Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Lawrence and Vanclay, 1992; Murray-Darling Basin Authority, 2010). Indeed, it was
not until 1994 that the Council of Australian Governments formally recognized that
'the environment' was a legitimate user of water (Council of Australian Govern-
ments, 1994). Before that time, water was viewed almost exclusively as an input to
regional agricultural and industrial production and for the domestic water needs of
regional setlements.
The environmental problems of the MDB came to a head at the height of the
most recent drought from 1997 to 2008, a time at whih inlows into the Murray
River were at historically low levels. The famous River Red Gums on the Basin's
floodplains were severely water stressed and flows into the lakes and wetlands were
a mere trikle, threatening biodiversity and drawing atention to the extent of irriga-
tion being undertaken. In 2009-10 an agreement was signed between the prime min-
ister and the premiers of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia on the 'sus-
tainable' distribution of water in the southern Murray-Darling Basin for this period.
he federal government also launhed its
Water for the Future
initiative designed to:
take action on climate hange; reform water markets to increase eiciency and pro-
ductivity of on-farm irrigation; secure future water supplies via desalinization, wa-
ter recycling and stormwater harvesting; and to 'buy-bak' water entitlements from
farmers - thus allowing water to be returned to the environment (Department of
Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 2010b).
A key feature of the water 'buy-bak' was the allocation of $3.1 billion to pur-
hase the water entitlements from willing sellers. It was estimated that to ensure the
long-term survival of the river system, some 3,500 gigalitres per year - equivalent
to a 22 per cent cut in available water eah year for irrigated agriculture - would
be required. ABARE calculated that there would be a 15 per cent reduction in the
gross value of irrigated agriculture if this amount of water were to be returned to
the environment. Through the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), an oppor-
tunity has recently been provided to interested parties to comment on the plans to
divert this amount of water to the environment. The National Farmers Federation
(NFF) - the peak national body of farmers - has rejected the proposed Basin plan
out of hand. It argues that there would be a contraction in farming, a reduction in
farm numbers, and furthermore that removing water from agriculture would have
indirect, negative impacts upon country towns. It questions the science behind the
MDBA's figures. It believes that the states, not the commonwealth, should be the
ones determining water allocation, and it questions whether current food produc-
