Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The Murray-Darling Basin
The Murray-Darling Basin is important economically, socially and environmentally
to Australia. The basin is home to over two million people and a further million in
Adelaide rely on Murray River water. Historically, the Murray River was an important
navigation route and more recently, it has become the critical water supply for the basin's
agriculture and communities, including capital cities, Adelaide and Canberra. Currently,
the Murray-Darling Basin produces about 40 per cent of Australia's gross value of
agricultural production and over 70 per cent of irrigated agricultural production.
Agricultural processing and manufacturing, mining and tourism are also significant.
Environmentally, there are 16 internationally important RAMSAR sites, important
breeding grounds for migratory birds and at least 35 endangered birds and 16 endangered
mammals in the basin.
Institutional arrangements
The development/construction phase
At the turn of the 20
th
century, there was significant pressure on the Murray River
because of the then severe drought and agricultural expansion. The self-governing
colonies in the basin were unable to reach agreement on water management, specifically
for navigation and irrigation. There was a realisation that there was a need for
coordinated management of navigation along the Murray River and to ensure adequate
water supplies to users in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. At a
conference in Corowa in 1902, both the Commonwealth and state governments were
called on to 'cooperate in preparing and carrying out a comprehensive scheme for the
utilisation of the waters of the River Murray' which would cater for both navigational and
potential consumptive uses. The Australian Constitution, which was adopted in 1901,
provides the framework which defines responsibilities of the Commonwealth and the
states with respect to water, in sections 51, 98 and 100. Although land and water
management is primarily a state responsibility, the Commonwealth powers over trade,
commerce (S51), and also over navigation (S98) are limited by Section 100, which states:
The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade or commerce,
abridge the right of a
State
or of the residents therein to the reasonable use of the
waters of rivers for conservation or irrigation.
The Corowa conference lead to the appointment of an Interstate Royal commission on
the River Murray and eventually in 1914, the River Murray Waters Agreement was
signed by New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Commonwealth. It aimed
to achieve the following:
1.
Set out a series of 'joint' structures — storages, locks and weirs, to be built by a
constructing authority nominated by the state in which the work was located;
2.
The principle of sharing capital works equally between the parties; and
3.
Sharing ongoing operation and maintenance costs between the states.
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