The Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) has welcomed plans by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to reduce its northern basin water recovery target.
ADIC Water Taskforce chair Daryl Hoey said he was pleased to see the proposal to reduce water recovery targets in the Northern Basin by 70 gigalitres (GL).
The decision followed a rigorous socio-economic analysis, which showed significant adverse impacts on agriculture and regional communities.
“We now look forward to seeing the MDBA undertake a similarly robust and sophisticated analysis of the socio-economic effects of the basin plan on the southern basin,” said Mr Hoey.
“Dairy has proved resilient over the past decade in the face of the Millennium drought, floods, and volatility in milk prices.
“However, socio-economic studies the industry has funded have shown the basin plan impacts are having adverse effects on dairy and regional communities.”
Fernihurst mixed farmer Ken Pattison said the MDBA had realised the socio-economic ramifications of reducing water available for irrigation were “horrific.”
“It’s probably too late, the damage is probably done,” Mr Pattison said.
He said he was also concerned the federal opposition believed the 450GL environmental ‘upwater’ was still viable.
”They cannot deliver water down the rivers, the Murrumbidgee, the Murray and Goulburn, without absolutely severe socio-economic damage to those communities,” Mr Pattison said.
“The worry is that they will try and make up more in the southern basin – in reality, the Northern Basin contributed a miniscule amount to the flows they wish to put down the Murray river.”
MDBA chief executive Phillip Glyde called for submissions about proposed Basin Plan amendments, designed to improve the outcomes for communities, the environment and regional economies.
Mr Glyde said the proposed amendments, including a recommendation to reduce the water recovery target in the northern basin by 70GL, struck a sensible balance between social, economic and environmental interests.
"Reducing the water recovery target from 390GL to 320GL in the north will save about 200 jobs in irrigation dependent communities while continuing to deliver about the same level of environmental outcomes,” Mr Glyde said.
And the Federal government has announced it would be establishing a task force, to ensure further water recovery in the northern basin was managed in such a way to avoid putting further strain on communities.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said the announcement followed the MDBA’s recommendation to reduce the northern basin water recovery target .
“I welcome the reduced target and don’t want to see any more water taken out of Basin communities than is absolutely necessary to secure the long-term health of the system,” Mr Joyce said.
Mr Hoey said the industry agreed the environment needed more water, and amounts recovered so far were helping make rivers healthier.
“However, a fully implemented basin plan and another low allocation year similar to the drought years would see dairy struggling to survive and barely enough water to operate the irrigation systems,” Mr Hoey said.
“This would have severe negative outcomes for our regional communities.
“Being smarter about how we use what we have will improve these outcomes further, without further undermining the resilience and prosperity of regional communities throughout the basin.”
