FAILURE to provide Riverland irrigators with adequate returns for purchases of water entitlements has seen the State Government overhaul a Murray-Darling Basin management program.
The Federal Government on Friday announced it would no longer participate in water buyback initiatives, which had previously seen percentages of water entitlements purchased in order to meet water savings targets set out under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan (MDBP).
Member for Chaffey Tim Whetstone said purchasing entitlements from local irrigators and growers was an ineffective long-term strategy.
“The Riverland has seen first hand what the buybacks have meant to the economy,” Mr Whetstone said.
“We’ve seen the cheese-cutter and patchwork effect when we buy water out of properties. It doesn’t work.
“For those desperate to sell their water, they can do that, but the working model is about making sure we continue to grow food and that we continue to be the most efficient water users in the basin.
“To stop the water buyback is to stop the cheese-cutter effect in the Riverland. We’ve seen that through the first implementation phase of the basin plan and it didn’t work.”
It is estimated buyback deals – the majority of which occurred between 2007 and 2014 – saw 1230 gigalitres of water obtained by the Federal Government, equating to around two-thirds of water available for environmental use.
Murray-Darling Association CEO Emma Bradbury said saving water through “more effective project planning and infrastructure investment” would have greater benefits for Riverland communities.
“The buyback scheme had the best intentions, but as a means of achieving sustainable environmental water recovery it didn’t work,” Ms Bradbury said.
“It created division, pitting communities and the environment against each other.
“The two greatest challenges to the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan were policies that recovered water for the environment at a direct cost to community wellbeing, and disjointed oversight that eroded local confidence in the Plan.”
Water Minister Keith Pitt recently revealed an independent review had found a targeted 450GL of recovered water by 2024 was unlikely to be met.
Member for Barker Tony Pasin said new Federal Government funding would be used to improve river health, while also increasing “trust and transparency between governments and communities”.
“A total of $34 million is being allocated by Government for those communities hit hard by water recovery to help increase economic activity, diversify economies and create jobs,” Mr Pasin said.
Mr Whetstone said further development of Murray-Darling Basin legislature was required to “find a balance” between the needs of local irrigators and Federal and State Governments.
“It took us a century to get the Murray-Darling Basin into the mess it’s in and we’re not going to fix it overnight,” Mr Whetstone said.
“We’ve got to be careful about how we spend taxpayer money, but we’ve also got to be mindful of how beneficial the basin is to our food production and our economy.”