Cotton growers and irrigators in the Northern Murray-Darling Basin (MBD) are calling on the MDB Authority to take into account the social, economic and environmental benefits of introducing complementary measures.
The MDBA is currently finalising its Northern Basin Review, which is gathering additional scientific and economic data as well as feedback from communities and farmers on the impact of the Plan, and has flagged it will deliver that review to the Government within months.
Northern Basin irrigators were extracting 3,858 gigalitres per year before the MDBP was implemented. When introduced in 2012, the Basin Plan set limits for consumptive use in the north at 3,468 gigalitres, which meant a 10 per cent reduction or 390 gigalitres less for consumptive use per year.
Social and economic data that has been generated by the review show impacts of up to 35pc on full-time agricultural employment in communities like Warren, Collarenebri and Dirranbandi. Basin communities affected by the plan should have no doubts that the full implementation in its current form would have devastating effects on farmers and towns.
Cotton Australia argues that the “simply add water” approach – used to justify environmental outcomes – does not in and of itself lead to environmental gains. The approach is deeply flawed and should be abandoned. Instead, Cotton Australia has long called for the MDBA to balance social, economic and environmental outcomes by complementing the water already acquired under the plan with a range of other activities.
Cotton Australia, has already called for surface water acquisitions to cease across the Northern Basin until the Basin Plan can be amended to allow for other measures to be implemented that will improve catchment health. These measures could include:
- Carp control through the release of the Carp Herpes Virus
- Cold water pollution mitigation through the installation of thermal curtains on major headwater storages
- Feral animal control in wetlands such as the Narran Lakes
- Fish habitat improvement through re-snagging
- Fish migration improvement through a series of fish-ways along the length of the Barwon-Darling
- Acquisition and management of important wetland sites
Funds of up to $400 to $600 million that would otherwise be spent on obtaining the additional 112 gigalitres currently required under the Plan should be redirected to the implementation of a suite of complementary measures, which would leverage real environmental outcomes from the water recovered.
Cotton Australia is calling for the Authority to clearly recommend complementary measures to the Federal and Basin State Governments as a way of minimising social and economic pain.
