A transition framework
It has become increasingly clear that under a drying climate, business as usual is no longer an option and that the footprint of the irrigation area will have to be reduced.
Environment Victoria, ACF and others have argued that government investment in water buy-back and infrastructure upgrades should be targeted to specific areas so as to achieve multiple benefits for the environment and rural communities across the Murray-Darling Basin.(29)
Andrew Campbell, former head of Land and Water Australia, suggests how this might be achieved “Radical re-configuration of irrigation infrastructure may be required, and it is likely that fewer farms will remain viable. With good planning, it is possible to reconfigure property boundaries and irrigation infrastructure to restore floodplain connectivity and floodplain-river connectivity, to return some land to environmental services, and to finish up with a fewer number of larger, more viable and more sustainable farms in the most favourable parts of the landscape for agriculture. Those people wishing to leave the irrigation industry can do so receiving a good price for their properties, and those determined to stay have opportunities to secure a better designed, better located, better serviced property. The aim would be to deliver significant water savings, big improvements in water security, restoration of environmental assets and ecological function, and opportunities for people to leave the irrigation industry with dignity and reasonable financial equity.” (30)
Increasing concern about the future viability of irrigation areas and the drastic decline in river health across the Murray-Darling Basin has pushed all levels of government into making significant financial commitments. The Commonwealth Government’s Water for the Future program has committed $3.1 billion over 10 years to buy back water for the environment from willing sellers, and $5.8 billion for water efficiency and infrastructure upgrades. (31) The Victorian Government is investing heavily in irrigation modernisation through the Northern Victorian Irrigation Renewal Project (NVIRP).
One risk of rolling out infrastructure modernisation programs independently of water buy-back is that funds will be invested in upgrading infrastructure in areas unsuitable for long-term irrigation. This would produce ‘gold-plated’ irrigation assets in an area that is increasingly unable to support irrigation. In the long-term, these assets will be stranded and the investment, often public money, will be wasted. This approach could also create the much anticipated ‘swiss cheese’ effect with remaining irrigation businesses randomly mixed with dryland enterprises across the landscape, leading to highly inefficient irrigation delivery systems.
The decision by the Victorian Government to allow the Commonwealth to purchase environmental water from unviable irrigation areas outside the 4 percent cap on permanent water trades (32) is a major step forward. It opens the way to ensuring water buy-back is undertaken within an integrated framework that supports planned change to agricultural and floodplain landscapes so as to achieve multiple environmental, social and economic benefits.
Significant work is under way on a decision-making framework for how this planned change might look. The Commonwealth Government has established criteria for identifying and investing in targeted water buyback zones across a range of areas including economic, social, environmental, value for money, water reform and due diligence criteria. (33)
References
(29) Environment Victoria (2008) Submission to the draft northern region Sustainable Water Strategy; Buchan, A. (2008) Land and Water Reform in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australian Conservation Foundation, Melbourne
(30) Campbell, Andrew (2008) Paddock to Plate: Food, Farming & Victoria's Progress to Sustainability. The Future Food and Farm Project Background Paper. Australian Conservation Foundation, Melbourne
(31) Water for the Future, at http://www.environment.gov.au/water/ [Accessed June 2009]
(32) New Commonwealth-Victorian Water Agreement”, Premier of Victoria, Media release, 4 June 2009, http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/premier/-new-commonwealth-victorian-water-agreement.html
(33) Inter-Governmental Agreement on Murray-Darling Basin Reform, Council of Australian Governments, 2008
