of bigation water in the Mumf lar i~ ing

Basin

Phil Simmons. Dav id Poullcr d Nigel H. HaJl

This work in copyright, 'The C I I ~ ~ I ' I R ~ I A(,I /W prmitr bit dt3lllng for study, reuarch, newt reporting, ctiricia;m or rcvirw. Sclccted pasages, uhlcr or diltgrams may be rrpPduccd far ~uch purpws provided ~cknuwkdpment of the wrcc ir included. Major extnas M ~ h c cntirt rlocumnt may nol be tepnwlwcd by my p~tmcrss without wriltcn

pmigrian of !he Exccutivt Dimtor, ABARE,

ISSN IO.W.9527 ISBN Q644 IQb20 b

Tclcphonc ((MI 246 91 I I Fursimilc ((Mi) 246 W Tckx AGEC A A ~ I N

ABARE is r prafeuionally i nvmh uglniruion vttsrhtd m tk hpanmtr of Rimrry Indu?itrics and Energy.

Foreword

Inthepm five ycmncw ~IICKI h r c k n &vcCoQcd and ~ m p k m m d m 1rn8mtcd qricul~un: In the Mumy-hr l~ng 0arln. In mwrcc manrgcmnt at h h the state onl Commonwealth levclu. tkrc ili Iwnaaln8 emphrsir an c f f i m y . ?%IS move toward greater cfiiciency rrflect~ a rccognltlim of [he 'uwer pays' pnnciplc and d lhc netd f(w grcaet mohility of ~ ( 0 u n . c ~ to ccw with chung~npccorotnic citiumstmncts. Run: 1s

also ~ncrcaring; cmpharr~s on the envimnrnentol effcctr of rcrource UM!

decl~locls. In ttusady , thc mmts and shortctnntnps

of went d pmpwicdchangcr in plrcy arc dixussed with~n m e c m ~ c fnramework. The ~mpliceiions of transfcreblc water tn~itkmenrs and of salinity pbicrn\ for dcvelopmens in inlgalitm In thc Murray- Darling Basin ore cxrun~ml. and a necd for

lnKgntmn of pol~cur (WI y~l t r nlhts uwl lullnuy IS idcnlifd.

'Ihr nudy i, the first %lye in r new pmgnun d nuarch Into irn$um lrnucr k i n8 undmtrkm rl ABARE, Ar such, ~t prurldcx r InmrwcHii fur future d~runucm ad m overv ww of lhc ksucr, Future work In the prugnun will p a v d e 8 modcllinu k i n for a cktrlkd quu~titattvc tnatment nl rndivrdurl irbwr.

BRIAN FISHER !.'.1t~~u11vt Dtt P( tot

AuJUrl~an Bunru of Agncultuml and R~MWKC Fxtmnn~ch

Junc 1991

Contents

Summary

1 Intduction

2 Goals of irrigation policies Main~enlmtw old rkvcltqmcnl Enic.icn~ ~ ~ M W I I C ' C rlltwutim bvimnmncnlul p r ~ l b

4 Issues in watcr transferability Mcntv of ~rimslcrahtltty Outattmling issues

5 Salinity control Buckgrcruntl lo pdiq R j l k y in~lrummlh lr~rplcmcnrr~itu~ trl' pol11.y

6 Policy directions

List of ho,ues,jigirres and tahles

Boxes I Ef~icccwy ~n compl~nncc u ~ t h UIIIII~~ ~rtan~tud* 26 2 Effect of ulincl? tax in ~nulnhlc ~ rnn i t t uhcn ~ o c r I + ~hc ld twd .#U

Fig u rcs A Inipation dcvclopnvn~ in ~hc Munay-llorling Mw\rn H Mapr nvcn ol the Mumg- t)url~np Bacin C' (:;n~lndwuur txcurrcncc I~I thc Murruq- I)wl~ng H a w

Ihblcs I Wcg~maI d~r~rrhut~rm ol Murny~~lJarl~ttp rrnjarcd ugn~'ulrurc, IVXS.Wb 7 2 E\titnure$ of Ihc vuluc c r l driltltrnrl water allauaticw~ 10 rcpr~wn~utivt tarntr 1 I 3 Elr~matct of watrr uw hy r r p r c w ~ ~ ~ v r l a m a1 \ U ~ I ~ L I ~ ~IICCI I I 1 Impnmce of imgotcd rgr~c~ullun., h) \taw: IYXh-I47 3.5 5 Ilivrrihution of ' Imi \ in Nru Sou~h WPIC*. V i ~ t t w ~ i ~ and Sottfh AUII~U~II~.

hy cnduttrq ond pn)ptnlon of lunn rlrcu crrip#ctt 1 YX(r.47 36

' h c unpm r y w n m thc M m j -h i#r l r h- wlh i& h 1 ~ 9 of q u L m ml ~ a l ~ u t r m , a vtmimg wurraslng wmm &r M m a thPl rcqum rmcmn.rwwwnK m f m . ' r k prognun of mnn-w nfm &In$ ~mpkmcrucd by br

mi Cmuronwculth kho~ fixurrd ddwc un unnc arc&\ that were ~ V I O U ~ ~ vw~ed an pmmtlcr fur ryanmal Jrvclopnmt. Inrreuln$l>, o mmwl ppcc.ttvc 1% being rpplicd w~ ~ h c alkxlrlwm of ~ h c natnn's rcuwuccs and the w p p l p~twW for lhru mu, and m p k s ~ r m p~llry IS

tm mwnng that nww'yu are alkwcucd to rhcr nwct talucd ml urn Ihl+ r r h v c l y new d~mlum tn pllcy ha\ hcm rrtnfcnrd hy tht ~ n r r a ~ n g crnphn\l\ on cnvcrt?nmcntnl r\suc~ In rhc ttwmulat~on of polry and h) rhc vtcu that wlwnm of mwnr* n d~ffcrcnt end urs *wid &c Ilc.rtwnt of env~nmmcntd rfftxxr

Bo~h the ritatct ruwl the Ccxnmc~nwculth have \uhidlwd Munay -Diultng lmgulm In the p% to wh~cvc rcguwal dcvelynnent goulr Thta cubsldlrat~on perwas 10 the prcxnt tlmc; hurter. thc cmph \ t s has ~-hutgcd from wppm lor ncu Invcdmcnl in ~nfra+tnrcfure MI putut cobcralgc ol opervt~onnl and mrtntenance cxpcndltu~r. Cwrenily, the kvcl d whrdtua~~m 1s of the urdcr of SXK) mlllwn u year Same starcs have publlnhcd plans fur reduclnfi sub~d~uu~cm of ~mgntrun and for applylng [he 'uur pays' pnnc~pk to walcr charging.

Pnor~twl m n f m of Ihe ~m$altcm system Cwnrrh piodk~ on haw bccn trnpvermt of rhc cffic~nvy of mIcwy 01 disbibOn, w a t ~ d~.s(nbul~on ond unprwcmnl of wway wc* aud m v h r r r c r r l of wMcr supply to ImgPlorn. That hm also brm conaKtcrPMc polrry rrfonn m rehion lo conuol of the mvtrunmenlal cffcar of rhc lmgam system.

I t a cwnakd rhrt the pcm~tul mum lo tncrtmnlnfi cffictcncy In wrtm UK through ding w r v r mtttkmmr trrnofmhk n around W) nullrrm r ycrr fnr the tlonrn ar r whok, I f rnc~curd twrwlmhtlsy rtwltcd m wldcr being dt$tr~bulcd RKMT cfficrcntiy wrmc %twturi~I pd~u~ttncnt could hc r ~ p t c d , urn cntcqrlx mixer wcruid c h p .

fhr pnwrpal cnv1lcw1mmtrl t rws nlalc lo ~ l m t t y nlrrwph 11% cffcdr nm woktr table\. Irrcgrllon har led lo the raltntrr~~on of ngncultunrl Id, and wltnlwtm of rhc Mum) Wtter bs duml ~hr qwl~ty o l br Adcbwle water wpply The c w h of the effcds of raltnlly tm thc qualtry of urban warcr puppltc$ arc cstrmntcd to hc mwnd YrS rntll~rA u ycw, and the aprtcultural louwr a s w r u ~ d with \al~ntt~ arc csrirnatcd to hc m the nptcw of $37 m~llcm r yt iu

Transferability of water.1 entitlements

Snrnc Inpwmeats matie Consikmhlc pjgrrs\ has been nladt by ihc a4mt.v cta te~ ~n ~ncrcaaing the tranrfmbi#ty of water

enl~tkmcntrr. All of t k +taws involkd 111 Busln ~rngutic-rn hrrvc tntrrrtfuccd trans&ruhlrtj to vnrymp catena. Howtvcr, rhm m arll mma ahtwt the pcrtcntirl Idjusrmnt and communq C~HIS ~sscwia~cd with high kvcls of tranefcn. and all ot' ~ h c staka m ail1 inhihlthp lranafcn to urn entent. lrnpcd~ments i a t d c bans on pmwcnl tranafm tn many arras, rrsmtions on transfers hctwccn tr$lcw;lr and m s , and Itmimicm m the s i n of rmfm. lbc Victorian Rural Wartr Cmit .s i~ (1 has tul~wnrrd the rcm~vol of m a ~ r ai thee irnpcdimcnls in its

mtnt hur~msx plan. Am~hcr kvclapmcnl in thc statcs i s thrl pnduc~rs ur imwasinply k ing involved in the manvgcmnl of !he imgotion system.

h;ml lo fatthcv m l u ~ lmpuvcd efficirncy in fhe inip!im wuer ia~p&wcrft ro tnurftr qf m d t l i s moa;r likely to hr ochicvcd t h # h u8l8r -.-,----*,.-.*------.

furrhcr mnovd uT impodimmtb to thc tmmfcr -.- - ,9 OM^. AM VM* ptp~ 91 n

d wracr. The mpr &a d immd wucr nraafdnlny ur. fm, thu it rcwrltr in d i m # a h a to prlrducrry, e m wrthtwrf c h g c of cntnpiv type, md smnnd, hat v incrcms in igm' rnwmmc Ikxihitity m cturghg k i r wttnobg~s cu tnduxm. Water enlitiEmcarln hhmic a mali~rhlr ~ w t that inig100(?L CUI

tndc off for other f w m , Eficmy of wwr uw rlw ~mpnlve\, hccruv rmzfcrnbk water ollacatbu have a market p c and thus an oppwtunity mt, givinp rrripalrm r financial ~wentivc nut to waotc WMW und to 81vc cucful cmsidctatim lo 11s usc.

Scnne I~,KUCI remain ccwern~ng thr rtl;ccts of rncrcawd trmnsfcnhil~ry. initirlly, na;iwtarwe to transfcrahilrty of water cntttlcmcntr wan enctwnlcrtd k a u u of l c m lhal r c g u m ~ in whlch wllln# prcdom~nricd wcwld undergo ccmtnnic contraction. Expcrlencc arwc thc ~ntrixluct~cm of limrtrd trnnrkrub~lity huh nol hrm thir cwt. T)mc arc also ~rmL.erns in thr! cucit\. of liecurit) of tenure. eficct* of change!+ in water u u tm third panes, and the ~wluuicm of public-pd and envirtamcntal ccwrtdcrnt~cma In thc rnmrketinp of' water. For the mmt ppl( it w m s lllcly that these isswr can he nw~lvcd thrcwgh further rruemh into thc uxul Pnd economic c f f tc~s of ~ranr,fcrable water entitlcmcntr, and thc extenriim of tnf(mt#m lo dtspel h h t r abut the way ncw M e t rules would opcrare.

Salinity Sal~nivattm of tk Mumy River is being dcalt ,W&y rarrruyrd 1rongh with primarily through the three-rtatca h e - r & a f d ~ agmtrnrnt agrrmcnt. Thia agreement, jointly firwrcd by New h t h Wales. Vicloria, . W h Au~lralki and the CcmmwcolC placer quota on each w ' s contrihulion to salinity in the Murray. Policy for dealing w l the effects of lwrlinily on agricultural WS has pmxukd in the w s through the eurMiJhmcM of txnnmunity gnup to increase local r w a m m of poMems and

h t r wlul~ma. Thr mionr of thew pnyn arr lnirprted virh ~ r r r u c afir~utturol dgwrrmm~ enknutwr pu&rm~. h m ~ k d financial rncrnt~vlcr hovc hrm u d 10 l h # e trnpallw" 'prrwrrKCl.

If thr ullnrty ptubktn cmmsnuo rcl cu.rrkuc, new policy Inblrumentb utll nccd to hc ccmbtdcmi. ofrwm% could rncluck ruhldrrrng ~l tcrn~t lvc pracricec. taKatlcm c r f rn~~aforb' ctmtnbut~mr to uflautc lol~nit!, thc uw IB eamlcrrhk -11 yutnnr. m d rrpulrwm thrrwgh ~liandvrls. Of thew &ppnwhc\. trrsrkrohlr 41 rtnt~+.sitm qu(#a% ruwl urlt ernlcl\fion tsxc\ arc IfLely lo hc hrsI In Iemb of colt of .C.~KVCIIIC~~

ut al~nrty $ c ~ l h . It' the 'p~l luvr p q 3 ' p r ~ w l p l ~ IS fwbpicd. wtlin~ty tsnc\ wtruld hc thc he\t wii) ot applyrnp 11. tiowcver, t'urthcr, rrwurch I\

W d to povK)r: [he rnStmat)(m ICcy.\uiq for r k rn~plrmcntnt~m cd such ii ptl@)

.Wn@ rrd tmn~erobiIiilp lkcrc are krth lhecrret~c~~l @d pract~cal an linked naxms why lhc sal~nity pohknr &wlcl IM?I hc

vrewctl rn cwblon irom t rrn~lcrrt#~~) ol uulcr cnt~tlcnwntr. Ah long ar uatcr rtplqs IICJ to lrncl anti wiltrr uw I\ HRI~ICII~II! p&rd, s;rllnllj torcr or rran~fenuhle all ptmitr IJT unltb.elj' ro havc much 1nl1ucrt.c twi uwrcr u u LHf k r ~ c cur sulln~ly. k c u u ~ in [hex cctrcumstiLllfcr ~nlpatcm an unllLrly to hnvc ruttic-rcnt krnrrccs to djurt thclr ~wu.ticc+.. Imgrtor\ wbh rcbtl~cl) r;llurrhk fired wcltcr olk~nwnt, urll haw ~wrther thc oh1111) mn the nnrtr\nlmn to nrdwe \cuter u r to thc u w i ~ l l j op1tt1~11 ram. Inccmtnr~, rht t l r ~ ~ b r l i t ) pnjvtdcd h! rrrn\t'crnhlr uarcr c~rl~tlcnunlb s t ~ ~ l l d ~AC'I~IIYIC ad ju~ tn~n l 111

m p m x 11) iwntrvcl rcsultrnp fro111 cia11 [axe\ or tmdcruhk -11 p t ~ l t ~ .

Policy directions I f micnm~~nnk rrfoml i f government services 1s 10 hs swce:clisful, ir i b necessary 4al wbidics (m thc supply d water for irrigation and other purpe* phwd out. 'Fhe riming of such a phasing out vllwld require a t&-off between the cvstr, of over-rapid adjustment of tcchndogy

md e y n ~ a ~ nr~kw*w#n, cm t h~ rhr m, uml cm fhc Whcr lhc c w s In Ihc nwnmunlly nf ctmtrnutng 10 suh*rdru thr rnga lm tRdu*tr)

In SKY of the uqcwy of the pOhkrm% mumi h) nvrr md land utlrnrr), and thr hrgh p m t ) currrn~l! k ~ n p @I\ en to cn~~nmnrntwl Irrucs, 11 rr rmpnmt t h t thc rcw~lut~nr uf th~b pnlbkm pumch In hnh pn cllcc.t~vc and rrr cfrrcrent way Eff~ iwncj wi l l rcqulrc lk ~ntcgwwm of plmnr fn nmvlnp rcmrlnlng thtark% lo tmsfcrohtl~tq id water wtth plruls tor the tnstmcnr ot wlln~ty As ntncd ohrb\c. 1I water renwlrnr ruhtpnr~rll) IKJ In Id r u h ~ d ~ r d , Irngsrmr will IMN cfticuml) u r what 1% pc~mlrull) l k ~ r best rlnttcg) ftu dcalrn# urth wlrntty - that rr, rdwtnp wnlcr uu

A~bthcr ImpcKtanl m a lcn prllc). I\ t k trcatnwnt of rtrk\ itrur rirrcd w rth lhc cffcl I\ d ~colhcr cm rrrtpstron uatcr *uppl) Walrr wunty rcmam\ u&r rcpulalmq ccmtrt~l, uhrch l~rn~lr the rrch nwsgcnrrrl ~ h o ~ ~ c i opcn la pnxjw.cn and mu) rwH enbun thc hcrt allt~atnm of r~rk htrbl~rhmcnt of u nrarlirl tn nphh lo vatcr w ~ ~ h d~l'fermt k rch 1 ~ 1 wunt) rrm) cnubk n nnw cffic~cnt twlctnnc lo he xh~evcd, hrc.rcur thee tnrfrumcntr u ~ l l allow tkm. whtr ur\h ttr reducc rhc r~rk the! twe to do UI

Introduction

k i n g undcnden by the C"tmmcmwcalch ond '~IPICR has lcd to a m-cvrluut~tm trf ~ J L v \ that lnlptngc im hnh public and priuoltc Inlcrc\f\. In partsular. quc\titm~ hrvc k c t ~ rarwd rcgardrng thc rrlatnvc rrnpntrncc of regional and nattrnlul rkvclcbpnwn piwls. F u prcrtcr cmphrsr\ wa\ pluvcd on rcgirwrl tkvcliynnen~ pritwltu\ In thc ( ~ $ 1 than now: thew I+

growing rurarcne:\\ that much of thc lnvcsuncnt that has hccn urwlcrtrhcn in

"n;u.ccptrhly cortly lo mrintarn and tkvclryl uhcn vrcwn3 tmm n natr<nel

~rnpIrcatri~~\ lor \uhrdlc\ 1l1nt are slr l l

Icvcl\ I~IU) tr r hurtirr~ on thc ccrrntrlny u\ u wltolc

The nccd It4 u n~ttonal pefipxlrvc ha\ t t ~ u w d altmtlcw CHI U)IIK of thc tradc.oll\ that arc nccc\\rr\ In d ~ u x t n ~ n l lowed grrtrtcr cffic~ency. Thr\ 111 lruc ot ~ h c Inrgallcm wetcr wrmonl) ot thc Mum)-Ilarlrnp Buun, cr hrch I\ ur#leqolnp f u m n l i i l rrfim~ III thrr wrrj 11 t\ tim.Ctd. 11% maru~pcmenl and i t* iltst~tuticonrrl h s i h . Thc reform has clsarly ckfincd pcrols in im\ of iwrruscd ct%cicncy in water UU: and crwt cmla inmt . hut i t has also rrvrakd

whirh solutic~nh arc rcquircd.-For exmpk, gmucr trurcfcnbility of water ent~tkmmr% hm apparent implwnr~nr for water mun t y . Alm, lhc wrdcr wWccppnrc of the ' u w pays' pnncipk ha& ~reatcd i w m concerning thc off- ~ l c cffcct$ of lnrpr l lo l aclrvrtres, envrmmntnl depndattol, the w ~ a l rmpllcrtm\ of siruc.tural *u~mcnt and thc u ~ ~ a ~ ~ of difldknt rtratcples for rlcrlinp wrth ulinlt). ';

Many of thew i w w 4Rtend m n \ xllrlr hwwlanes. and quid ccxqxnrtwm rn situetmr whew rnccntik$ for 'CH.YCII(~

arc clculy in ctmflrct. Othdlh uc pla~nly $talc-levcl pn*lcms rquirJhg action b) utalc govcmmcnts w~thln l)c contcxi of thctr own plans fcn cccmcdc m d u r ia l dcvclrrprmt.

In this prpcr. thc mcrct\ and h.~rc#ninps of wc"cnt Ihd prcvwd p i i c y chrmpr\ nrr d iscad. tn the wtmwiric irismrucxk cmpbycd. w;elfm l a takm to he mcn\ured hy perronrrl i w i m and, lo P ICSSCT exlent, i n c m ~ a b i l ~ t y . Thub. unnc of the pliticrrl and social nalil~\ of the policy pnccss have ntcrssarily been ipncmd. Thrs appmauh seems rcu~mrrhlc, sinre rhc paper i n concerned wtth tho.cc ~ s p t c t s of adjustment in the imgarian warm muket that n likely to ~mpurgc cm the ecanomy rs a w h k rather than cm qwific invrest pnwps.

Goals of irrigation policies

The Mum)-Dlul~np Barln Ir imc of Ausarl~a'i mcrrr pduc.tl\c ~precui~urrl area\ C'impung tw.wrcnlh al the \urfwc arca of Auslralu, 11 pduccr ahcwt one-th~rd of Aurtral~a'r rurrl clutput nK: Basin wlqurnr 15 pcr cent of the ~atnm's cnilk and dulq pnmluc~sm and alrilul 50 per rcnt of the ptwluccttm (tt hccp and lnnih 11 cintalri\ ~ h t u t 31 per r rn l of ~ h c ctsuntq'r lilnrl \u~t,~hlr k)r c n p , and r k w l 75 per cent (,I 11%

~rnpalrd land Aprrultunl prtwlwtrtm from the Murruy- 1)rrllng H a w I\ c\t~muted to hr. wtmh olcr JIO(Wl0 mllllcm at lhc farm paa (Murray -I>urllnp Bwsrn Mlnlr~crlal ('cwnr~l lVH71r1 A nitm &ts~led dewriplwm of ~hc rrp~mal d~ \~nhu~~u r i ol lrngelrd priuluctrtm In the Basin 1s gavcn In tab& I ;md qpcnd~r, A Thc phy\~cal charac~cn*t~cs 01 the Batm and r t \ \trprapcr are surnnrar~ud ~n nppd l x B

In Ihr Ilpht ol lhc uliictunl (11 pnducrccrn trnm lhe' Ritrln arid 11s

~mplmr In lhc rurul rccwu~ny, ctrwcn'l ha* artwn over the cl'l~c~tcncy and r u ~ l ~ h ~ l ~ t ) (11 *nm I)[ I!& kprrlntlvr crmln>l* lha~ tnllucncc dcrrbk~i ~~whlnjt In thc H u m 'T"h~cl ctwrrn hur ~nc.~ulccd In rcccnl )ear\ W I I ~ ~ h c ylrcrwlng ~mpcwlurwc 01 t~ur~rcwittwwn~r. rclrmi In nultonlrl cconorillr. plol~in~np 'I'hr ('rrmnionuculth ontpram of t#lh.rn", wimrmlc rcliml hrr\ Ilir ovrritll ul~rr of Iltcrcrsrnp ccccnrrnrlc clf~c~cn'y and kw?c uw'lal ucllurr. I t Ir IIZOIIVUIC~ by ~ h s ~wnoplc that wcllwrr r-oultl hc 1mpt)vcd hy rnuxlnllrlng Ihr dtllcwnvc k twr tn ~ h c ccrrl ml vuluc 01 ~ m d i ~ t a m . Fur ra g~vcri tlulc of tcchnolclpy. l l i th will IKLW when rcwmrccr rlrc allc*.~tdd lo thcrrc pndwcrr who talw them 1tn191 h~gbly. Hcclrure such an IIII~K.UII~II r w m l l y rKrun through the ~nrcrpluy of

1 Rcgiard dUributbn d Mumy-Darling i d p l e d qricolsn: IW-W6

markel forcer, much d t k reform lo clntc ha* rnvcrlvcd r m r r l of cmstraintr tm thc purrbhwu id uk of bbnur. copirrl and rcuwrcex.

Whlk WlHltHtlK ~ f f ~ l C W y 15 the # l d 01' mwrrwrmnwrmlc relimn, mvmmcntal fwtrwr arc ktrmtnfi an twrcilvngly tmpmrnt clemcnr m overall efi'wwnc) rmr&nstms. Mllrket f w m a h wil l M rl w ay x ~ndwr: trrigrttm to undcrtDlkc conn r rv r r~~~~~ lo the MXIIII~ opttnral cntcnt. Thus povcmmnr tnurvcnnrm tn c~wnntcr~~rl ~K'IIVII~ nuy he nwcsuury In vtm ~IIUPII~HII (O achtcvc an ryrclmal I d - o l l III thc ullc of mwrrwi. Th in prtwlplc 1% plrntculsr r n ~ ~ c tn nlattc~i to rnlttrity .

111 rhc tormuluttm ol' cconomlc ~Jtwns. 1 hnwl range cd' wchl Ywttm urc tden urto xcxwnt. Thew PIC of partlculrrr trmpttrtmce tn thc crmrxt of rrtimm m the wvtcr mPna. F~N. w h m a policj would olhcrwirc rcsult ~n \r$nrt'bcw! n.cfuc.tnw\ ~n Itvtrrp rwndonls ol' +pa-~lic pnwrp\. II tiuy hc p h r 4 in pruduall!, iu pmcctlcd by a uvrnrng writ4 ui r b t the hurdcn of rwljuhtmcnr I\ liphtcncrl and t h c ~ 13 uwrr wqx l~lx planrml l yudut~w ol uwtcts Scccwul. rcftwrn tn agncultuml rrcar durs MM usually pnwcd In iurlat~m fiwn rrpnml rk.vrlynrmit gcu11r. Whlk no kmpr rhc prwrity thsu they wsw in thc pa. wpxml Ilcwlrrpwnerrt g d \ ntmm un rrnponml aym.1 td nrrticml rrummic policy 4. w h m strur'tud Ndjummt ir w ckmenr m pdrcy. gr~vcmmls haw p r c b t d d

suppllrr 16 as<ist thc cnirrivc rralkat'irwr nl' cty,rl~I and k w r , horh within and hctvrcen ~ g ~ m a , F ~ d l y . fair hrurrd gcds for a\wrumlic rcftmm~ in the Mumty- Darling Basin iniprt~tm systml wwr &milied in W e XYWI (Dcpomnent of Rcslm-cs tuwJ h t q y 1983). .,.,.-m.-.-- ---.-, "-."- .-,.- 8

'Prrorrly In water rteourrc deuckqnwnl fw unfirwlcm In ~ h r ycu !tHN uhuutd bc gtvcn la Ihc cmpkrm trf thmc pruwts already undcr Cunrsnrullon 'The nrxr pr~onty should go tcr propts umcd at improrang the recurtty ol suppl~er for exl\llnp trrtptnWt h v c k ~ l or lo l b w w h n r w w u u n wcwlM hc ehk In hew an apppna~e pupntirn of the dcvekpnmc rmts. tn addtt~an to full tqwralng and motntenlncc cclrt\ 'The m a p cmpha\is la nucling ncu wakr dmundr In tmgdrd rpncukurc to thc year ?(MU) l ik~uld hc on rncrcarctl cffw~mc) oE waicr uu 'Plgowls for p&jcctr should hc fully cvuluatd on r Qlpmprchcnuve hwm. tnvdvtnp ilpncul0)ral. f im ta l . wmlnrti, stwlal, rccl)rattcmal and I d ullc Issue\ '

Whrk i t I* ntw ckar why tNI Cmnrnlrs~m bcl~evcd that walcr \upply xr;rrt) \hould he tncrcau.d P ~ V C cx~strng kveh. 11 urwld M)I he 41sputcd thdt mtnlmmncrr of the tmgrttm syrlem and \upply rccurttq should have some prront) However. 11 1% thr lnsl two cd these rccommendat~onh that ore hccwn~np ~ h c twu.* of pl icy dlru\uon

Maintenance and development In rhr c d y dnuln d ~ h c Murray-Wmg

tfllg~~Ml Sy-, dl!&uS.\h~ i ts effrciewy mainly cmphasid the supply sldc. In view 01' the need dm f a dewk.lpncnt of utfmumun. and the xgk. of public uvrlrs invdvcd in irripmn. Cotlraprcntly . the d i s c u d s dealt mainly with efficiency in mvcying. distributing and applying water and wi th ~ h c

phr\ihiliric% ftw l l n p m m , Mrc nrmrty. *hh Ihc cmlpkctwm of du m ~ d r ~ d 6*. tmyzPrrltn \ywcm rmf grcnly mlud twrrrwl~tnr\ Itx il\ uwful e~pnsnm, FJK! dlwu\ucn\ hrrw r m p h o r ~ ~ d thc 11w-y d' chtnrvb htwcrm end uwr for water -. lor cauntpk. hclrcren d ~ f l m t apcultrml u n . vnrf ktwn u w m d~ffcmu wfrn. '#I\ dctate has ken ~rw'rca\mplj cou u~thtn an cccwtrmic Innrvork . uncl rrwuvuh b\ k n undcrlAcn el currnurc the Ilhely u x of ltw clTa~s of nwur rlFwmr witta nlkwiunrrr.

1hc ck.veltrprrwnt and nnrlnlcnancc of *arrr rtctrapcs arid tlirtrlhutlon \y\renlr haw In the puxr ~nvolvni the ('ornn~mucalth In large walc capital ttycntltrurrs. In the. 105th urd l W k thr constructitm t)1 darnr ~III~ watcr d~rtrthutlon \y\re.ms wii \ a ct~sp~cuttu\ t'ciltut~ ot' icdcrul huclpcls. This rcflcotrtl both tlw cmphrr\~\ tm agr~cullurt- and the tmpcrrrarrcc plvcn 161 rcglonal dcvclop~cnt ar~d Jcccntral~\at~c,n In thc wononltc plilnnlnp of thal pcrltwl I t 1%

nrw wtdcl) wcrprd thut mtnt of rhc II~;IJIU cnptnecrlnp wcrrl. In the Munay I)arl~np Hasln q r # m I\ ccmplctc and lhat the rcrurnr to urhtantirl ;Kklitwmal capltal wtakr would nclt bc high enough 10 wonant undcndtlng them lWatum and Htnc l(m(J). Thl\ marurutltm of thc r!.\tctn ha\ mulled in a rrrcrtsntatrtm ol pbllcy pr~or~rie\ toward lrnproving thr technical r(1iciency o f the (li\tr~buti~m \)\tern and cnwnnp that wrrlcr prrr trr thme imgatw\ who valw 11 mcnt highly.

Efficient resource allocation Thc efficiency of allocation of imgarion water within the Basin has come under

8rnxcawt# wmm) M populnr Jchrtr Randall ( IUWI) unl Mhcn have r q w i l b t the nol nturnk lo rh: awnnwnty fnm udng ~ni$rrlt\n watcr h v c nrm hrrn mwcmtml Wtth the p w n l ~ ~ l I ~ N earn\ f m n engrnccnng rmpvtcmentr bclctmlng ~ n c x ~ v n g l ) I ~m t t d . the lmuli of rhc elT~ctenc) dchPre ha\ ru~tchcd fnrm thc \tructuw I$ wa~et suppl) c)wnn 10 CHI ) C ~ C I I* uwd ~ t u l Ik nwurc of j r m d In I)cywnmnent d Rcxilruwcu umf h q y ( I W 1 I 11 Ir M P I ~ 'No k w h w m ncu rtorogcr wtll hr h i l t tcr meet tnrrcrwd u rhn und rural J m d r Howcvcr, linurclnl ctnhtnrtnl\. clu ucl l a\ en\~ninnrntal wrd rcn;luI n~ l~~dcnt t~rnrs . m It)icIy ((1 l e d I(I a preatcr cmphu\~r im twreawJ cflicwncy tn the U ~ C 01 ctlqllng \uppller tor upnr.ulrurc, u h r r and ~ndu.ctrrul uwci '

Alltwut~on ol water uo~crrd~ny, to pnwlplrr of ccrmclwrr CIIICIC~K"~ ha* hcn rtud~cd m depth by Anuur~ (I%), lkvtdum I I W t , Randall ( l O U l ) ~ n d tnrury taher\ The) rutcyttnur wnler i t n t c In hrcf WY)C

rruurcc cocit, oppcnrunlly roct. ~ ~ ' l l t l L(HI

Rc\c)urcc LO$/ ~h I ~ C rup11111, niaintcnan~e and operating cn*t\ of r c l n o t r s and dlrrr~hulron syxtems Oppnun~ t j cmt br rhc rnccm fcwpim uhkn uata 1% ued. I I~ ~CUIU~C I+ thc b a k of the water In 11% mnt valwhlc rltanlrl~vr cnd uw AI rhc rntcr-rrecuwrl Icvcl. planncrv nccd tu hc a w m rhat uslag watur a onc wctclr. ray thc aglficultuml mcn, hrlh nn rpmluntly ccrot: ltbsn of the opptmuncty at uun# rt In mhcr warn. *ay the urban w&W. At the mlra-crcclnrul lcvel thc *Pme

prlnr~ple OPPJKI. %upplying any ~ m g w creates coslh ahmnc~mled wllh Lml -_ __** _-" ----- -- .III.."lllIIII

9

cJOporrunnm far 4hcr mgumr. Fuully. ~ u r l c ~ b r ~ d l h c - r u u l c o r r l af w m lo t k ~cmnmrty mclurrve of ~hxmmu. mrmmmentrl Md al l other Carl%

I t 1% r condltton fur cconamlc cflwmcy that ttnal wtrl rVWr and trMl WUI btncrts m! a y u n ~ ~ d a the nwgtn - - thpl a. I ~ W the cws or ~ ~ I K ~ P I

wrter, ~wludmg cntchmcnt, drornhut~rr und mv~ronnunul couc, am quai to the benefits of wdd~t~mvl water m t m s of lhc valur of rtb urn. TO ~ U ~ K V C U1

clfrclent allocrtton of wrter 11 1%

necvrrrry alw to ~WIIIIC both margrnal bcnclir* and mugtnal carts hclwecn d~ffcrcnt uwn. For exmpk. th. guns im u unll u W t t m l wuppiy (I! watu for urbun uw Irhould just qurl the lam\ f m an IIJd#tcmal unll of wutcr alkrwtcd 10 Irngatlcm The m a p problems wlrh trnprr)vlng r lkultvc cllic~ency m wrlcr u~ In the luturc nrc lrkcly to hc holh tntcr-nglcmul (rother than ~ntm-rcg~ml) and rnter-wclorrl (rn~her than utra- uaml) way\ will necd lo hc loud of tnah~ng tradr-clft\ hetween dcvcl(ymcnr ohpttvc\ lor dllfercnr rcglon~ and hetwm itgncultuml, env~nmmcnul and urhnn end uw\ of water

At thr farm level, cffic~cncy rcqulrrr that the ttom nn ilddtlturwl unlt nl water h. the umc lor dl lmgatrm - 1ha all WWM TCLYIYC the vlmc galn (or return) Lmr MI a d d ~ t ~ i ~ ( ~ ~ l unrl 01 water To undentwnd why thtr a, ~mngtnc that low-wtum water uscn can wel l rhelr water to hrgh-return water uscn. and rhu holh m mmaally alla.ated thc samc qwt~t rc \ of wntcr. Tnde will then be m~uully rdvanlagcoub. bccaux 11 wtll rrwlt In rnrrcrrud t w l pnfirs - rhar la. Ihc htgh-mum Imglttor can p f i l from addtttanal Nntcr cvcn after

cumpmulinO rht low-mum hTi* fa kw pm.dwm. Thh ~mlr: will ~ M K la the pow when a further unit d water tnslcld wauM havc t k runr value to hoth purlclippnrs. Thn vdue will hc t k crmrgrml) opporruntty c m , at kw~ wtth mpnq to yrpwlun~tic, ovar)ahk In thol p ~ n ~ v l u M e ! .

11 1% Lhr WIMIPI k~ tmpa~1vcd Mil! indumtry pfis, and Itam ultrmlucly for incxascn in notronrl i w m . that has mnrivad much of the dcbv ahwt the tnnrTcrotnl~ty of water rluotaa In the pwl k d c . fhr caw liw I ~ s f c r ~ b l i l y msts un the view that the lcvcl of Inpub hut 1s cumntly bcbg used can, through voluntuy reallalion. hc u d w~ us w glvc higher kvcis+f' prr~l'it and hence ccnrtribulc mcm I@,, the nrl~c~tal n m m y . In ~ h r r word$ the nctuul opportunlly co\ts of p # w r wrter supplieh have not hceq rccnvercd. k a u u stnm profitable u!& w m bang prcvetucd.

In di~uhuiuns of' transf@ahil~ly. 11 I\

~ m p n r n t to distlngul\k thc (often bubsidid) govcmmcnl c h a p l iw wurr wpply from pnccs mt which imguror\ trade allocittions. Those who hove purchased wnler allor.aicmr pay P charge kx klivcry nl the wrter, ngardkss of the pncc thcy hnvc prud fw ?he nlkrcunron qwm. This charge cmpnrsaYs Ihs slam for u k*st ume of the cost\ i n c u d w mrintenwe of srmpcs nnd runnlng thc distrihruion sjiucm. The c a t of wavr to the uxr (which will in theory equal thc oppwrunity cast1 is rhc cmbinalion of these two pnccs.

Lincu programming models can be uvtd lo quantify some of the d. tonions that cunrntly exist in the irrigiiticm water market. A description of such modcls is ptxntod in Hall, klalluwaurrchchi and

M A R E Bv assnm pp 91 .A

nr UI p u n t to tnd~v~dual npwnlatlvc farms In sclectcd regions of the Murmmb~dpcc Valley are prrxntcd In table 2. In Mimull and Bcnercrnhoh tt

WCMII~ k pn,fitablc to UM Mcne water on cxl\tlng lrmc ol currcnl dclrvcr) pnccs, wh~lc in aher rrrg~irnh d t l t m a l watcr uw would MU k cconomr. Llncru prrqtnunmnp t~knyucs havc hern uwd ftr the \iW rcgttms In c lc~rmtn~ thc watcr UK (m rrpmL"n1nllvc l m s it1

dlftcrent wwer pncn (able 3). Whert

l;btImia ol gains hm tmndmbillt y Ciemxh I 1984) cutlrnrrd ur mnurl nct grin far Vlrtrlriun producers of rrpprox~mrcly 52.5 nllllion crn lW dollan) fmrn n I px cent transfer ol' water. onJ .gave >..I0 prr cent r r w the Itkcly prt~Ht i tm of alltwn~encs In hc ~rilded fcrilowing the ~ntnduvt~on trl'

~ranmCeroNc cntitkmcntr. Fnm r srmplc c x t p o i n t h ~ ~ to tworporav New Swth Wrk i ~nigatlcm m m a . k w d tnl land use, thc cxpcrud Irm~ tMm pucn Irrm tmrlrrnbi l~~y ~ftcr nil vrdjur~mcn!s h d cwctrrcd wrwld he of rhc c rk r of SQ() n ~ ~ l l h .

5 I w 1 9%) I Y I Y 10 I W I UML I UIY 15 I an I n.w I YIY ?I) I IH 1 na) I YIY 25 . I 40s I #WI I V I Y D I 168 I JOI 1 377 35 727 536 926 40 5 19 531 W2C, 4s a3 M? 405 50 .M3 2 5 7 - - . 4V5

--..".--. M l w u m ~ oftrn@wm mrrr,

Brrgga Clartr, Colltnn. Mcnz and Jahnuan ( IW), eumtnrng ttk: p t m l n l impcr ul thc r ~ l ~ f r r h l t t y 01 wnim mnknncntr an thr Mumunhrdgcx: Vrlky mgum, rlu) fcntnd Ihr( grnc, wtmM bc Irkdy 10 result frcm the intndw~rtm of lranstcrrhle watcr cnt~tlemcntc, Adjurtmcnt would hc a w a y from lm$pllcd pasturn (whcrc thc worwm~c rctum on wutcr ir l o w ) and toward cmpping (whcre rhc rcinxmiic return (XI

water 1s htphcr), oat, rcluld replace urn wheat pnductliwr. and rtcc production would hc ilkcly to ~wrcau" ACJL ( 19M 1 faund lhal iwreaw?tl tranrferahtllty in Vtctma wtwld rc.iult m ~ r ~ m a w d mlncd Smtnp a d vunlrner critpptnp al the cxpncc of grating

Environmental goals &It front ~ h c Murray-llarllng basin irnprlitm \y%tem 19 caurlnp ihmtlpc to qr icul turr l land. reducing South Australian urban nutcr quullt) and &nlaging nvlt~vc hahltat und recreatton hervlcm In hushlund. Ihe true lc~al cost uf thew ef'l'rc.tr IS not hmrwn hcciluv of tlrc diffbculty of nrasurinp 1t~sc\ to thc cnv~mclmrnt in f i m u l lcrmr. Hcrwevcr. i t sccnrs lihcly that thc nwin costs arc those pcnuning ti) urbw water qual~ty.

That thcrr i s cimern a h ~ l t ~111nlty control 1% not surprising. III IICW of wnrns d' thc cstimratcs that havc hren ni& f~ costs ~\s(riateYj with ~ l l n ~ t y . Atrnual a~nculturul Imws fnwi salinity. ignurinp the costs that would hc ~s?;r~~~'iulcd with comtlng saltn~l) that has already c~cunrd. urr estimated to b uvund $37 million. Md uhan losses from rtver salinity, agiiln ignoring ~ ~ l ~ o r s l i o n rx~ts, an cstimrtd to hc $65 mill ion (Young, Cochs and

Humphrirs 1W). 'lhPr is. ignonn~ mlmcd lo envimmentnl -, the annual grmr cost lo thc Au~tnlian ccmmy of salinity in the Numy- Darling Baqin has been cntimrtcd In be of thc order of SI(10 mi l l~m, Houcver. thew publihli?JKd csttrnatcv do yt take mm? ~ c c m t the tallcmstivc awft -- thw of avoiding h e halt cmirsions cmcmcd.

Social awareness of thc cnv~ronmcntnl impacts of govcmmcnt and commctcid practices has ~ n c m a d In the par1 dccudc. Th~s bss rcvultrd in the cnvimnmcntal effects of some lrrlgation practice\ caming under wrutiny. Rising watet tables and incmd salinity have hcQInr impmwt concerns at both thQ state and C'ommmweal~h levcls a, with sonlr of the issues crossing statOhoundaries. a high kvcl of caopcrat~o+ ha\ emerged hoth betwccn Ihe slwtcs t&t iworpuratc the Hasin, and Mtwcen thc Commonwealth and 9Ctc~. i f f the f(mulation of policy. In pltrirular. nslng watcr tuhlcs and askc~atcd salt c(mImi~t i (m of apricullRJral llind and of the River Mumy havc injected st new urgency into thc Issue of Iransfenhili~y 01' water mlitlcments and mto dtscussion of the overall efficiency d the irrigation syucm. Sulinity 1% resultiq in prcssurcs for svuctural djustmcnt in Murray- D d i ~ Basin imptcd agncultun. ruld the otdditicmal lZcxihility for imptors imptrod by msfcrable water quoltas i s likely to alkviatc somc of the economic pain cxpec~cd to he cru.d by this rwtjwtrncnt .

In ~nrtclusbn. the major goal of policy change in irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin i s greater cfitcicncy in the management and q m & m of the system. This will rquirc

containing cwtu *nd impmving the incmmne in cficrcnr.)r, uwl mu or o henefiw ha fEow an lo the community ncpma iuuc. In the wlrt cttaptcr, thr f m chc irrigation system. In this imptnm policies of thc nlacs w hwh canrtrt. appqdatc mnqcmcnt of the hrvr primary rcsponrthtltl) tar t f fas of imgu~on on thc env~nmmcnt manapcmcnt of R m n lrrlgatlrlll arc should b viewed as integral tu on ewnincd,

State iwigotion policies

In thlb vhaplcr nm rrutl~nc I\ prw~rled crf the m ~ l n lnrgvtlrwl phcrc\ c~f cwh %talc. Rcccnt chirngrs trt p r l ~ t c r ~ r c prcwntcd. alonp w~th wnw of thc ~rnpllc-at~tm\ of thc chmpc\

Current policy Ilnrkrr the Auvlrvlllan C(m*t~Iutl(~, ~k state* hwc resp)nrchll~ty l i w ftwnwlat~ng and ~ldrn~n~stcr~ng ~r r~pot~on pulley. Pr)l~c.y OCI~IIOI\IC~CI btrlh d~rcctly. thn~#tr crrltws rtwtC uatcr YUI~CI~IIIC\.

and rnt l~rc~' l ly through thr \talc irpnculturr &lrpnnrircnts. Irnpu~lcm p111c.y tend\, for thc nwa part. 11, hc ~nfcglru~ed wcth hw&r pol~cy c~b~)cctcvc\ iwlud~np \ o ~ l . land, cn~lronmcntal and ~ n l r s t r u ~ t u r c goill\. The \talc povcrnnlcntb ilrr pluc.lng IINIIT C ~ I ~ ~ U I I \

than pwv~ou%ly on thc dcvclopnwnt ol ccullr~~unitj proup as In\tmnrcnts lor chunpc. Such prnup arc currcntl) nprutinp in NCH South WUICS and V i ~ t ~ l r t a , worklng u.lorrly u ~ t h govcrnmrrrt .

New ,South Wales l i n l ~ l rccenr year\. the ry\tcrn of rlltruatim of irrigatum water In Ncw Stnith W ~ k s involved thc tieing of Hater rights to land. Initially no I~rnas wcn: applied to thc quantity of wrrtcr that v(mM h! upplicd. As h a n d In watcr gmu, thc rnuwltt of wutcr rmfemd by it~iividuvrl wtrtcr lic'trwes was xstrictcd. and a m i m u m was p l w ~ d cw the total ...-- I4

amount of water uw that could hc lk rnud over my wea. Ahhough thee volume! ullocat~ms nsduccd dcmanci frtm cxiulng I~sun;ccc\, & m i d ftu ncu w a n alk~.atitm\ cmt~nucd to gmw. and ar a rchult dm~nistmtivc embarpcm wcn: pnrpms~vcly tmpord on the Itruc of new watcr Iicerwcs, In lY#l a state- NI& embargo war i r n p ~ a .

h n p the 1982-83 dmbgh~. r r watcr hecome ~ncrcu~~nply wndce. trngatcm lobhied for thc tntri)duct~on of tran\ferwhlc wulcr @t~~ lc rncn~ \ . Tctmparw trnnsfcrs up to Ihe end of the year were ullowcd throuljh lcp~slative rmcrKtmcn~ 111 lW3. and l#er tcrnpwary trm\fcn for up to five years ;C,cre pcmtltted. SIMC August I*. pnnantnt tranhfir of' waler e n l r t l c ~ l r has k n rllowcd nol. however. Ibr the ~n~pzrticm arcas and dlarlCl?i. hut Ibr all other irngalitw uatcr u.wa in the stale. Thm i s u mrninrunl amaunt of walm attached to all ppcnics which canmu hr traded. Tran~ctions cannot cmss spccll-i LMK boundaries. To Increase thc scnsllrvity of miirkel water prices to true value. watcr enlitlements are assigned rr numhtr calkd r 'rrlirbility factor' that indicates 10 users the probability of &liver) (Sturgrss and Wnpht IW).

The Swfacc Ulrinege Scheme has hcen usta to &ul with salinity s i w 1979. The scheme cornprism on-fm measures including impnved drainage. action plans f a individual producers and

rncwascd Iranciferablltty of' uotcr cnrirlcmentr. As noted ahbve, tran\fcrability has prirnrrll) k e n rcmpornry, and h&r: k n llmrtcd 10

mrfm uitlun, hut ma hwwn. velkya. New Smcth Waks r l w has a Sah

Action Plan. whtch cmphrb~reb ctnnmunlty awamsr PIU~ undcr uhsh d1m1 gnnlr a d suh~dtes itte provtbd to hall-sffcctcd farms. Support ir f m w M for whole-1m1 plann~ng am! for drutnagc and punrpnp. Cummtly. wpporl crmfist\ (11 SS(M.KI p r funn tu

half the co\t of work undertaken. wh~chcver I\ lowcr.

A myr change In New Swth Wales has bcen thc ~ntrtdwtlcm ol tkb~1rd~ (11 producers in Irrtpatlon urcu\, Thcsc h~nrdr have rcspms~htl~ty for water managcmcnt with111 thclr rcspctvvc areas. including mo\t arpccl\ of finanwng. Lmg term l a d and wrvr munlrpcrncnt strateplcu huvr bcen dcvclopcd (rvr nre hc~nyl tkvcloprd) for each irrlgrrt~on urcu. So fur. these \trutegles havc hccn hawd on ftvc ctwnptmcnn: drainage, rn-farm ac.t~vit~c\. mvinmmcnt, demand mrmqcmcn ad tundtng. Barh rhc Bcrriqulrr and Iknercrnbah plans strcrs thc u.w ol finamla1 ~nccntivcr and h e dcs~rah~l~ty ot transfcrablct water enl~llcmcnt\ (Ckpmm ul' Wgaa Rcwunn 1% h).

ViclorL bur to IWS, wafer was rllclcared in Vic~oriol using r variety of different m a formulae thal reflected the wolcr quimncntr of prdtrmiml crops, thr volume of warn ,available and the ;ma of intensive irrigated rpriculture. Allwarms were primarily tied la Id, as in Ncw South Walcs, but Iimitcd. lacatid h t r r in water developed. - -.-- -- Mwnii$fmrm rl( f r t t ~ u m r w

After IWJS. the lrrdltltmal ncxu% Irrtwwn wrtm alkrrtrtlcr *Ikj o ymrftc area t ~ f la114 rcafllrn~eif. and npulrlcar% #b mruw that w atrr uus urcd only uhcrr It hod hcctl ullrvlc4l wcrr cnfcmcd. 'Ihr wcr ot WPICI rtghts ant1 Ihr rltpihk m a s wen chr~utn ur rgc 111

prc~vldc a h~ph dram t r l uutcr wcur~ty. Full supply in W ycnh out of I t N) w4.r

ccunnuml) ~u.t~pccl at un upprrymarr level nf wurrty .

In tho n11d-197Or t ~ r i b ~cparatc rnyurncs w m ~tart~ucd hy the Fcuhl~c. Work\ Ccnntn~ttcc t b l Ipurliunwnt. 'Tkw WIC the Water AIIr~~'uliiu~s 111 Nonturrr Vlcttalr Inquiry and thc S1t111irty Iqulty. Hcah tnqulrws ctmtinucd until lUll4 und w8crc linnlly c~m~pletcd try thr Joint k k c r ('int1rnitlct rm Suilnlty wh~ck lrnk over frtm~ thc pcviour commlftcrr tn 1982. Thcr cnqutnc* wcrc Inll(~wcd hy an Irrtpution Nrrrugcrtlcnt Study undcrtab,cn by thlr l o ~ n ~ Sclcct (I<m1n\1ttec ul the hchc\t of Ihr lkpllrtrllcn~ td Wstcr Rcu)urccr. Ihr rnoin ttrpcc cxum~ncd rn th~r rtuclp w r + tha ~ntnniucttcn of trunslrruhlc water entitlements.

The C'crn~mltt~t: rcccnnnw:&d fhr~t u \yw(rm ol lradblc wrclcr cnt~llcmncntt hc ~nUcduced. Howcvcr, i t wwr nrvl I r t

lnclude the Morray Rltcr pumped dim~cts, when: I! wux hcl~cvctl wolcr dlocnriun ur hortrcultural crop hhcruld he based on plunt rcyulrcntcnrb. Moreover. tranrl'cr~ wcrc not to bc pcrmittlml w h m lhcrc war a r~hk ol salinjty or dnrnvpc prohlcn~r hor~g agpvwd .

Lcgicilrlion allowing temporary tmsfcr of water cntirlmen~s wam pt~nxwtl in thr 1987-KU w a r n tm thc I~TCC

gravity-~cpp1w.I rnrgattrrn dlmlncrs d Goulburn. Munuy and C'rrmprspc/

" -..., , .--.-. .-,,-., "*. ..".".",.-.,." I5

Hacrllrrurr. Rivrre 'divmh' lictncw. rlhrwing tnigrrm ur ukc wwr d im ly fmm rtmms, wen! granted thmgtwlut the Male. Tranrfm d thew nghts werr cm r r a m 1 hslr only, were permitted only wrthin the urn nvn iu channel aynktn, and wqurml thc runwrit of hoth the land owncr and my lerrwcs ar Khanfmwn. In cwktitim, trannfcrs w e n crub)n.t to t k u p v r l of the Wucr Resource\ ('ornmtr*ton, wh~ch was chweccl w~th ensurlng that f m supply. uyrtcm capw~ty, drainage and saltnity r m \MT nrr lla@md and Folty IW)).

With the Watcr Act of IYRP pcrmmnt trun\;fen d water tiik m albwd. The iwt mkcn permanent all cxtsttnp water n ~ h l alltrrl~onr, pl?v~des Ib u sy\tem of psrmnncntly tranxkruhk wstcr cnti~lcmcntc (in additton to thc crlsttnp lcnrpwury trunhlir syxleml and cnbnres that ncw watrr ~Ilwalltn.~)\ art

suhjcct tcr a cupttal chlrrgc determined by wwtttm or temkr or olc u fined charge. Pcmiwrcntly tIZK11lhlc water cntitlcnlcnts rtun fn~m the hcpinnlng of lhc tWI-92 irn#.utu)n seaurn. Thew transfen M sti l l wttr~ard hy 'community' Ircgionrl) and cnfiimrrng ctmstmints; however, they cffcc.tivcly \ipncll the end of tlre syslcn~ of tmrptnry trnnd'cn that has prrvicwsly operated In Victcwiii.

Thc Wtcttwirn gnvcrnmcnt. ltkc that ot Ncw %wth Wak\. hus wkyncd a convnunity gnwp approach to water n~cmapmxnt. Ccnnmunity gnwp have wsprmsih~lity f(w manugemcnr in their rrspccrnc arrns Ylnd ure coardmmtrd by r Rum1 AMain: Ciwlin~ittcc. Tht prwp crpcratc under financially stringent conditions. with full financial nsprmsihiliry for Ihe n\oin#n01~'c cmd cyrmticm of inigaticm systems and fw their capital depreciation. (The

government remains rrsponsibk far initial capiul.) The group apcrrtc according to r 'urn pays' philosophy which hclkaJI an mcmpt by the Runl Wucr Commrsh of Vkwrnr to cur cwr and imm the cfficlmcy d w a n URC. The Cmmirsion's brsim plan cxpiicitly nfm to incnwing charges (see k low, p. IU), improvin~ the Commisrrion's efrwitncy, and uw of the 'uwr pays' pincipk.

Thc Tmgowal Plains ma 1s a gord exmmple of Vtcrurian plicy for dealing wtth sal~nity. Salinity hew ir uven. and wi l l quire mpr nswur ing of the UCI'K farm hrw in rhc m f 10- I S yean. T h e p d ~ d t h r plm fordJauca include fcwn but mcm pmfita* farms, nnd camccntration of fanntng',in arras krs r f f d hy salt. Thc +ts of the plan include vanous binape. trec plurtrnp and research pl~~Govemmtnt of Victoria 1990). Su&, iwlpltng sutwidics, i s currently Wng p v ~ d e d for Cum umalgamtitmc'and for the dcvtlgmcnt of f a n man$cmtnt plans.

Soutb Australia Thc Water Rcwrccs Act of I976 vested control of water resources in the government rtnd cstablishtd a twa-tier management structure cw~sting of the South Australian Water Resources Council and rtgionai water rcsourct advisnwy cmrnitlees. W a r l i c u m lm issued by thc Minister of Water Resources fw varying periods. subjbct ro any canditions deemed appfqiate. The act allows management of water diversion thmugh proclamation: that is. any person using water from a pnrlrimtd m a quires a licence T&r an thm pmclaimed waterrvnnses in South Australia (of wbich the Mumy

MARK lbnrwcw p*n VI 6

Rlvcr I* thr rmwl Impormu, d ten plumed @wacr R p m l

A ~ransfer policy har hccn rmpkmcntcd liw thc Nmhm Adrllatdc Plrrn, #roundwater reg~nn and ~hc M u r r ~ y R ~ r c r Thc poltcy ~l loww I~curnlicc% tn tranrfcr all cu pan ot t k l r water atltumcnt$to olhn pcwmt, wrlh~n cfstrln pulclci~nct. cm a pcrmsncnt cw temporary h r r \ Thc gutdcl~~ic~ an dcstgncd tcr nlrntmtw \Ire%\ on the hiorthem Adclatde Plrlnr pnwrrdrsalcr r)\tml oauxd h) trm\lcr of urtcr from orr lwalrm la amuher. and lo mcmrpc \rlt Icbcl% ~n thc Munu) Rlvcr [Curd sl~rd khr~n lc ld~ IW))

Quensland llnrll rcccnlly. QueenrlaMf lrrrgalrtrn wetcr rlyhls vcrc l r t r l to land and could WY hc urld. Thu\, u'hrlc clllumcnh hrvc o k n hccn undcrut~l~xci cn ncll uxd at all. land hol&r\ cuuld ~ncrcuw t k r r a l h ~ m n l ~ tmly by p~ha\cnp mcm l a d . Strpped vatcr charge\ have k c n uwd to drrourrpc kll uw rrf alliwatron, hut ritany fm~crs arc: pwp;lml to pa) high prrcc+ ut the ntargrn f iw watcr

Wcfi)nn$ to !hi\ y s v n htilncd ~n the mld- I Y l o Y when farmer\ wcrc allowed to cxrccd t k ~ r all*l~ncnt\ when flow\ were in rurplub. In I97U, "wmwwetl alltwstrtn~' nplwcd thc syslcm of fixed sutnual allo~ments In the SI Gorge lmgatim ma; thcy were sutncquenlly extended a orhcr anas. The new sywm allwaled all watcr storcd plus minimum hrstcxic inflows ovn an agrecd time. usually ow ro two yem; it made trrltcr ux of water thai in the pasf wtwld usually have remained unrllocalcd.

In 1987-88 a temporary vansferable entitkmnts r y w m was tridalled in Ihc Durnarcq ~ i v e r irrigation ma. Tht

ayntm Jk~ws ~nn*f*n fw pcritds of up In I2 mcmihs. Tmnnfcmcr must have II h ~ ~ i r r y of wrrlcr UX. All lmmrre\ pry o minlmwn~ chugc, mrqcct ivc of he ruiumc makhc<l. ond thf tnur~fcm p y s for tranntcmd watcr a! the ~mnrl WKY I ~ w WUIC~ tn [hat men. A tmrck: fec IS l c v d m each t m w t ~ t ~ ~ . and then: rrrc riu~ drr~wt-aw~fic. ~fuuklrrrr. Thc trtrl wlrv crmtlnrred In IVNN-NV rnd has slncu: ken cr;tenW ttr c ~ k r arcax

To duct unuwd alltwuttra. S8mn hove k n azhtcl to s h ~ r r u r why all IW (#m of tkrr u l i t~a t~ tnr \houlJ twrt hc f(Nfe#etl, 131% hok mtwnpcd use 01 thc u n u d rrllwot~tm.

Tcmporrry trm.clcrrrhlrry ol h ~ t h \udwc mi pnlutrd wutcr I\ pnrv!tM fcw in IIK Water RCICOUKCI ACI IWY. Thcwph pc.rtnruwnt l ~ n a l t r Iirr, lux yct ka uilowcct, thcw art n r w r ttrwurd auction of wulcr am1 lhc rrrtn.wluctic#~ ol capital chargc~, in lac IVWV thc Watcr Hcwurcrs ('tnnmr\*tm~ ctmdwtcd the fcrut drrcct u lc of walcr ullcualrtrn, anti lrrm A p ~ l I'SLUj all ncw ulltxalrcm!+ ~wunrrd r c,aprtrl chvgc u t hy wurlton. tcndrr or nrgrrtlotron. The Welrr ~ rwurcch (.:on~rnrrrrr)n I+ currcnfly dcrcloprng u thrcc-purl r harp, conrpri!+~ng n uwr ctwrpe, a ~~wprlltrr rllaatam charac ml a mcprllrrc u r chaflrc (Fcnwirk I'M)).

Delivery charges and subsidisat ion Inigalm pay very lrrw chrpch kn wl~cr - c ~ g e s that &I ntd covcr ~ h c full ccw of delivering wafer tr) lhc l m r (H bK cmtr of mainu~nmg coprul. The shrmfrll i s covcrcd by govemmcnl. P d r meanurn of t k ml mbYiJy ~ U T not easily ohtaincd from published

-----"."--.--- -..--- 17

m v r . bul thc lndurrlry Canmi& hm cdrukwl thu rhr: rcrl ratc of mum a~ thc wrincn h w n value d' rsr;rt~ fur tiupply of lrnpliun wrwr in AuKtnlir es rr whok m lrH(7.88 wm -1.9 per cent. Ihr Ccwnmtrum arguer that, to give r 4 prr cent rcal nre of rctum, irrigmtb chwgcs wcwld tlavc to ~nc.nar hy .UX) per cca. or $320 m i l l ~ n a par (lnrtusuy Cmnmirwm IWO). Them have bccn me iwnrm In ini$ort~m char#es birwx IVt(7-UH. but the cumnt kvcl of 3uhsidy ik ntill rrf the ordrr of SNIO rn~l l lm a

TI& rht)vc. fipurzcl m a measurr of LhC xuhidy 10 wutcr U M ~ , relsltiv~ to thc prcwnt cijsts of oprirtion and mtntcnancc of t k irrigrtrm sy\tcm. In &itnm. ~ h c Ctsli~mis\tOtl argues, r k r r 1% p ~ c n l ~ a l for rcduclng costs rhnwgh monv~cmtnt i~t' er3wts w) that they urc WM rrpliwcd prcmaturcly, urwl thrcwph greater uw of contptitivr: tendering l iw nwset rcpluccmcn~. Thc Commission spcr~uletcs the; savings thn~ugh the use of compettttvc tendcr~ng when replacing assets wiwld hc of rhc onkr of 25 per cent.

'hesc I'lgurcs arc Austrtilir-widc nthcr then speciftc to the Mumy- Darling Basin. Inf~mrurt~on is pruvHkd in the samc Cmmissicm repon cm ratter of return livr mlivdud sum. Of the slats W n g the Murray-Darling Basin. Ncw South Wales nnd Vtc#ma had ratvs of rctum slightly over - I p r Lrnt whilc Qwnsllnd und South Auk~ralia h d rues of rerum jua under -3 p r ccnt. Ikc New h t h Waks Department o f ' Warcr Rcsoun'es rcconled costs of S137.V million in 1987-HX. of which ~pp~arimvrcly $95 million was mcr by gwcnunent Funding (Depurment of Wwcr Resourns 1989~1.

Swe pcmmtnts uc moving fran subniciiuruion to the 'UM ply)' pinopk in the w i n g of wwter delivery pice&. The Vic~mbn Rural Wwr Cammirsian has aimmnd rCP3 watm pmt nwx of the cmkr of 2-3 p r cent a year. lo

rh icvr financial wlf-suffiuw); in the water economy ( in Victonn) w~thin f i f t m yew l R u d Wrwr Commissm 1990). However. in iu Annual Repoln for 1988-89 the Commissjon reports thvr price rillieb of the previous two years fcll shun of the Financial Management Strategy targets (Rural Water Cornmisstan 1989. p. 63.

hlivery pnccts may have ulkxative effacts. I f the 'user puys' pincipk wrrr applied in n blid marukr in the *ling ofdclivery charges. i r r i g w fwrher away ftcnn water mms wogd farr higher delivery charges. This wjluM rectwu rhe dcrnnnd fix quotas in #ch ima.\. luK1 hence wiwM have an alklCglive effa?. In the nbsemu of looarion ~ 6 1 s . n uliifumi cklivtry c.hargc with (hc llam~ dew of suhiiisation cumt ly ocxm WOUW not influence thc allw@ion of water herween farms. If at thr s m c tinu water entitlcmen~s were transferable, the alhaticm of' water hctwern irrigators would be hd on oppmunity cw. This wwM be a. in f&?. c v a i f Ihe delivery chwrl(c for water were am.

When difTnr~~rs in delivery costs to different lacarions arr mken into ~ ~ r w n t . the subsidiution of water may reduce the efficiency of wales allocation by masking cost differences between k x h s . This rnisalkIcation cffcct anrkl. in principle. be dealt w 8th in a subsidisatian rrgirnc by local Vialions in watcr chqcx. so tha4 the charge for each mepl im of wrrer included the same mount of subsidy in rli iocuions.

T)w main features of the slate-kwl impkmrntation in bcuh hr 1% churgrr Ihu rer cumntly ac~wmng pn progrerulng, vyrc rtill cxrmtr Iw Ihc rhrl thc 'urn pay$' plncipk IS btcmnw funher rcfincrmmt of pltcy, In the marc prominent in bolh disussion and following chapter MWIK. of fhC nmpr plicy ntfonn, and lhrt gwaln mphuic iss,sucr rckvm! uk funher nfmir m is being given lo runxrvullon. Though diwtuxd.

I l L i l & r

Issues in water transferahlity

AI was JIWUI~ ~n thr prrvKnrr c-. ccm~~Jnshlc pnjgntn ha\ h m mvdc In rhc rmpkmmt#twm of tm~lmrbic qwn\ for Impation water in the Murray- [krlng Ram, wtth all arler adopting uyrtcm\ that rrllou c t m m t a l tnmbfcn of ~ r t r r k t w c ~ n U M ~ Ikre ~ramfcr byrvmb arr \1111 PI I~I I cwly vlrgc ot rn~plcrncntwtion, rrnd still lnclr~dc mpulutcrr) clcrtwnr+ In the rllwalum ot both wutcr and n#k.

Randall ( 19111 1, Howc, k h u m i c r Shaw I IU8lr) and othcrs have twtllncll sirtirc point\ t c ~ hz con*idcrsd in ik\lpninp \ystcn~r pro\ idinp far tnmafcr of ~nigu~#)n wntcr quims.

Opportunity ml A\ w:r\ nacd in ckriptcr ? (p. 101, the rnaln rcilurtl for ~mplrmcnting u %ystenr of rmrrsfcrirhlc quota3 is thc portcntial clTcct cm pnlfita. Ftr c~ltnrple, Sturgtsa and Wright I lcW01 cstimatr that the ~ntn*lnc.trcm of Linritcd transfcmtrility of walcr cntitlcrncnrs in New South Wnks h h TSIUIICJ in u hwht in rural income tn that rtatc of 532.5 million a yew, The trils~s rrf this pmfit is the 'hidden' cw 'uppcjmuntt)' cast crf using water. which erx.cwrsgcI uscn for which i t hus a low value to dl ir to inigrr~nrs who have a higher v u l d use for it. In ctmtrist, if the pricc piid itlr watcr is fix&. then evcn u PLY which is initially set at rhc I"._... --.-* -- ---.-..-

crppnrrunlty ctw will cvcntually gel out of l im with it. One img&!w may WSdC

water thmrl imcvther Irrigator wrwld v~luc highly, or v d u highly wt#er lhau I\ king waqcd by c k . Tnmsfcanbikry alkw\ a market pncr to hr a%urircll with water uu, cwl c t n w that im@m h v c a ~ ' c ? r h

to mlditwnd water II t k y can ju\t~fy tta

IIM: m rctmmtc gmundi ruwl that thew xrc twcntive\ m to wmc water.

Pkxlbility Trmsfemhk qucros I'tw tkntcr twrcau the nunthrr of choiccr &birrrilahle to thr imyatcw, ant1 hence a l l b change\ in input wd twtpul pccb a# n ttxhplhrgy and hushandry practi~vs 16 hr nwm cusily iwc~rpcrratrd into farm pljnning. I f them ia a duccd need for i&aticn. pan of the quota can k sold md the capilrl tmvfcnwl inlo cMkr fm invcslment. An i~mascd nccd for ireipunm cm he met thnwgh the purvhasd of qu(.>ta, aa a ncmnal husiness capital cupens. In h n . m of the chwges that ppnvicwsly q u i d Icmp term planning cw. with transfenhility , be easily i 1 ~ - 1 c d into shon term planning.

Outstanding issues While the advantages of transferable water entitlements have been widely acknowledged, nansferability has been resisted by some p u p s and individuals. Some irrigators few that transferability+ may be a firsr step in a general ration-

MARE distmjim (mprt 91.6

altvunm of wPrn polwy whwh rwkl &ad to reducturns In the xuhwiws the) m~jy. Lorid govcmmcnr* have mrgwcd ftn rmdkrr to he r r u ~ t d to thc vamc vhlrr because d f c m ahwt e f w t ~ of rcg~mrl realkw.nr<m of uater cm land tar revenue? (uc blow ) Sturpc*lr ad Wnghl (IWI arguc that IWK~ of the real prcnsm for P L ~ ~ ~ ~ I ( W I of tmsler~MC mt~tkmcnn ha\ c m fmnl ~rt~gntlm thcmcclve\. mi that prryrcsr In the rurr ha* k n cfr%p~re. rather thnri hcrauw of. pcwlmmmt cPlt*rs Ncvmhck\\, rmg9rtlm ctr l l hvc kgrtrmm rrucnatrcm\ ahrut Ihr rmplementa~tm of full trrmslcnhrlrty hcuuure of unun\wercd y uc\t~rtnr cummap the rwtmr ctim-lz id an) ww rn.rtrtutnmrl nrrnngt!mcnl\ ltkrly ttr m w tnmi changes, tn pllr) Stm ctf ~hc conccrnz cxpres\cd ahout thc ion\cqurnccs of trilnrleruhil~ly arc iddm\mcd rn \cs'trcm

Regi@nrrl tnCCts C(HICC~\ nhwt thc rcgl(maI elfrct~ 0 1 tri~nrfemhil~ty have ~ \u l t cd In u numhcr of ccmstrarnt\ cm Irinslrrs, lkv incluclr rrqurrernentb that wstrr alltratlons muut remain within lhc ulmc valley. rtp~tm IH shirr. and in wmc statcs prohibltton on permanent transfcra. Thc hrrsts of thc ccmems i s thc k l ~ e f that outflow of wealth f m i predominantly wll~ng arcas wi l l undermine the local infrastwturc. shrinking the local tax haw, causing contractions in urvicc ~ndustrics and depletinfl the population. So far. such effects have not been ~rbxrved. perhap because the number of transfen has hccn insufficient to have much impact. However, i t is questionable whether even transfers out of an area on a relatively large scale would have xvcre depzfsing effects on communities. Sturgess and

Wnght CIWt e q w ' $ 1 ~ th fmwr mnm d wwrr wltl havc &n pad thc net pmmt v a k of the water h y WII. the price lhcy recervc rhould appn~nrrnatcl y equal thc vrlw the) wtwld have mvrvcct frtm the Fur- uw trf that water. In this K I ~ W the wealth of the rrglon *hould ncfi @llnc '

I t 1s of lnterrrt ~s cculrwfclr ~IIFIKIIKY

c*s~md n lhc linltcd Slates In thrv cimtc~~t. htncc wacr lmnrlerah~lttq lr funher wlvornccd them than m Auutralro Much of thr curly rcrtntancc to tranrlcrrh~l~ty rn thc Lln~tcd Stutcr rctlected fern uhout thc cxtcnt of reaI I~~~l t ron t o l l ~ w ~ n g water p l l cy rhmgc, b d tm crmernr irtnlut thc rc~lnnal l t lcr l~on of rndurtry and populnlrnn ur well ar conccrlla of ~ndivrdual\ rrlatrd to the v~sh~lrty oi kmg crm rnvcrttmnt IHOWC. khum~lrcr and Shrw IVHh) Ovcr u numkr of decades lalbwrng the tntrtwIwtron of ~r~nskrabrl~ty tts the Amerwun lrrrflwtrtrn ualer murhct, rcullnr.rrtrr~n 01 water cntrdcmcnt\ hers k n ~uhnlnntlai In Mnnc \tat* Ncvenhclea\, 11 zhuuld hc noted that, ftnt, though rtnrctur~l ehangc at an rmtwry lcvcl has hccn whuntrrl, 11

hirr wcuntd far mcnv dowly thw wsr onginally cxptcd. and mcmcf. then 1%

no dv~Jrncc that dcmr~grephrc changn that Lnvr: cxcumd ulwc thc intnwfwtrtm of Qansfcrah~lrry havc heen related prcdomrncmtly UI water supply. M m rmpwrmf facton, arc lrkely to have hzcn the wnds toward gwnwr uihsrntbatm anti rentralrd rdurtrrul rktvclqmctU and the ttxhnrial changcn Ih;rl hnvc lcd lo mmad farm svc.

.Security d water supply Because thc mount of wiiter rvailabk for delivery in any year dcpcndr an rhc

wcrmhef, i t cm &ten hrppen th.1 vlmc wmcr Jrhvery. lrnprsm fw whnm w ~ l n uwl wi l l IW he abk lo dxtain their full w t y w u Iw ~ m p m would vrll mtrtkmentr. The r M c s have &oh 1~1th oprmr cln l k l r w w r mttkmntr 10

t h r ~ wrtcr rccurity prnblrm by tmglurm f4x wtmm \urn) wit\ mrr mintntning nepulaitnr L Y ' W Y W ~ I ~ ~ wmrr Imprwrartc. The cyllnms utluld ctm.rt~turc rv~rlrbi l~ty ta high.v~luc uur$. Thc puuPntcrs cd tklt%er\. LI a *ptfKuf m~ulutcms nlny ~nvolvc nsripnmcnt of I hue in the tuturc. at u prc-rpwd prac.c. 'wllakltry fw?iw' to waiet cntttkmml\. In thc crmt ($1 a water shwti~gc, thc In Ncw Scluth Wokr two wur~ty kvclr iqnfn"~ htrkkr w(wId CWKIV htc m hcr OIC UWJ: 'high wunty', whew uwrs rtght M) purchru: wucr fm thc i p k w

vlwsly r pet IOU per cent of therr wlkr m that p ' c . 1k ~vpm ullcr wnuW cntltktncnt cxccp in pcrtcds ol' wturrl havc the altm~rtlvr o t m p c n ~ t r n g thc dnruyht, ond 'rwml wcur~ty' when holder for purchartnl lhc spcctficd uacrcr pct the pruporlrwn ol' thctr rmwnt of warcr c lwwhn rt the hrghcr cntitkmnl t h t rs lcti oucr after 'h~gh pncm that wiwld p v d durtng a wotcr mur~ty ' cntrrlcmcnt$ havc k n met. A h ~ r p c . Thc scllrr wduld rccclvc thc rchcnlc to allow 'h~gh aecurtl) ' ICY f t ~ scll~ng thc op~dn, rcgiudlr\a 01 rnl~llcmcntr to bc traded-~n lo the whcthcr the optton wad cxcrc~ud. authtulty k prrrccr volumes of 'mwmal In pxcacc, cyWn glarb.ct\ do not wcurtt}' enntlement\ i* cumntly hcrng oprute trrucrn ~ n d ~ v i b l huyrrs and rn~plcmentcd. Thcrc 1.r albo an wllen. hul thnwgh u ~~enrral c,lciarrnp 'ovcrdruw~tlg' lec~lity, ullow~ng htluw. and u\u1111) (m lk h 3 1 s 0 1 'cahh hrmbwlng t ~ f water (when uvrilrhlc~ wulemtnt' (1.~~1 and *mat l1I)Ml .-

fnrm the ncxt year'\ cnt~tlcnrcnt. that is. the c t c ~ t w of tlk' (Y)II(HI rr\ult\ Making wavr cnti~lenwnts trwhhlc in a payment ur the tr~(~wlhc*r wfftiicnt

is, in t k Lnnpuape ol wmntsls. u tcj p u ~ h v thc c r m m ~ t y ~ U I R ~ ul '\MAC\ w\u\hn' to \hc wurcr allwutirm prevailing pnccs. Ind~vMwIs nury mter pndrlem. I t n, hjwever, cmly u pnld cxmtm~s p l y us undcnwri~n. ~ p d k s s scbluricm. A full marker solution ww\d of whether they have any rcd involvement involvc niN tmly u marker I l t ~ wuter hut in the rtkvant industry. alw u n~arhet far risks ~\s~x'i itcd with A practical questicm in relation lo unccnrrlnty of water supply due to uption mrkcts for waur would be how weather variahitity. Irrigators with high to deal with transport costs wilhin lcvcls of cxptaun: to risk c w W then - contractual arrangements. Must option subject to physical availahilily - p y markets ;ire highly cmtralisd, and hence fur a guann~tc~ oT klivcry. lrriputm transport (and storage) are easily fw whom such surely was lcsr impcxrant specified in contructual m p e m n t s . nwld Ik.~.cp n fe for iwrcnsing their However. because of the regional naturr rid cxpl)surc. Since the ctlst of dealing af irrigation it is ~w clear how tMnspll ~ l h unanticipated wrlcr shwtages i s and storage conditions would he likcly to vw prcaly between prudwrrs, specified in contracts. lhcrr h puentiallg scope for tr&. Water option markets have been TMdc of this t y p wwld quire the proposed in the United Stales fon

creation of a M r t for options for incngsing the murily of urban supplies. -I"l.LII_I~~

22 M A R L cltu~ursi~n pqwr O1.h

Huwver. [he ncNrcn of q ~ l o n mnrketr fa i m p m u ate1 has jet to parn w wlc rw1~mv. md wrrdrr tt@wmx ur mu )rl avvrlrblc (Mlchrlum m d 'l'lllmg IWJ)

Sccudly of tmun Srsurity of tenure of wan ellm.ution i$ ncur++xory 11' imprtm nnc to un<lCnoJrc farm dcvcluprncnt and long lerm Invcstmcnt ;tl ulc~~lilly dcslml kvclh.. Full) lranbfcrahle quotrs do no1 undcrminr thl* $ccurity. Provided rrrtgatw* can rcspt~nd voluntilrtly lo Incentives to rr~llt~c.ntc wutcr, thcy \htn~ld never Ix. less wurc tor hevrng trrmrf'cmhlc quotas ruthrr than fixed allotti~nth. ,Security of supply rcquircr. MM that wacr ulltxattcln be flaed hut, rather. lhilt thc ouncrsh~p nghts to water hr WXM* Mo mhpws. In nhFI. wnh, wafer qucu ownctnh~p qulrcs thc w m ~ surctles as o\cwr\h~p of my cnhcr ilswt.

Third-party effects A quota tran\fcr d~rcctly ~nvoltcs onl)' ~ w o pitf l~s. the huyer awl the ~ l l e r . Howcver, third piutio m y hc aftcctrd. For rxarnplc, farms lnay depend on tull water or lnipht br adversely affcclcd hy drainage anti rctum flows. chilngcr In groundwater or water quality. T h ~ a ralscs qucbtions about compensitlon and fmilncial consideration of third panics. One outstanding negative efficl ot' the inlroduotion of transferable waler entitlements in the United Slavs has been litigation by third parties. A complicating aspea of this prnhlem has been ihai the legal system has viewed third-party losvcs as requiring compensation while simuitancously viewing third-party gains ;ils 'windfall%' for which no payment can be dtmanded by the originalor of the gain, At this

M u w ~ m r n ~ ($ rrrrgarrfm M urrr

aqc 11 b ncrt ckw w k t k upnrliimt Urd-Furty Litr#wicm wcw# hr oxw~'~*tcJ with tm-rrE*WY1 ~t~l~feratwltty ctf wn#atNm wll~cr m t & k m t s m Austmlta: hr~wcvrr. ~ h t p~ctniuf for thrr It) twur hid mr be ovrrknhccl.

RiMk valurrr Wuwc rt al. vrpuc rp,'JJo) rhar ' . . . r wirily rcsptrr~ihle allcwrt~cw pwewn must be cqclhlc ot r c l k t ~ n g puhllc value* that may not hc udcquutrl) cbcmaickd hy rndrvrduul water u r n ' , In rk Murray-lhrl~np Hastn Irrrgmlcm \ystcm. relormr Io water ul/c~'c~tron systcmr hrvc rmpl~catlonr h t h l o r specific* types of land use and lrtr ~ h c rlverinc cnvtnmmcnt, u\ well us ftn wulcr quality In urhrrn end uws. f'c~ltc~cs hnvr already k e n implcmcr~rlrd 1t1 aJdn*lr\ wrn of thcw LS%UC~. Two (1 polnwulu lmparlornrc for tr#n\lcrahlc water cntidrrrrmrs i ~h t rc~trrcttim (MI walcr u.lc lo cnsurc mtnrnruln slrcrm Ilows and conlmls cm w11 ernlrsum\ Into ~ h c Mumy. Sturpcrv and Wr~pht ( IWJl preent u caw: that rcyulutc~~ prwcn In I~I+ wen rhtwld hr kcp vplrrulc fnm~ other wiltcr regululory powers. lo cnkure that the puhlrr value, enttxdwd In envkc~nn~cntal critcr~a arc properly repmcntcll.

In umlunicm, i t 1s em#urnl that tkrc are some outstanding ishue* In the impkmentinitm of tnn\ferahlc prufcny r i m . While imguim wc l~krly b br awuc of benefits arswruted with i m p c d flexihiltty, thm bs ccmcm abtM vthcr pmbibk! i l ~~x i i i t cd changer. I t is likely that fudm march tm risk management tn water rnarlcelr lrnd cM the dfm. of pmpwd policy rtlangcs an poprry and w t prices w k l help av-c w m ~ d thew ftpnu.

.,,*-,- "..."".-- 23

Salinity control

Thc WJcm of ulinity ts ncn ncw, rtrd a number of imponrnt ~ ~ l l r program6 uu! In cqwmt~cm to deal wrth it. Thcu tncludc engincering, ccolog~unl. ~~ ro loy i cd . cdwatkmrl a d ccx~~nnic inrriuiver. In the Iant catcg(#~. !urn@ ftnanc~al auhihnnce ir hcing pmvidd fnr rmltridulrl irnpnrttrs 14) undrnake udju%lntents thvl wil l reduce sa l t emirslon\.

Background 10 policy Thcwgh nmrikmblc pnjgrrsr has bccn ma& in k a l ~ n p w~th thc pmhlcms aswiated with urhnn watcr qualrty. mcuurcs (kr Jcaling with agrtculturrl losseicr f ~ m salirrity an s t i l l ut the engineering stage: lhat is. tcchniral ~i\utrt~na to many of thc individual irrigation pli~hlcm\ nriv~ng fmm ~tlinitp hnvc k e n found, hut the rolc for govcmmcnt In this m a is not ye1 clcar. The ttxhnrcal mluticms primarily involve nnk~val of gnwndwater using pump and s u h l m a n ugricultunl drains. und discharge of efflucnt inlo nalural watctciwn;cs or lrcalrnent plants. In the simplcsr caw, when an irrigntcx has a salinity pmhle~n that &xs not cntend hcyond the fann houndarics, and where the lea\rcmt x)Iution is treatment of salty water thrwgh o n - f m evapnrtion, tkrc i s no obvious mk for government beyond providing education and information. I f the salinity cm k dealt with tcchnica\iy in a cast-cffectivc

muurcr thr imgatcw will, cnrt -of r l f - Intm\t. invcat in wllnrty ahatcmcnl. If II cmnot, the lrrrpator my change mation\ ur huhndry pcticc:cr (w even knw lhc frrml.

Unftmunatcly, thc agr~cuitunl locius resulting I'm mlinity am unllkcly to hc as simplt a\ thrs. In tho ahovc ca*. the imgatcx't bchviwr &la) nn affm dher water usm. In rcalrQ, some cost9 IZSS(K'IPIC(I with ulinrt$ l'ml ~rrigalicm ure likely to hr tume hy tndiv~dwls not rnvdvcd In the uwrce ~i$patitrn wtivrty. Two w ~ l n ~ s 01 crtcrjal cost m of particular imptmancc. tjr\t, reluted to gmundwatcr !.iilmit$, rtaulth from underground ucrtrr ib.lnvcm;nt. I f irrigation ttsuhh in m incrcnw m rhc hcight of the water tab& on a Sam. 11 may cilux salinity on ether f m s . The second cxternnl c o l rcsulta from drainage from agricultural pipes or pumps. Though im-farm treatment of dninage watcr is wrnetimes possible, the easiest means of disposal is often to discharge i t into the river system. This cnatcs costs for downstnam users.

Cooperation between the Commonwealth and New Swth Wales, Victoria and South Ausmlia to improve urban water quality has nsulttd in state salinity quotas for the Mmy-Darling Basin system. Each government cmtributcs 25 pcr cent to the cost of meeting a River Murray maximum salinity standard, and each star has an,.* equal Salinity Entitkmcnt Cmlit - that

n, mount of dl dw k e rlhrd a dtwhaqe ~nto the rivcr { G o v ~ t of V n m 19901. The ram &mtw hir own slrrregtcs for rchtrvlng their pvn~vlvr quaan.

Tha policy pmv~dcr only a p n w l utlutm &I aulln~ty a urbwn wwcr. Fur cmc thmp, il 1s wl ckar whether 1& tnwlc-df whuvcd bctwccn urhan wruer quality and agrtcultural prtductton rctlecls underly rng sr~iu l pnfcrrncur. I t 8s possible t b t ntgcuutlon betwccn interraled povcmmcnrs In the future w ~ l l I d to o rrfincrncnt of state wlln~ty qutuas u, lhrl trade-offs hctwcen ct~ltx and hcncfilh; hccomc more e~pltcit. k c d . thc stater $1111 hnvc the prthlcm oi" cnaurlng that p~llutltm r~ghtu. to huh the rlvcr nnd grwndwucr; mvr d~strihted rf'ficicntly. In the followlnp Mctron u n u m b ol policy rflplwms t b wouuld ~ I V & 11~'aiver far CICivduuI tnlgatcm lo bcnr more of rhc co*t\ of thclr acllvlttes and tcr achlcvc more cfficlcnl wlutton~ to the pruhlcm arc dirurwd.

Policy instruments The problem of sillint~y i a likely to hecome more rather than lesb acute. In this section, a numbcr of possible inslruments for achieving reduccd salinity are examined. A key point in considering these instruments i s rhal. lo work, all of them require pvcmmcntr rtnd i m g a ~ m to hold detailed farm-levcl informalion. There i s an obvious role for government in providing infmalion to producers lo facilitate rhc working of 11s policies. Farmers have a numbcr of management opr im whenby lhcy may be able 10 influence salt aulpul (to d i f f m extents, depending (m mil typt): for exampie, laser kvelling or layoul of

hayn. @nags YIIVIW, cnv nM81Hmr. lrllynr ~ ~ K Y I \ , ttrnrng of wmer UW, n u m b of wrlcrrnp rud u ~ l wanrr u r I f ~ l l t Ian@\ cw pcrmlt\ M: to ~ITcct lh06C chakt~, lmtp&i~h niust k ~ n ~ thc urflucncrr ol each alrrmnt~rc IN thrlr (irlt prcAuctlc,n nnrl l h r ~ r cpollc). tnflucmnll f i n u ~ u l mum.

*

Indurrtry rutmdurda Uut of an rncluslr?; \landurJ ctwtanr a l l trrlgutors to the w n c rno4tmurti allowahk ctmtnhutrirn tu iul~ntty. A un$k ruwtanl my bc ~myowrl. etthcr for rWter, fur w t t w a , kn' rrgltnlr or f ' t ~

lndivrdual irrly8tor.i. or drflerenl wudardr rtray lx uwd h w d tn typc of cnlerpnw. Itxnlrm ru u)mr hydndog~ul cntrrum. lnrgattws arc Im to IIWI ttw s l w In uny wuy t h y pltuw

In urn *ttuatt*n\ tltrs apptmzh nuat w d well ..- fbr ckmplc, 11' all rnlgutrw\ huw \tmtlwr Icchw~brpy and w ~ l r d cl~aulttc churnc.lcnntlcs, d hcwc v~tr~llw salhty control to(ilo. In dtuat~cmu when. farm\ differ prcally rn the couts of rcdurtng thcir urlt outpu~ lo a pvcn level fduc to differcrxcu in pnwnhity tcr

c a w wlinify cn In tlle lypc of rtprmr own far salintly control), ps~~crlrl rnbnlry rtanhrdh -.- even II clkct~vc ut wducing srl~ntly --- utll no1 hc economically effrztcnt. trom rhe s~alYfp)int of ovcrall efitcicncy Ilhel I+,

of minimislng llu ltrlal cthtr 01 high. and luwcosl vallnily rbatcr\l. 11 wcwld hr kttcr rf low-co~ hrlrn~ly ahulms u ~ c x h murc of the aktcmcnt (me bus I j.

Mom ~CMTTYII~, cf'fickrwy rcquim hat [he mwginal ccw of complying with the standard (per unll of cmiwcd salt, w rhe rlaMLanl salt outpul level) arc the fur all irrigatgm. Thir condition

ic unlikely MI hdd hn a unikrm Indrd. brl rauM k rhicvd by applying n appqrutc 'ulmhi ' 10 each individual inigwar. Bclth the cffcc?ivcnrr% and r f c w i m y wxwrld d c p d un the rcuncy d rlrinp rhr rndivkdurl 'awnimSr0. Tlw infontlrtian required fur lhrt wcnrld includ: each imguor's ccmtnhulmn 10

nvlinny and ahrdcmrtU cw wwiurr, Md the (awk i f colkxrlng it would bc anrrms.

Subnldk The urc of industry stmdardr i+ a regulrtory appnlrch hat reflect r n underlying 'polluter pays' pnncipk. An

shemrt~vc to rqurring Ihr pdhrlcc tn

p l y is w of incentive prymarlr fa sch~ving & s d p l s . To d w , r U e pdicy hs fnvouml prnul reupporr d on-fum ulinity attucmca. Supporr h r ukm thc f m of fm pmvtrion a( h y w i c r l infamaim and q q s nd subrid~sallon o f upcciftc on-farm investment. TIN ruknlits m usually w~xiltlCd. either impltcitly or cnplici~ly. with the rhicvmwnt of +if& salmity gwln for ng;m and id iv~dual fms . Whcn the technical cbonrtcribticr of individual rums m vvcll unckrrtclod, w h rukHti6 arc likely to he efferrivc

lkrx 1: F w In canplium with dtlclcllcy @dards

61riIcrr.y cffwln af ~nduMry uludmd$ Itn ~mtlmll~np ~ l i n t l y an hhcwn In thc film, whcrc thc annual 41 m l w m of a farm 1% rcprrec~d nlmg the htm~tntal axcs uwf thc mrrgtnal c t ~ l s of cururd. m hl l rm pr tnnnc, (rrw'luii~ng an) dvcnc effect on IHII~UI) I\ rm thc vcn~cal axn. (Note tha~ ull rmtv.lim contn~l effton IIU~~&XI ((1 thc right, uwl thur -It nn \ i an tr hiph on lhc left.) Thc marginal c m t ~ of a-hicvrng d i f l m ~ lcvcls of ~ l t n ~ t y cnntrol (irr lwl trnpntcm (prhrpm differing a t k ~ r

~ e c t ~ m ~ q y ) ur rqmwn14 by Itm A NMI

0. lmgator A ha\ high n&gknaI rrcwr of wltnbty c o n t ~ l wh~k rm)m I3 ha5 low marginal CIMIF,. Y k ~ r u l t lrrlmr In the attmcr of nruni an tor gpirlty h w n 0% cqurl. 81 Q,,.

Imagtne that r un~lomtwlmdy contral slandarrl 1s impwd at S M) that nc~thcr irngakm can pnducr mcwr bn S ttmm per year of all. A1 lh~b IcvcI 6f UII cm!ssmn. lhc m u p i ~ l ~ l rrhalcmcnt roLI of pnxlucer A ir C,. T h a ~ of rmgalcw B ih C.. Fnnn the I shndpmnt ol oredl e f f i i m y ( thu i3, I rnlnim~ung the pint rvnrs 10 A and B of i wltnity contml while keeping total sah emisrun lo S), i t would be hette~ ~f i r r i w B undencwi m of h c thcl uhrwment and tmgam A conrrpmdingly lew. Total cosr of nvching the q u i d kvrl from Q,, is min imid i f imgator B nduces mission to Q, md inigator A only to Q,: lhrv hcing the riles of salt emission which average S between the two. as nyuifcd, Md a which the marginal m t r d cools d the two irripatars. C, ~rc equal. I t ~ n k : ~ a e n t h u r ~ ~ y o r h c r ~ o m b i w ~ n of emissions a v q i n g S. bre total mud oxas wouM be pstu.

in o&aiiing Jcud ~ m p u m m t n In WITM quality. 11 is ul mtcrc;sl m srnwlJcr whcrhet thc WMKJ an dm likcly to he cfficicnt.

The ronditnm fur e f ic~ncy In the use d sukdisltion i s rclutrd to IM few industry rtmdrrdr. outllncd above. Subdie* will ht h uwd whcn appllcd to u tw~ons whcn saln~ty conuol cur be undertaken at lowrer cost than elscwhcm In the ~Julitr).. In that casc. thc diwuihutmn of the subs~du~ umm8 ~rr ipatm will achieve the maximum ps ib le salinity conwl pcr tax dollar. Th~s pnclpk cm, of counc, hc applied both between and wtthin repion$.

Sukidrcs have a major d~sadvantage. 'Though In the shon tern thcy may be cffecuve In Ihc ach~evemcnr crf pol~cy goals. ~n the long tcnn they nuy MU hc. Th~s i s hccaunc subsid~eb ~nfluencc kmg run average costs, d hcwc profits. In a rrgton having high wlinrty, ruhd~cs may MI* investment rcturns nlulive to npicmr wrth low salinity whcn subsdrs are less. By incrcasrng rclat~ve Investment mums. subsidkr may thus cncounrgc entry to an induwy in high sirinity rcgionn, oitienind stwm term pains in salinrty control. Suhidies for salt abatement may therefore he ineffective in reducing ~ l i r i i l y rn the long tern (see Hmwick and Olewiler 1986, p ~ . 41 1-14).

A funhcr disodvanwge of subhid#% i s that they cauve efficiency l o w s usociatcd with the operation of thc Ux system. That is, the government incun ~ubstantiai costs in collecting tax rrvenuc, and the impmition of web on the community at large will, becwsc of its distorting effccls on incentiven;. discourage efficient use of capital rud labour.

T m M k srk p d a TnhMc p h o n pmnrta hrvc mlrwtnl lnicnst in the UntteJ Statc~ YL an r n ~ r r u w t fix dcrltng with rlr p l l l u ~ ~ n ~ . A n u n ~ k r of schcmcx hart k e n piqimd t k cnrc oulllncd hew W l y folllowr Ihr 'ofl'sct' mytdcnr pmpmd by Knrpnick, Oaten a d Vim Urr Verg ( IVnJI. .

l r r ~ g ~ t m would hc alluwcrl to track pmm~tt to 6~hur$c 41. uwl would in ~mqucrk-c oll pay the urn rrt!wrunt per urn1 qumt~ty of dlwharprd alt. Thaw ~rrigtcm who were ltkcly to nuke lur$cr rddirionh to solrn~ty wauld thcnf<xt requ~rc to purchnsc more unlt pennrts. 'Trunst'cr swIfiuvntn' would he computcd for each fium on the h s i h of ilt technulogy, hydrologrcul chwnrcterlrttcs, lwatitm and d k r facton likcly to rnfluewe I t s conlrihutrcm to alinrty. The trmfcr c(~Micicnt wtwld dctcrmlnc how mcmy vrll pcnnltn an ~ndivrdurl lrrigolor woulrl need to p r c b w 10 unJrnukc prmlwl~an al a pvm output kvcl. Thc nyrtcm would work in u rimiler faahion to the traasfcrrble watcr yuatir n~urhcta d ~ ~ m e d prevltwaly. Pduccrs wc~uld be confrmtcd with the opponunlfy cttst

of cauhing rulinity, and only thaw irriptun who ctwld (hain rclulivcly hlgb financial returns from w~tvrticr whkh cause salinity would huvc incmtives lo hold pemlttr. Thc d t di-ger woukl hcfcforc bc di~rrhutd efficiently: they would occur predominantly where Ihc nkhwiulcd e c m m k bmefirr were grentcbl.

Thcrr are two diffmmccr k l w m t d b k dinity pmnitrr ond ~m+ferabk warn q m s , thr first mmcming the inithi allaalion of pennilb a d the gcond concerning Ihc role of tht

27

government In tk market. b o u w u l a ~ t y 19 r l rcd j r pmhkm. .a u~ntplc iutlal ulltw.ntm hvwd tm curtent u l t cmrc+rons would k unlllely 10 k trpltmul I t wrwrM t i t ncc~wry to emure lhat thr rcml rmounl of &J rail b ~ ~ ~ l f l ~ i ! try the salt pcrmlt* was r.cm+lbtcnt w~th thC h & r w ~ u l gtrolc of rxchrevtng cfliclctir tmk -c~ f t~ hetween cciv~nmmcnal, umPn and agrtcultural valucs I t mtght bc ddf~cult to W~ICIC

rui npmd nltul ullwat~m of uh pmnlt* wmthlrr thm4 constrilmnt 7gc \econd drffcrrwr hetuccn water cnt~tlemcnt~ trnd url~nlty rtphts I\ that the goucmmncnt ctwld nwt the nccd to rcducc wllntl!, crvcm tlnx h) pun'hrr\~my \all pcrnstr. tm thc haw oI Mane pc~lctcrni~rwtl plu~i 1hlr wcwld Jmllcr frtm rrjlc In thc uatcr quotu ~ l i ( u t L r ~ . whcre thc govcrnnrnt 1s Ilhrl) lo ctmtlnur to h! a rcllcr or wutcr 111 thc I(mg ru11

l'rxm Fmtn un cMicwncy srundpoin~. r tak on thc prtducrr's ctnrrrihur~cm to oft-fumi sal~ri~ty I\ lihrl! to hr hctlcr than wthitlirs and nt kurt u\ pcwl a\ lrjHiahlc ah ~ i i i t s . ibrvdinp i r 1s srt ut un apprrqwpnate kvcl, ruch u tas promdcr c f f i c~~~wy hh.auu" II iftlp(w~ the wmc rnurptnul r.ocl (pcr tonne) on coch irngatctr'\ ctntnbut~cw~ to wlin~ly. In Ihl\ contrxt, thc 'approprlatr' llrvcl of taxrrtitrn 1% that wh~ch equals thc I~UC

swirl cous of thc salt rrtlisuiun. A sulinirp tux ccmstilulcr an inccntivc for iwipaton ttr mlucc their contribution tcr salin~ry to thc point whew the cosl of ~dd~tiomrul ahutcnicnt equals the cunvqucnt ducticm in tar. Thus. a ' l o w - i ~ ~ l ulinity abler' will u&nakc nnm urllniry conmbl than 8 'high-coat wliniry abtcr'.

28

A numhrr d implant prints CM he mwk ahout wlinlry tsxm Fin[. the) rquirc b.i i n f m t r m lhur ckr industq htrndnrdr to mmplcmcnt. I t 1s nut nwcuurry for the p l ~ c y d c r c c ~ tincru the irrigrtar'r trchnolapy or cnut structure. Only the conrrihtion to utlnity modf hy rhc irnpattw rrld thc ctnl of rilll~nL! to uricty nerd to hc known Sincc cttcn~ivc hydrologlcSal \uwrymng and wxklling ha\ al~iul! h e n undertaken at h l lh arcu and individual farm lcvclc, it w n i r likcl) that thc fsmi ~nformtlnn could h ohtulncd sc~rt.effccdvcly i\nother d v ~ r r p c of sullnlly ares I* thrt Ihc) allow cim\idcrihlc Rxihillt) to thc l r r ip t rw. t:nlmke \uhYmc.i lor rprclfic tjpcr of rhatcment. ,$hey allow lhr irriprrtnr to adop s ran of \trrteplcr 10

avoid pylnp 1hc tok: t n exumplc. the ~rripatcir nluy chow(; to lower \;ill pmjuctton hj muin$' ~nvr \ t~ imr ol'f- I'm11 or hy chrnpnp dtutitms Flsnll!. ralin~ty tatcs PW an ~~~IICQIIO~ 01 the 'polluter pa!s' principle. whlch I \

wc~pcd as king lo# con\t\tent with hmd p t ~ l s of equity and ntalcni\ of economic justicc than ahcr apprt~sl.he\.

Of the options discuswd in thih chqcr. tsrcs stud uut ah k ing thc most cosily implcrncnud and us hcinp most likely to achlevc thc dc%ircd ob,jcctr~cs. Salin~t) p i t a ulwi ho\c the potcntiul t he vficicnt, rhough tht initial allwotion of pctrmira may hc: rwnplica~ed. SutKidies are likely to hvc undcsircd long tcrm effu~s, The use of sturdafds wtnrld rquire a large amount of new information gathering i f economic inefficiency wcrc to he avoided.

With the txccprion of obatcmenfe subsidies. all of the instruments

iwrwdmd mhow my d w x wmc h~gh- covt rbucn who produce nlatrvcly lorgc mrmtr of ullnlr) to kuuc the r&*tq 77mr rrmdlrn trsw* about h l rhmt I*

kft dt-aifwrai hw urn of th~s I d . the al~cmrtuvc uwr m y k vlrq Ilnltrcd Makd of rdrntuctn~ thr f inutrtrr l h m h on t b c I(w1vt1 to kavc thc tnciurtry uc among the a\pcctb of polrcj ~rnpfcmcnrarm ctm*t&ml hcbu

Implementation of policy So far. thc niilurc crf rhc nwpr pcdlc) prt*lcrn\ In Ram ~rn~utei l yr~culrunr hrvc hrcn outitncd and urn appnwha to u~l\lrrp lhcm haw hccn cxrm~ncd Stm prurlwal rrl\prct\ 01 rmplcnwntarwm t r l u l l n ~ t j tuxcs uftd trudatilr \all pnnrt\ ivt. now rtm\KLErcd *l%c nw\t rmprmiant a\l)cc.t\ ol ~rnplcnwntat~c~~ drc ltkcly 10

tx tk rntcprallon ol p j l ~ c ~ c \ that huvc thc. p~rn t le l to 1nl1uenc.c ewh ottwr. thc u\r ol rornmunrty nctuclrktnp apyrr,ar.hr\ to rmrhlnp p)llcrr\ ~cnli. and thc mmncr ol dcrlrng ~krth C O \ ~ * 01 ltj~u\lIllcnl

Pulky integration Ssll~n~t) lanes or trudnhlt 41 permlls urc unltkcly lo have clr.%~rrblc rc\ult\ ur long a\ water I \ not priced at 11% fill1 oppnunlty cost. Wllhwt trwhlerJh~lity of wutcr entttlemcn~s. the effcctrvenew of wtltnity taxcs (u trddrmblc so11 prrnllt would hr diminished. The effect of' high price for r salt pennit would hr to caux irrigutm with ICSI valuabk water allotments lo sell their salt permits to imgatom with more valuable allolmcnts. The sall p.rmi!s would come lo bc disuibuted on the basis of inigalorn' valuiuiims of their water rrlhments. nol on the basis of the cosls of salinity --.- 1Vuwqrnwn1 rf tnr~rcr~s *uht

duDlcmwxt Thctc rtakl bc w: rrlmllar cffki1 In the raw of urlrnrly unmm Surh o tali wwkl d ~ m m ~ n v e ~r#cunh~ rrtrgwrark wrth low valued u a t ~ r mllnrt~n~\ Wtrh huth ulrntty btrr m1 mdwhk uIt prrmltr. t h cml) rm$ntcw\ nrpn~tlcrntly d~\caurupd Itcrnr scmlnhutrng to ~lllnrly, wtruld hc thw whow wutcr allamntr h d rcluttclcl) low rmpltctt vnlucc cur hrrx 21. I t wcvcwtd hc unlrkcly that \wh cm outctm witultl k ~ f f i ~ W l l

(kmrnunity networking In New Sciuth Welt* urzd Vrc*tona somnluni~) fultrtyn groups huvc hccn cailrhl~~hal to ikrrl wuh ~ l i n i t y rm un arc8 hilsru. 'fhc ph~ll~wtphy unkrlytnp t h pj l~cy hu\ k n to rwrcaw imgrlrw\' urrc)rrstuncflng, $1 provrde r huslr fi)r c%ten\t~rn 01 twhr11~~1 tnli~rm~nflltirn md lo mourops Irrtyutcrn to k dl-ntluwnt in draltnp with urlrrrily. 'l'hc cm~u~unity grcwrp\ huvc alu) pnrvidcd u lwliticul irmcw<rb+ for the drrtr~hut~tn of Itmrtrd huh#ritfrr to I~~I#III~HJ ftw tkallng wrlh \rrlinlty, Much trl thc cmphrtri\ in the prcmutcm ol thc ctrmrnunity proups hrrcl hccm on dealing wilh cm-farm \alrnity, alttw)uph, in Vrctortu In pnrculrr, lhc ~Mc-IcvcI quotiin for rrvcr ~lelrnlty huvc hton thc drrm~rurnc prlrcy ccmrtrnint.

fhr. uw of' ccmmlunity griwp ftrr

&ding e ~ t h rirlrntrp may bc vwwctl in urn unus na prrtvrdrng thc crnhryo of u mrlict for trwsfcrublc wlt pnn11c.

IS, the grrrup bnnp pccylc ~qcthcr. facilitatinp buoh trade-offr in magcmcnl practice\ an wi l l rcdwc pdkmatic ride cffcctr. liltintalciy. It may hc dcsirablc Tor (hi\ syhlcm to cvo)ve into r mmctart& rlwlurc thvl d k e d mart flexibility in trm*kr-o& and more KOPT Or cffwknt 11lIixatm

,,----.,... .-*- 29

thnn thc present informal pacrktn. Adjus!ment caatn and ekxhbillty Howcvcr, before such rn r rke l If u l i n i t y m t i n u c s to cwabc srnd d c v c ~ n t cm wcwr, impdimcntr to mntnfainr 11s pric~iry in puvcmmcnt l r rde guch it* lk inrttluttansl and policy, i t 1s l i tel) lhat significant w c m m r r I w t m J i r u u w d in chapter 4 structural change w t l l occur i n fur the caw ol' w o r r tndlng w w l d nad agriruhuml industneh i n thc Murruy- lo hc wldnbwd. Unrilng Basin. I n rltuWiw1s whm wnrcr

allotntcnts rcprcsrnt a stpnll'lcnnr

Box 2: EWtci d salinity t a x w Irrdrbk permits wben w r f a b, nwbsidhud

<'tswJcr t l r cltmnw caw w k c thc cml! rdlrntty ubvtcnrnt stretcg) r w n to the lnlgrtin I* to mluc~ h ~ r tw hcr uatcr uw In ~ h c trgurc, b dollan per Ml. I\ thc taluc p l w d (MI ucrter rl Ihc nurpln b) thc ~m#utct~ awl p,, 1% lhc dclltrry charpc per MI. WII~ tnn~fcnMc ualcr nphtt. the EOSI ot u r ~ c r nllwettcm I\ ut by A rnurkct Thc trr~galrw Iwe\ a tr>~al nrrrglnal ctnt (11 uwnp an dd1t~ww1 MI. ol watn 01 I',, am1 w ~ l l ~hercfcwc uw a tiwol sl (J unrtt of wolrr Wlrh trun\lcrahlc MII plcnn~l\. lhc marp~rral tost ol urrng ualur (~n~lulmttg tlw nirAct ~rn td thc t w c \ u n WII prm~lts) nu\ to I:, end ~ h c lnlgrirn r l u cc r h ~ r tn Iwr urtcr u x to (I, ?ha1 I\, ~ h c poli~j hd\ thr Cl lrcd r t l n t of dlnrln~\huig water uw iutJ horrc w11n11>

Yow c.tn\t&r whu~ wcwlcl haltpen 11 wetcr allcnrlltm *a\ r ~ r l tron\lcrrhlc dd

(.) *a\ thr unpxtm's o l k l t m Thc ~ n i p c x value\ iutdtt~tmal wrlrr I P, pcr MI.. hut c m d thin 11 uxl p y 6 1m1 t'., 'mu\ il ull tax (K prlcc of a I W M c wl l prrm~t b s 11) hr gtrutcc I b n 4 Y,, ~ktlllrr\ lrrr ML to havc on? cflrc.1 & walcr u r That i\. k pncc hc gnu& 1hll1) thl' ~rnpi~r v u k of the wrtcr rlldm(nt to rhc Irngattw. 7'0 mdwc the ~rr~grtrn'$watrr u u In the wriall) &~roMc k v r l o$Q,. ~ h c tax ucwld md lo be wt. ~ t ' f ~ ~ t ~ ~ l ) . JI Y, P,, Jollan prr MI. A t r x 2 ~ 81 thv~ kvcl wcwM ~ n v m u l ~ u thc 111f.iJlc c'oq ol ,wllnrl) 10 the ccxnimunlt) I/', Pi) and ucwld rlub cayturc Ihc prduccr'\ @In Imni hu!lni# urrtrr kkrw Itr mama1 @ w ( P : - PJ, I.tw

the pslnl~.ulur fami In the r~gurc 1h1.i wtwld tu an clplnlal rrrwycm(nl Iiou.crrr. Ihc mnrg~rul valuc curve V Ir dlt'fcrmt I t ~ r d~flnrnt farm\ and uj i f 8 crminum urlt la\ of (Y . . P,) wen rppl~rnf lo all tam* thcn all thc hutden ol Jdlut~nwnt wtwld tw pkwl cm thew f~rnr \ uiih mnrg~rkal raluc curvrs 1 \ r hclou ~ h c uvapgc. 1k Irnpnlttcn of thr yll~ IPI utwld

r m thcx fum1+ to m l w c watct u u hut ~ h c lmnr u l lh r mnrp~rul ralue cunc ( \ , rtnlve the arcrays \ wcwld WI he r h k 1%) hu) he u n u d uatcr. thus. In the ahwwc of tnnst'crehk uirlrr rlltxatlcmr. r all tar WI at a h~gh cnlwlph k t c l tn hr effa?lre in redwing ~ l i n l t ) tP, -. P.,I c.nulJ kd lo a wwtc of water as uc l l a.r having an unintended Impact on thc income dimhutim.

pr3)(~1m of farm aswt \aIwc. tkt r tran~fcrrhrlvy would gnlrlly fwilnak djudm~nt. Ccmwkr the erample of on Impelor

w h < w Cwm I\ \rlucrf at WMt (WNI. trf

uhxh S3K) (WXI 13 the value of water allc~mcnt It the tmpotcx tr ftmd hy wltnly laxcb i~ d k r ~ ~ I S I P ~ H M I IU cvuw Irnpalton and to undcrrahc ulvm~ttvc, untrnpelrd pnwlucttcm. then I! uvtrr cni~tkment\ cvc tnn\lmhk ut kw urn of h ~ r or her lcn\ cm k wtrrpcd hy wlltnlp uatcr quota. If. on Ihs cMhcr hmd. thc hater riphl t \ tlcd lo thc land. uz\ct deprcc~at~un following \altn~ty ctlntntl mu) mur ~hrt dju\tmcnt ctnb tor q m r Impator, arc vcr) htph I f u k pcm111\ are tradable ac l fhc I~TI~~~IIN has

clhtamncd umrr pcrmrls ihnn~gh im tnttirl allw~)tm. #Iju~t,tmn~ w r l l hc lunhcf fw~l~lotod: fw an ~rrlgulu Iawl uith rhc n d tru adju\tmmt, thc prmllr heconic r realiuablc rlinel I h u r . fr9nsfc~l1ty d h ~ h quc#cls and yrcmltt\ cmfcn grrutcr flcr~lrtl~ty in tnlgulim d, f w d u llh the a(! fcu ~lpdm~ll. Irnpaltm ctruld hrr cxpacd lo piwc o very hrrh voluc tm thtr I k a ~ h ~ l ~ t )

In nwluoon, thc nrapr rsquwwwnt fa rwnruful ~niplcmcntcll~c~n d pday lor dcrllnp w~th prohlcnrz In ~ h c Inlgatton wrlcr n~rrhrl 19 that ~hc p b l c r n ~ hc vlcwcd luycthcr mtl th#r prlrw hf prapcrl) ~nldgrulcd. A mur 'hol~%tlc' clppmauh than I\ cunmtly uwl I\ nectkd

Policy directions

Raltonal~wrt~c~ and rcfann of watcr alltrc.uton m t k Munwy-[lwt~ng &bln irrigation wyhtem, cunl the ccmtinu~c uIcl dcvclopmcnt of cxlrtlnp pultcich ftn dealing with wlnity. arc llhely lo hrvc sipcficunt hcncfitx kw u r b y . Scwnc prclgrr%r hub hccn mrdr in mluelng ~ubidier la impton md In increasing the tran\krahility of watcr cnt~llcrncnt\; howcvcr, then it a cnnsidcruMc diwtmcc to go In t k * dircctionl.

The dcvclopment ol ~wnrnunity groupr for cun~hrrtrnp sal~n~ty i s impbnunt for ~ncrcuslnp uwurcne\f ltnd for pmv~ding u Irmrmr.wcx& for povcrn- ~ n w t ass~stancc. Howcvcr. such grtwpr should hc viewed mainly as pmvidtnp v fin1 step loward the dcvclopment d pjlicics; (hut provtdc irrigators with gwalcr ficxihility tn ckuling with salinity. md improve rcuwrcc allocution fn)ni P

swiul stundplint. If salinily corrtrol nrcr\urrs urt to hc

cffwrcnt, rather than lrlmply cfl'cztivc. they w i l l nccd to hr. c.onhiwd with mca\ures whrrchy H a l w w i l l he allcacuvd cn thc hlsilr of \I\ apponunlty cost. Salinity and trunsltrahle \r.iittr cntitlcrnrnt pjlicics must k vicwcd togrlldthcr if the full prlcnrial woncrmic vlhluc of ttw b i n impatitn system ilr to hc rrrrliwd.

Su bsidisat ion If thc p m g m for microcccmic r r f m is to bc suc.ccsrful. i t is ncryssary that

\uhrdics fm the \upply ol water fivr ~rr~prl~trn and dher purpmc, hr phuncd out. M t h ~ uscn of wrcr puy the full ~ x l f l s of IIF \upply. ' h i s 1% k a u w the

WIOI (~ncrlmtnp tiwmnlck rcturn to lurrdr u d for the finiurtng of \ukrdies would h6 hipher 11' t k used for thar purptmc wclr Ict't w~th tvxplrycr\. (To scc why !hi\ ilr, rrmgdcr k ) w nwmcy would be IIIOC'DI~ in fk lecrmm~unity I[ ull investment wrrt v o l h t q us, a y , in t k \hiire marlct. I t i$ unltlely. in a purcly voluntary \yard. that InvcGorlr would find the r'rnmc.bl rrturns fnmi Invcsrmenr In ~rngr tkn sul'f~c~cntly ermmtlve to Invcst at lcvcl$.ihat arc cumntly hcing unde&cn. n u \ . the scxial return to fun& now used to suhsid~sc irrigarian umld k higher if thc mowy wrrc left with tuxpuyen to Invest. )

I f watcr suhsidics are to be p h a d out, thrcc questions rmd ht: rcalvcd. The fin1 i s that of timing; the second ccmxrns the role (if my) far government in providing adjustment assistance to wiilcr usen rffccttxi by the removal of auhsidks: the third i s what capital costs, if any, shwld be included in thc costs to he paid hy users.

There are rw) fixed rules for optimal timing of the nmoval of subsidies when udjus;llmnt costs are involved. Too rapid removal of subsidies may prevent effective adjustments in technology or properly planned and executedP reallocation of capital and labour to

M A R E Bw~urswmpprr 91 h

a l m t t v e uws. II nrmt>vnl oC s&dm IS Im %kt*. Ihc nur d the crrmmunlty ccmanw to k u r the FOS~ of the* \uhrrdics for an unncc.c~zrrrl) long pctltd.

Adjubtmrmt follcru~np n'mcrvul ot \ubiJw\ \CLHIIJ hC IILcI~ ttr tuke lurr form*. The frrrt would bc technlcd chwge vrthln rpeufic cnteqwlur\ iuxl would involve. for the nwst part, rcdur-~np water ue . Thctr 1% u red Icn lnrpalon to hc lrwarr of Ik (rptttmr own to thcm In lhrs rcgrtrd, and hcncc lhcrc i\ a clcw nmk ftr state governrncntr In fwouidrng cxtcn\ron wnsc\ The wc(wi ftrm of dju\tmcnt wrwld hr rn rnlltw.ulnrci of crptrl tw111l the trnpatm rndu\trrc\. lic~rcrnmcnl has long achnowlrdped a rolc 'in provrdrng assr\lme flu \UC,!I ild~~hlmCfl~, u~itler pollclc\ such a\ the Rural Adju%tmcnt .khenw and. indrnwlly, through zhrsttnp socrrl hccurrly and cmplopmcnt lepr~ls~rtrn. Howrvcr. ~n vlcu ot thc \pccific rlarure of \tvtc\' rcgltmrl wcllurr and duvelopment ohjectrvrs. auprilentaltc~n of thew p)licics thnwgh +talc lcpr~lativc chanpc\ mu). k dccmed necessary.

The treatment of capital in changing tiom a 5uhstdiwd m a 'uscr pay\' rcgimc i s fairly straightforward. il' not alwry\ undcrs~ood. On 'urer pay\ ' or micwconomic rcform grounds l k r c i 9

no case for irrigators paying for the fixed or 'qunk' capital of kmg esuhlihhcd water storages. The reaum for [hi\ i s that such payments. which would actually he rctrospeclive charges. wtwld not influence capital allocation in the industry and hence would ncnl increase ecomic eff~iency. (Govcmmenn may demand a payment for Ihe vrvicer pmvided by their a5xts an dhrr pmunds. --- Munugcrarnr af crrt~tcmr uu~rt

Integntian of tr~nsfc'cnbility and Salinity (4ytxrivcs A h CK~IUIIIC~ III C ~ C I ~ C I 5 ( p 241, 1f unr ~ronrncntrrl oh1c.r trvcs conr*cm~ap rnlgelron drr lo hc met c l f ~ ~ ~ r n ~ l j . cnlulng \trrtc-kvel plan* I(tr rcnwt!~np remrnlnlf ohsWlc\ t i ) trzur~lrrah~lrt~ ot wlrlcr nccd to I*: rntcprwld w ~ t h p 1 1 1 l y cm u l ~ n ~ t y ' h ~ r I\ k e u w truaslcruhtlrt~ of wulrr mutlcmcnts 19 Irhcly to IIK 1111utc u)lUnrn\ lo ulrnrt) yxthlcni\ Ihu\ them arc ccmipcllrng rcrrwns t r r cnrrurc that thr policy of trwc~rlerahrlr~j Ir ~mp lc rnc~~ t i~d rrptdl j rrntl rliut r~npcdlrncnrs lo trroirtcrs art* rtkri!rlrcd and rcmorcd I'rrcnlrc~ wruld rn~ludc remcrvul ol ~n+rrfulrrrnul hrrrler* lo Irimulcn, rnahln# ~ranclcn pcrrllntwrll rather I hiln crnptriu). and ck.vclopmcril of cffrc.~cnr enpncerrnp solutrort\ I t r

rcmovz phy+,lcnl ~rnp~.lllrrrnlr III Irmsfcrs w hare pn~rhle Ci~.ograph~c"~ll), prrorlt) In ~mplemcnutrcm of thr\ ~ w ) l r c ) \hould k prvcn lo thaw rrrac mnf contrthttnp to \~lrnrt) prtlhlcnls

Water security If' thc pn~hlcm of uatcr ~currty II itr hL" dcait with in the santc 'uqr pay%' framcwork r$ cNhcr a+%'lr of lSa+ln irrigation. tkrc 19 u ICN iiwt%tancc to be prc)vi&d f iw rhc c*rablrrhmcnt of option miukas in watcr. 'lhi\ w ~ w M incmur the choices availrlhlc lo water u c n in deillrng with rirks aswrlared

... " .llll-. . ,,"....." . ...- 33

with weather variability. Current tnrrment of wakr wurity involver complr~ regulalion, md may deny itrigatorr opportunities for profits becaure of itr k k of lkxibilify.

Thcrc ir n role for government in facilitating thc kvelupmnt of markets, w k the need f a such markets rnwn fnml inetitutionrl chrnges md when thew cur pwmirl dvantrgen to buycm

ud rlkn. in [his cuc. the precise fam that uainrnct drouki ta& in not ycl c lur . identifiiatkm af a group a industry intercrted in w ing ar on inrcmwdiuy in opim tnnapctions in walcr, and discuunianti between grrvcrnmm and dl inlctenvd panics, thould he tint steps fa govmmcnr in prov~ding assistance.

Economic signijicance of irrigated agriculture

Thc i r n p c ~ n m ~ of ~ m g a t d rrgl.isulrun in the overall apricultuwl wctcu can hc uxn fm l t lhks J iud 5, which pmvide infonnatlon on irrigated agr~cultural production for New South Wales. Virlwia d South Australia. Tahlc 4 is hoscd on 1986.87 dula from the Australran Burcou of S~uliatis>' Aprtcultwll C;ensur. wilh the value of agricultural prtductivn in I9U6-87 ctdjuucd lo IW) dc)llan. In terms of valuc, Ncw %mh Wales i s thc lorpest irrigated pnwlwcr, followed by V~ctoria. The total value of lrr~galed prrkluct~on in IVU6.87 for the thrcc strle\ was rpprox~mutely $3. l hillion (in 1990 &>lIiln 1.

in lahle 5 r brcrrkrkrwn ol rgnrLulturc in the ahrvc t h m .ctetcr hy ~nclustry, urlng thc Aurtnrl~ar Stardad InJu.ctr) Clrss~licnt~on ( ASICI. prt~v~dch PII

OVCTV~CW oI' (he dixtrihtion of Imgullrn wtivity hy thr p + ~ m al the lolnn that i s tmpaterl, nK table 1s bud rwr lhe I U86-$7 Apr~cullurtll Ccnsua, ~ h c MI went for wh~ch lmgutlim dutu art. pnvldcd. 'The ASIC gnruplnp 1% hy prcdorninclnt i lcl ivity. and ruch rlarxificalrcrn includes trther cnlerprheh, Nok ~hm only f m s with un c\timclted annul value of PT(U~UC~I(HI $renter than $20 tKMJ arc ~wlwkt l .

Numhcr ut farms 8x1 U M Y 1 1 1 1 1 I t 012 Numhcr td ~n~grtcd l m s MI. 0 nncr n MU 3 ?MI ~ n v m ~ m ex 199 % I 2 1 4 _-__.___ _ _ - . - . __--___-__.,_ -..,.--- _.-_ ....... ^ ,X ..-. . . . - -.-. a IW p v v b

124 hubr , nwm 125 I1(dlry CkJI

I U ( i rqut I \( Wawtrm Tru~t I WI Orchrcl, ahrr 141 R W ~ I W ~ 144 Vr)lruhk\

tc.rctudln8 piudtrr ) Inl C'crcal #rumr In? S h q , crmd It41 MCYI orttk, crrrrl IN Shrrp. nwrt, r . ~ k INS S k p IN6 Mrrr caltk IN7 MIIL L-~IIJC I l l 8 he\ l u l Suymr ram I*! ' T I ~ E O lQ5 NU~WWI I'M! Apt~cullurr

't'cul\ Itu N r u LwtL Halt\ . Vtc~cwln rtvl Stwlh Au\rrmlru

""..,,. ....- . , - . , ,,.,,,. -.-

.Irr a

Major irrigation mstems 3 and d m

Irrigated agr~culturt In thc Murray'- Darling Baain bcgrsn fin1 at Rcnmurh and Mildura In thc late IUU(h mi Irlcr in the northern Vicloriim rvplone and the Riverinn m New Stnrth Waks. Ttday. the Mumy-h l lnp Hasln Ircccwntr frw around 75 per ccnl of imgation uutcr cunsunrpmn In Austrdla.

Irrigation uiltcr 1s used for cf~ffcrcnt farm entcrprlwies In dlffcrrnt rrgitmc. In

thc Rl\crlnr for nee, pusturc and hcmicultu~; in thc (';oulhrn Vallcy awl LtKMtm nlalnly ftrr pmms, with wmw hwticul~urc; Sunraysru rn Vlctnriu and Rivcrlunrl and lower Murray 111 South Auctrilia have nwrnly t~oniculturc; and thc Namoi and Mncquuric catchment\ have cntcnsivc cotton inipul~on. Figum C show\ the regions whcrc ~trigutcd apriculturc i s suppncd hy govcmmcnt owned itnd run infrartnu'turc. md thow ~ h c r r thcrr i c pr~valcly opcrotcd irripalii~i supply.

Thc Basin IS drained by nrtm than 20 mjrn riven and covera m\t ncm- tropical cl~rnnlr ~ 0 ~ s from ulpinc lo arid. I t cmnprlvs threr main groups of rivers: the Darllnp group which drainr the north of the k i n . the Murmmhidgw group that drains h c ccntral and w~thcm Ncw Srwth Waics arras. and the Murray g m p !ha! drains part of southern Ncw South Wales and northern Victtxia. Ihc way the water drains f m the

basin can bc sccn from figure D. Thc rivers am fad mainly by run-aff limn thc inland slopes of the Great Dividing

Rrut~c. Slrcmc In lhfw anah urc t k Murray. liclulhurn. Oven%. hlurrunl. hidpcr uld the crrucrn hedw stcn of ttvc Darling (Murru)-~I)nrl~ng Hlsa~n Min~stcrial C'cruncil lVU?hl, Thc dralnagt r;yacni+ In thc rrorth and west nf thc bsa~n an: pwnly dcvcltyk.d and due to low rulnfilll c k h not uhunlly contr~hulc to wcum run-off. Thc Culpoe Rlver contnhutcs to thc flow ot thc L)urllng Rivcr. punrculurly durlnp t lcwr ts

Thr IJurl~np Rlvcr group ccntributc~ uhout I 2 pcr ccn~ id' thc Munay Hivcr Ilnw fmm lrbtwt M) per trnt of thc Burln's area. The Murmnrh~dpcr group ccmtrihutcc iurnrnd I .I pcr cent and the Murray group around 75 p r cent. Thr Snowy Muuntoins Schclnc, wlrich cn&lce water divcr~l(~1 k)th within and ro the Husin, c~mtributcc 11) the flour of krlh rhc Murray and Murrumh~dgcc rivcrs.

Around W) per ccnl of woler uwd in the Hilrin is uxd frw irr~grrtum, with many htoragca thrsf enrurc nnrl rcguhlc \upplics of water lo off-+lrcuni uwn. T m l water rtrnngc cupacity rb .UI m~llion ML ( I ..l timcr thc avcrngc ;mnud flu* of lhc hwnl. Water 1% gond in u numbcr of &kc$ and wcrrs. Thc Mumy ,-Darling Conlmissic~n hsr four main wrtcr rtoragcr: ~ h c Hume Reservoir near Aibury-Wudcmga on unk Mumy Rivcr, the IMmlh Rcwrvolr near Mtwnl W t y in Virmta tnr the Mitta Mirla River, the Menindn: W r wlh-eiiM ul Brdten Hill *cr rht Uvrltng RIVW. pnd -___. _.-.-., --.. --.------,

37

: C Crornhntn acurrmre In Murray Oarling Basin

1

M c V~ctoriu Icwatcrd k\i& tk Mumy Them are also extcnsivc aquifer River ncrr the New Srmth Wulca-South pwndwatcr rrurves in lhct Basin ffigun Australian hordcr. Water i s , r l \a E). Thr two largcr~ qui fen unt rhe ctntn>llrd thmph 1hC UM nt' i ~ k r IS Great Artesian Basin and Ihr Murray (such as Burrinjuck nnd EiItkHl~. wcin Gmurnfwutcr Basin. (such as Y~lrmrmga ad Wentworth), BRd I strict?, of lucks on ~ h c Murmy River.

-- --.-- - 4 UARI' dir vwcm mpm 91 6

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