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MurrayDarlingMapClickMurray Darling Basin Plan - What's all the fuss about?

The Murray Darling Basin Plan (Basin Plan) will be a strategic plan for the integrated and sustainable management of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is preparing the plan, as required by the Water Act 2007 (Cwlth). The plan is being prepared in consultation with Basin states (including NSW) and comcommunities. The Guide to the Draft Murray Darling Basin Plan will be released Friday 8 October 2010.

The Water Act 2007 specifies some content of the Basin Plan, including:

  • limits on the amount of water (both surface water and groundwater) that can be taken from Basin water resources on a sustainable basis;
  • identification of risks to Basin water resources, such as climate change, and strategies to manage those risks;
  • requirements that state water resource plans will need to comply with if they are to be accredited under this Act;
  • an environmental watering plan to optimise environmental outcomes for the Basin;
  • a water quality and salinity management plan; and
  • rules about trading of water rights in relation to Basin water resources.

The Basin Plan, amongst other things, will outline a Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) for each of the 19 Basin Catchments (see above map). These SDLs will determine how much water is available for consumptive uses in the Basin, after the needs of the environment have been fulfilled.

Click here for a Member Briefing Note on the Basin Plan...

Click here for a copy of the Association’s Position Statement on the Basin Plan...

Map: Courtesy of Murray Darling Basin Authority

MurrayDarlingPhotoSmallerThe Murray Darling Basin Planning Process

The NSW Farmers' Association is committed to working with Government on water reforms that embrace triple bottom line sustainability principles. However, the Association is greatly concerned that the Murray Darling Basin Authority's approach to developing the Murray Darling Basin Plan does not embrace these principles.

The Association believes that the current planning process is fundamentally flawed. A sustainable outcome for the Basin demands:

  • A collaborative planning process that engages local expertise and the farm sector at valley scale in a process of optimising water allocation;
  • Explicit management of the social and economic impacts of any reductions of water available for agricultural production, or the security of that water;
  • Integration of engineering works, specific watering strategies and land management practices  in setting the Basins environmental water requirements to ensure efficient and effective use of environmental water; and
  • Consideration of tradeoffs between different environmental outcomes, and between environmental and communities needs. Rivers are no longer pristine or natural but managed systems.

If the current legislation does not require the MDBA to plan in this way, then the legislation must be changed.

Click here for a copy of the Association’s briefing note outlining a number of significant concerns with the Act...

MDB-GuideThe Guide to the Murray Darling Basin Plan

The Guide to the Murray Darling Basin Plan was released 8 October 2010. Click on image at right for a copy of the plan.

The Association was present at the ‘lockup’ prior to the release of the Guide, but with the MDBA failing to provide the actual data used as the basis of their recommendations, this was little more than a token exercise.  Only Volume 1 of the Guide has been released. This first volume is essentially an executive summary of what the Guide will include and unfortunately provides very little data. Volume 2 of the Guide will contain the actual data used, but will not be released for at least several weeks – after the Community Information Sessions are conducted – severely limiting any informed and valuable discussion that could be had on this issue. The release of the draft Basin Plan has now been delayed until early 2011, at least six months after the original target of mid-2010.

The Guide to the Basin Plan indicates that the amount of water that needs to be returned to the environment is between 3000 and 7600 gigalitres per year. However, the MDBA suggested that any figure above 4000 gigalitres would not meet the requirements of the Water Act due to the harm that would be inflicted on communities, leading the Guide to suggest a range of 3000 to 4000 gigalitres. The MDBA has recommended average cuts to water in NSW from 27 to 37%. These figures are higher than expected, particularly for northern systems in the Basin.

Click here for a copy of the Association’s briefing note on the Guide...

The Association has raised significant concern about the impacts of the proposed cuts to rural and regional communities in NSW.

Click here to go to our Media & Case Studies page for further information...

 

Socio-Economic Analysis – the missing link

With the MDBA focusing on environmental considerations in the development of the Plan to date, socio-economic analysis has been severely lacking. Fortunately, a report has been released, providing peer-reviewed, socio-economic analysis of permanent water reductions. The Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre released Exploring the Relationship Between Community Resilience and Irrigated Agriculture in the MDB: Social and Economic Impacts of Reduced Irrigation Water, 5 August 2010. The report, prepared by Judith Stubbs and Associates, confirmed the Association's long-held concerns regarding the impacts on farm families and rural communities of permanent water reductions. The key socio-economic findings of the report mirror the emerging trends of the Association’s Basin Plan survey (see below), particularly with respect to expected job losses and population drift out of key farming areas.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) – Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS) has just released a report titled Environmentally sustainable diversion limits in the Murray Darling Basin: Socioeconomic analysis, which is intended to provide an economic analysis of the effects of the proposed sustainable diversion limits in the Guide. The MDBA requested that ABARE-BRS identify the socioeconomic implications of the proposed Basin Plan for the Australian community, economy, people and communities within the Basin, regional economies and industry sectors within the Basin, and regional communities and economies outside the Basin that that depend on Basin water resources.  The Association is currently reviewing this report and will consider it in light of the Stubbs report (see above).

 

SurveyFindingsReleasedMurray Darling Basin Survey Findings Released

The NSW Farmers’ Association has released the findings of its survey into the Murray Darling Basin planning process, highlighting a severe lack of community engagement and a farming landscape that could be changed forever. More than one in three farmers surveyed believe the Draft Plan could force them to leave agriculture permanently, closing the door on generations of farming history. 

Click here for a copy of the Association’s media release on this issue...
Click here for a copy of the full survey report...

Other pages in this section

Key NSW Farmers Basin Plan Documents and Submissions to Date: