measures) Act would improve the practical operation of the Murray Darling Basin.
He said the changes, passed by the Senate, would deliver a win-win for agriculture, communities and the environment by:
· enabling the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) to use water trade proceeds to fund environmental works;
· requiring five-yearly reviews of socioeconomic impacts of the Basin Plan; and
· ensuring a further review of the Water Act in 2024, at which point the full outcomes and impacts of the Basin Plan should be known
Mr Hoey said freeing up the Act had been something the industry had been pushing for a long time, after environmental groups initially called for environmental repair by “pushing more water down the river.”
“It’s not just about water in the river,” he said.
“There has to be a smarter solution, in 2016, to deliver outcomes, rather than just an eighteenth century solution of shoving more water down the river.”
Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) water council chairman Richard Anderson said the passage of Bill by the Senate was a major win for irrigators.
“The Government has expanded the capacity of the CEWH to spend trade revenue, effectively giving the CEWH an incentive to be more active in trading water excess to their environmental needs.”
During the 2015-16 irrigation season the CEWH was allocated 934,415 megalitres (ML) against the 1.8 million ML of mixed water entitlements it holds in the Southern Murray Darling Basin.
“Given the CEWH already had 354,946ML carried over from the 2014-15 season, it has ended up with almost 1.3 million ML of water available during the 2015-16 season. It makes sense that more flexibility be provided to trade excess water back to the market.”
Mr Anderson said previously the CEWH had limitations placed around the use of trade revenue that would see allocation sold in one system or valley, only to be purchased in another.
“The CEWH will now be given more flexibility to trade water when it is surplus to their requirements in a season where they are unable to carry water over into another water year,” Mr Anderson said.
“So long as there is early planning in place by the CEWH, we hope that this may see additional volumes of water made available for purchase by irrigators – such as we saw in late 2015, when the CEWH offered 20 gigalitres (GL) of water for trade in the Goulburn Valley.”
Mr Joyce said the government support, in full or part, all 23 of the recommendations made by the expert panel, which inquired into basin management.
“The recommendations will improve the practical operation of the Act, to give us the best possible framework to support delivery of the economic, social and environmental outcomes of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan,” Mr Joyce said.
Meanwhile, food producers in the Southern Riverina have welcomed the availability of Snowy Hydro water, for next season, at landholder meetings throughout the district last week.
Murray Irrigation Ltd (MIL), which has coordinated the Snowy Hydro advance, hosted the meetings.
Denimein Landholders Association Chairman Josh Small, who attended the landholders’ meeting at Pretty Pine, said there was a generally positive response to the opportunity the Snowy Advance offered.
“Generally they agreed it was a wonderful opportunity that the food producers in attendance were keen to take up,” Mr Small said.
“It gives us a chance to undertake important and vital planning for the next 12 months,” Mr Small said.
West Berriquin Irrigators Deputy Chairman Andrew Crossley also attended the Pretty Pine meeting and agreed that with an outlook for low starting allocations the Snowy Advanced provided a tool producers could use to ensure they were getting water on farm and being productive.
“This provides a level of security that will importantly help with personal well-being, as well as ensuring producers are able to generate income.
“Our community needs its farmers to be productive as this also creates employment and wealth for the towns which rely on us,” Mr Crossley said.
He added the 200 gigalitres being made available as an advance to MIL from Snowy Hydro for the 2016-17 season would go some way to allowing earlier planning for crops, which has become increasingly difficult with changes under the Basin Plan and impacts on the water market.
Applications to participate in the 2016-17 Snowy Advance project close at 5pm on Friday May 13. For application forms visit the ‘Snowy Advance’ section of Murray Irrigation’s website or phone MIL on 1300 138 265.
