Murray Darling Summary based On the Survey Response

Presented by Rick Lawford

Inn at the Forks May 4, 2012

Vision for the Murray Darling Basin: The Murray-Darling Basin’s (MDB) goal under the Australian Water Act 2007 is to be a sustainable working basin. This means maintaining and not compromising the environmental values while maximizing social and economic objectives.

Area: 1,042,730 sq km (14% of Australia). Mostly the MDB is made up of extensive plains and low undulating areas mostly less than 200 meters above sea level. Soil types are relatively poor but highly variable, with irrigation generally concentrated in the small areas of better quality soil and dry land farming in areas of sufficient rainfall and appropriate soils. Some areas could potentially move from grazing country to cultivation however, the high variability of Australia’s rain means that on average grazing of sheep and cattle is more profitable.

Mildura irrigation area

Major

snowmelt

storages

Murrumbidgee

irrigation area

Murray Valley Water Loss Calculations

Hay

Gundagai

Murray River 5% lost by evaporation during Nov-Dec 2002 at Mildura

Murrumbidgee River 9% loss occurred Dec 2002: Gundagai to Hay

World River Runoff compared with Australia

Major irrigation-return flow

& salt entry (Loddon River)

Major snowmelt

storage

Significant lower

salinity streams

Murray River Basin

ANSTO Environment

More dams in the south

Fewer dams in the north

The Role of Agriculture: Agriculture in the MDB provides an average of $15bil Aust $’s in GDP. The MDB is a net exporter of food with a very small % actually consumed by the 2million people who live in the basin. Australia has highly variable agricultural production due to its highly variable climate. Due to Australia’s relatively poor quality soils most cropping would involve the application of chemical fertilizers with any unfertilized areas representing an insignificant % of total area farmed. Guidelines exist in all states for fertilizer and pesticide application rates and agricultural extension services provide specific advice

Recent Trends in Agriculture: Changes in the agricultural mix have resulted from market demands for specific types of crops and the comprehensive water market which creates the ability to access the requisite water for different crop types. Within these market forces, there is a growing trend toward diversification of crop types in order to safeguard against movement in commodity prices.

Risks to Agriculture: The main short-term risks to farmers are commodity prices, and given the majority of product is exported, the exchange rate for the Aust $. The main long term risk to food production is the further decline in environmental health of the basin and thereby the productive base on which farming relies. This is a particular challenge in the context of climate change which is predicted to have a significant impact in the southern MDB.

Agriculture and the implications for water: Agriculture impacts the water flow regime through changing the time of seasonal flow to fit with irrigation requirements compared to the natural flows associated with winter rains in the southern basin and summer rains in the northern basin. With current levels of development, the Murray ceases to flow through the mouth approx. 40% of years. In its natural state it would not have flowed to the ocean 1% of years. Agriculture mobilizes approx. 1.5 mil tonnes of salt per year compared to about 0.5 mil tonnes naturally. Biodiversity is significantly impacted however, attribution of this impact directly to agriculture is difficult when external factors such as climate change are also causing significant changes to biodiversity

Irrigation Use in the Basin:

-2% of agricultural lands in the MDB is irrigated.

- Irrigation systems ranges from flood to high tech drip and sub-surface irrigation with ground probe sensor technology. Of the total water used in the MDB about 1,800 Gl or 11% is from groundwater, the balance is from surface water flows except for 410 Gl or approx. 2% which is imported from another basin. While there are return flows from irrigation these are not measured but because of the relatively high value of water in Australia are generally kept to a minimum. Quality issues relating to water from return flows primarily lead to increased salinity which under the Basin Salinity Strategy must be offset to ensure that any downstream impacts are offset through appropriate salt interception schemes.

Impacts of water storage for irrigation: It is anticipated that the improvements in food yield through new species, more efficient water use and improved farming practices will more than offset any potential reduction in food yield due to reduced access to water. The largest anticipated changes are to the environment which is already adversely impacted by over use of water for irrigation.

Energy and the Implications for Water:

While the hydropower arrangements for the MDB were established during an era when water was perceived as being plentiful and power was scarce, there is no significant tension between power generators and other water users with the established arrangements. The extraction of methane gas from underground coal deposits and the impact on groundwater resources, which tend to be connected to the surface water resources of the MDB, is a contentious issue. While some provincial governments are keen to see the development of this gas industry, the federal government has not given this new gas industry any priority over other water users.

Agriculture – Energy Interactions: Water from hydro electricity production is generally reregulated in the Murray-Darling system so any impact on seasonality of flows is generally a product of water requirements for irrigation and domestic purposes. The major impact of dams is cold water pollution where very cold water is released into streams which would have much warmer water under natural conditions and the reduction in variability with more constant flows. This results in changes to species, ecosystems, etc.

Decisions on and Regulation of Water Use: Each of the state governments of the MDB license water use for both surface and groundwater rights. 41% of the water resources of the flows of the MDB have been allocated for agriculture and other human consumptive use. There are no specific allocations for energy production, and hydro electricity producers are generally able to control timing of releases within an agreed profile. Farmers buy water licenses at approx. $2,000 Aust $’s per megalitre. This does not include any operation costs for services such as reticulation which may be provided. Costs vary greatly depending on services provided.

Water Quality Issues: All water quality impacts of agricultural activity are covered by relevant state and federal legislation. Offences may involve substantial financial penalties if proven. Temperature pollution continues to be a major challenge for both hydro electricity producers and water storage operators. An emerging issue is the contaminants in groundwater extracted together with coal seam gas and then finding its way into surface water resources. However, this is also required to meet the same water quality requirements as agriculture.

Blue-green algae blooms have increased in both frequency and scale in recent years however, it is likely that these have been caused primarily by reduced river flows due to drought and warmer than average temperatures, rather than increases in nutrient loads.

Concern for the Environment: The preservation of environmental values such as ecosystems and biodiversity in the MDB is an extremely high priority for the Australian and state governments and is the basis of the Water Act 2007. This has resulted in the Australian and state governments redirecting about 15% of water previously used for agriculture to the environment and depending on the outcome of the current Basin Planning process, this could significantly increase. Australia seeks to protect the 440,000 km of rivers in the basin together with the 30,000 wetlands which are generally on privately owned land and cover approx. 25,000 sq km. In addition it protects the 16 Ramsar listed wetlands which cover a further 6,363 sq km. Australia also seeks to protect the environmental values of the entire floodplain which is 60,000 sq km or about 6% of the MDB.

Assessments and the Use of Earth Observations: A national assessment (2000) provided base data for assessing the environmental health of the MDB and overall the assessment found that the ecological health of the basin was poorer than that required to support ecological sustainability. An Audit of the basin in 2007 found that only 1 of the 23 catchments in the MDB was in good ecological health, 2 moderate, 7 poor and 13 very poor. While significant satellite information exists across the MDB there isn’t currently any systematic monitoring except in the areas of ecosystem health where salinity, flow regime, invertebrates and fish are routinely assessed across the entire basin at the catchment scale.

While there is no formalized framework for assessing the value of environmental services in the MDB, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has commissioned several studies which give a qualitative assessment of environmental services.

Extremes: Floods are a natural part of farming in the MDB and while impacts on human life and property need to be managed, floods are essential for the long term health of the system. Floods would occur in parts of the MDB almost annually however at the basin scale they are expected to occur approx. every 10 years. Droughts can have a major impact on the environmental health of the MDB. Electricity supply is somewhat immune from drought due to the flexibility to fill reductions in hydro electricity production with other electricity sources. Droughts tend to occur on an approx. a 6 year cycle.

Drought Response: During periods of drought water managers meet to determine if there are strategies to conserve water e.g. reducing evaporation and other losses. The first response of farmers particularly those with permanent plantings, is to look to the water market to secure additional water.

Water/ Land Rights and Governance approaches: While people enjoy a common law right to access water for recreational use etc, all rights to use water are covered by law in Australia. This generally involves requirement for a licence except for certain non-farming human uses. Approx 350Gl is used for domestic water supplies. There is an agreed and legislated protocol for sharing water across state boundaries (the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement) and where necessary this is supplemented by other agreed arrangements.

As the total volume of water that can be extracted from the MDB is capped and to the extent that the Water Act (2007) Basin Plan determines that this volume needs to be decreased, this will only occur through buying water from license holders who are willing to sell. Water licences to a share of the water resource are perpetual and are viewed as secure. They are bought and sold as property similar to land. Water allocation processes in the MDB are implemented through water resource plans and in the future through the Basin Plan. All plans are developed through a very open process with many opportunities for community involvement and consultation.

All water resource plans are to include enforcement and compliance programs. State compliance with the water caps, set for each catchment, is assessed through an independent audit. The audit findings, together with the state’s response to any findings, are published and available to the public. While much of the land in the MDB is held under various forms of leasehold tenure from the respective states, this land trades and is viewed as having the same characteristics as other lands held by farmers involved in agriculture. Many farmers have organized themselves into corporate or company entities however they remain private ownership. There is some ownership of lands in the MDB by overseas people and companies however this represents a small percentage.

The independent National Water Commission and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority both invest in knowledge programs to ensure that trends and impacts are widely communicated. The Australian Government has also commissioned significant research to ensure that water planning is based on a solid foundation of science including emerging trends. The Australian Government is funding a significant program to make all water resource information widely available. This role which is undertaken by the Bureau of Meteorology has been given statutory affect through the Water Act 2007 (Part 7). the Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric or ‘geofibre’ as the specialized GIS foundation for the provision of water information.