The state opposition says it wants to improve water security for Sunraysia irrigators, by extending supply guarantees offered to Goulburn Murray farmers, if it’s elected in November.
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The coalition’s water spokeswoman Steph Ryan said a Liberal-Nationals government would take a plan for capacity shares to Murray Basin Ministers, but declined to put a timeframe to when it would put the proposal forward.
Capacity shares currently don’t exist but are a similar mechanism to delivery shares in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District, which guarantees water will be delivered when needed.
Ms Ryan said increased horticultural production and demand for water in the Sunraysia region had raised concerns among irrigators and industry representatives.
“Horticulture’s thirst for allocation is putting pressure on the Murray River’s capacity to deliver water to irrigators and the environment at the peak of summer when they need it most,” Ms Ryan said.
“Only a Liberal Nationals Government will make sure local irrigators can get the water they need, when they need it.”
Ms Ryan said the Mildura region was home to the fastest growing almond industry in the world, producing 70 per cent of Australia’s almonds.
It was also a significant citrus growing region, producing a third of Australia’s navel orange and grapefruit crop.
But over the past decade, growing horticulture production had put more demand on water, with many opting to rely on allocation trade from Victorian, New South Wales and South Australian irrigators downstream of Nyah, rather than entitlements, to grow crops each year.
“We need to model the capacity of the Murray River to deliver water in peak summer periods and investigate the constraints on delivering this water,” Ms Ryan said.
Positive response:
Victorian Farmers Federation Sunraysia branch water spokesman Bill McClumpha said it appeared to be a good idea.
“But how that would play out, in the peak summer demand, is certainly something we would be concerned about,” Mr McClumpha said.
“The whole things needs to be looked at. As far we are concerned the Sunraysia pumped irrigation district needs to gets the water it’s entitled to, when it wants it.”
He said if water was not delivered during the peak summer demand period, irrigators would be staring down the barrel of an economic catastrophe.
“It doesn’t guarantee water, but the idea of the river being over committed is a real one and something a lot of irrigators have been concerned about.”
Guaranteed delivery, or capacity, shares, would allow irrigators to plan.
“They need to identify what the system is capable of and what the demands might be,” Mr McClumpha said.
“If you have that foundation of knowledge, you are able to work out the best strategies to deal with a tight system.”
Plan doubts:
But Victorian Farmers Federation water council chairman Richard Anderson said modelling would be required, to find out how much water could be pushed down the river during peak demand.
He cast doubt on whether or not the proposal would be accepted.
“No-one is going to agreed to capacity shares,” Mr Anderson said.
“It’s a fact the river can’t carry any more water, for further developments.”
The proposal plan was slammed by Yea livestock producer, Jan Beer, who has previously raised concerns about relaxation of contstraints, on the Goulburn and Murray Rivers.
Ms Beer said it it was not the right policy to adopt.
“You’ve sold us down the river, not just you, but the Liberal-National Party coalition,” Ms Beer said.
You’ve sold us down the river, not just you, but the Liberal-National Party coalition.
- Jan Beer, Yea livestock producer
“If you are going to relax constraints for irrigation water, through summer, you are going to be flooding people and it’s going to degrade the river enormously.”
She said guaranteeing delivery shares to the Sunraysia district would mean more water would come out of the GMID.
“The more water you take out of that area, the closer it comes to collapsing,” Ms Beer said.
“It’s an ideal area for irrigation
“It’s got the right climate, the right soil, it’s close to storage areas – all they have done, by increasing irrigation further down the Murray, is increase their water losses.
‘You have just transferred water loss, further down the river, can you imagine the conveyance and evaporation losses?”
Loddon irrigator Ken Pattison said it appeared Ms Ryan had turned her back on her upbringing, on a dairy farm in the Murray Valley, and effectively pronounced the destruction of the GMID.
“The river has a capacity, and she is saying more water should be transferred down the river, so irrigators there would have an entitlement, over and above other irrigators and the environment.” Mr Pattison said.
The claim was “politically naive,” he said.
“It can’t be achieved in any way, shape or form.”
But Shepparton irrigator Craig Reynolds said he thought it was a good idea and long overdue.
He said he didn’t believe the plan would affect the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District.
“Demand is increasing down there and the availability of water, through the Barmah Choke, is reduced,” Mr Reynolds said.
“But you can’t deliver any more water down the river, so I don’t think it’s a problem for the district.
“It would mean demand from those areas is reduced, because you can’t keep buying and delivering more capacity.”
