Answers needed on buyback strategy with water usage below Basin limits
Canberra, ACT, 19 August 2024: National Irrigators Council are calling on the Australian Government for answers, as they continue to pursue additional water purchases when water usage is well below the Basin Plan limits.
National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Zara Lowien said “the recently released data from the Murray Darling Basin Authority[i] confirms the core objectives of the Basin Plan are being achieved with water take 23 percent below the Basin Plan limit [see Figure 1]”.
“Usage around the Basin is well below the required limits and that’s even before the Federal Government acquires more water via buybacks this year”.
"Buybacks were a tool to reduce usage to meet these new Sustainable Diversion Limits and provide water for the environment. The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder cannot use all the water it has already, and now with Sustainable Diversion Limits achieved, it seems the Federal Government is just doing buybacks for the sake of it,” said Mrs Lowien.
Figure 1: Summary of Sustainable Diversion Limit Reporting Outcomes in the Murray Darling Basin (Sources: MDBA Sustainable Diversion Limit Reporting).
Mrs Lowien said, “with Basin Limits clearly being implemented, its time to genuinely focus on achieving environmental outcomes and not just buying water”.
“An outcomes approach would be less harmful to many Basin communities and the economy, but critically provide an opportunity to directly address any remaining environmental concerns”.
“We are calling on the Government to demonstrate how they will use this new information and prioritise the promised alternatives to finalise the Basin Plan. They should also invest in complementary measures like fish passage infrastructure to maximize the water already recovered, rather than simply adding more”.
“It’s illogical that the focus remains on additional water when the limits are being implemented and more water alone will not fix the Murray Darling Basin”.
“We know purchases will drive up water prices and undermine the economic capacity of the irrigation-dependent Basin Communities, adding to the cost-of-living crisis”.
“Yet the Government has committed to purchase at least another 100GL of water this financial year. The first tender for 70% of this target due to close next month,” said Mrs Lowien.
Ends.
Media Contact: Zara Lowien, CEO National Irrigators’ Council
0427521399
[i] https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/2022-23-sdl-accounts-registers-of-take.pdf