Introduction
Northern Victoria’s rivers and their fertile floodplains are the lifeblood of the region and support its ecological, cultural and economic values.
Rivers like the Goulburn, Campaspe and Loddon have sustained abundant life and prosperous communities for generations, and today provide Victorians with good food, clean water and places to love and enjoy.
But northern Victoria is experiencing a period of rapid and profound change, the likes of which have not been seen before. The last twelve years of drought and climate change have had a deep impact on both the region’s river systems and its communities. The prolonged drought in south eastern Australia has been specifically linked to human induced global warming (1). The change has been so profound that Campbell Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of Water Strategies at DSE, has commented “I think a lot of these communities in northern Victoria are pretty close to Australia's first climate change refugees. We think of climate change refugees as groups out in the Pacific Ocean on atolls about to be swamped by rising sea levels. Well, these are our own version of them.” (2)
We are at a pivotal point in history and must decide if this change will become a threat or an opportunity. Nobody wants to see a depopulated, degraded and weed-infested landscape as a result of changing priorities for water management.
Historic low inflows combined with pre-existing over-allocation of water have brought rivers systems to the brink of ecological collapse. Bird and fish populations are plummeting and the region’s unique river red gum forests are literally dying of thirst. The ongoing dry conditions have challenged all farmers in their thinking and many are deeply concerned about the future of their river systems. The viability of many irrigation communities is seriously threatened by years of low water allocations, and some are making the choice to permanently transition away from irrigation. However to date there has been no coherent vision of what a post-irrigation landscape might look like, what assistance communities need to make the transition, or how the transition can be used to create benefits for river health.
There is, however, reason for hope. A changing climate, together with changing terms of trade, demographic shifts and a new willingness by state and federal governments to invest in land and water reform, create a unique opportunity for a new way forward that will provide multiple benefits for the environment and a secure future for regional communities.
Environment Victoria’s River Rescue and Regional Renewal project aims to explore ways forward and provide pathways toward realising a fresh vision for Northern Victoria that will be shared and supported by the region’s communities.
This vision will need to be founded on the acknowledgment of the interdependence of healthy ecosystems and prosperous communities. In its development we will seek to integrate the many disparate strands of policy, funding and management. The end result will be a set of principles for structural adjustment supported by a range of stakeholder groups and communities, and an Action Plan to return water to rivers while supporting rural communities to transition to alternative, more sustainable futures. The Action Plan will present policy options to promote to government for integrated investment in regional renewal in the lead up to the 2010 state and federal elections.
Through a process of research, analysis and community discussions, the River Rescue and Regional Renewal project will contain the following key elements:
1. Returning water to rivers and wetlands
The environmental flow requirements for the region’s rivers will be clarified and water recovery targets set to provide a viable flow regime. Actions to provide water for rivers and wetlands will be identified along with actions to maximise the environmental benefits from available water.
2. A framework for reducing the footprint of the irrigation area
A framework to identify areas that are unsuitable for long-term irrigation for reasons of climate or land capability will be developed. This framework will include provisions for targeting environmental water buyback into these areas.
3. Helping communities adapt to climate change
Alternatives to irrigated agriculture will be identified for those areas unsuitable for long-term irrigation. Alternatives will include dryland agriculture, alternative crops, ecosystem service provision and carbon sequestration. A structural adjustment package that supports farmers and communities to transition to these alternative industries will be developed.
4. Boosting sustainable irrigation in viable irrigation areas
Actions to support irrigation modernisation in areas where the industry has a viable future to create a high value, highly efficient and environmentally sustainable industry will be identified.
An integrated river rescue and regional renewal program will lead to multiple benefits for rivers and communities. It will enable famers to fundamentally rethink their objectives and practices and provide them with long-term certainty, while at the same time returning water to stressed river systems. These multiple benefits will present a very strocase to government for support and action.
This Discussion Paper reviews the state of river health in northern Victoria, existing initiatives to build regional resilience, and government policy on water management and structural adjustment.
References
(1) The Age, 30/08/2009
(2) The Age, 18/03/09
