Fair Water Use

Australia uses huge volumes of water to produce products for export, but cannot find enough water to keep its river systems alive.

The driest inhabited continent on earth - also the world’s biggest water exporter!

While the Murray-Darling Basin Authority apparently struggles to find even a paltry 3,000 gigalitres of water in its increasingly compromised attempt to restore the nation’s most vital and productive river system, a new report[1] reveals Australia to be the world’s largest net exporter of virtual water. This water is exported in crop, livestock and industrial products. It is the water consumed to create produce for export.

Independent data cited in the Canadian paper. It does not pertain to the time of the Australian drought.

The report also indicates that our agricultural sector is responsible for the vast majority of the total volume of water exported from Australia in this way, shipping an average of 72,000 gigalitres of virtual water overseas every year.

“While few would question the important contribution made by most Australian farmers, it defies belief that a country continually struggling with unreliable rainfall and severe drought allows more virtual water to be lost than any other nation on the planet”, national coordinator of Fair Water Use, Ian Douglas, commented today.

He added, “This sad fact is made even more poignant when one considers that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority seems incapable of finding a mere 7,600 gigalitres of environmental water to ensure the health of our most important river system”.

“These statistics also confirm the arrant irresponsibility of applying Murray-Darling water to semi-desert country, irrigating water-intensive crops such as cotton - a product which largely heads offshore, together with the vast amount of virtual water it contains”, he concluded.

Footnotes

1. The report (PDF, 1.8MB) may be downloaded from the Fair Water Use web site.

Full media release and report may be viewed at: http://www.fairwateruse.com.au/content/view/317/48/, Fair Water Use Australia, 'striving for a revived Murray-Darling basin by supporting environmentally sustainable water-use'.

See also: Council of Canadians' new report: 'Leaky Exports: A portrait of the virtual water trade in Canada', WORLD WATER WARRIORS: ‘Canada a major exporter of virtual water, says new Council of Canadians report’, Leaky Exports: A Portrait of the Virtual Water Trade in Canada, Council of Canadians’ new report: Leaky Exports - A portrait of the virtual water trade in Canada. (Sites found with a Google search using terms "Leaky exports: A portrait of the virtual water trade in Canada" (quotes omitted), although we believe it inadvisable to indefinitely depend upon Google or other search engines finding such resources as seems to be the practice amongst some Internet users these days. That is why we prefer to add links rather than repeat the hackneyed phrase "Just google it". - Ed)

Footnotes

1. The report Leaky Exports: A portrait of the virtual water trade in Canada (PDF, 1.8MB) may be downloaded from the Fair Water Use web site.

Senator Joyce should comment on the impact of landscape-scale bulldozing of native ground cover and natural land features during the construction of cotton farms and other broad-acre irrigation enterprises, when he calls for damming of the Balonne River in Queensland, in response to the St George floods.

The continuing campaign, by Federal Opposition Senator Barnaby Joyce, to dam the Balonne River, ostensibly to mitigate the impact of flooding around St George, has been criticised by environmental and public water-rights advocacy group, Fair Water Use (Australia).

Coordinator of Fair Water Use, Ian Douglas, responded today, “If the Senator is genuine in his desire to reduce flooding, he should first call for the demolition of inappropriately sited and unregulated levees, constructed by irrigating agribusinesses in the Darling catchment, including one seven metres high which runs for many kilometres next to the Balonne on the cotton property of Cayman Islands-based Eastern Australia Agriculture, just downstream from St George.”

“We would also like Senator Joyce to comment on the impact of landscape-scale bulldozing of native ground cover and natural land features, during the construction of cotton farms and other broad-acre irrigation enterprises, which has effectively removed the natural barriers to surface-water flows in the upper Darling catchment, especially in the St George area”, he added.

“Damming the Balonne would certainly increase water holdings, to the likely benefit of local irrigating agribusinesses, leading to further degradation of the Darling river system during non-flood periods”, Dr Douglas concluded.

Source:
Media Release, 5th May 2011

National public water rights and environmental advocacy group Fair Water Use is encouragedby the broad recommendations made in the guide to the draft Basin Plan released earlier today by the Murray Darling Basin Authority, but is concerned that Federal and State parliamentarians will use the forthcoming consultation period to justify softening of the Plan for short term electoral advantage, rather than to promote the long term interests of the river system and its communities.

The group’s national coordinator, Ian Douglas, commented this afternoon, "The progressive degradation of the Murray-Darling cannot be resolved without significant impact upon those who were previously encouraged by successive governments to overexploit the waters of the nation’s most vital rivers."

Fair Water Use believes that Australian governments must shoulder much of the blame for the crisis, as a result of a raft of inept policies, including the hyper-allocation of Murray-Darling water, the COAG decision of 1994 to develop a national "water industry" and the promotion of agribusiness-based managed investment schemes.

"Basin communities have themselves been exploited by Federal and State administrations and the pro-market lobby and have every right to feel aggrieved", Dr Douglas added.

A politically fudged and compromised Basin Plan will be no friend to those who seek to make responsible use of Murray-Darling water. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority must be allowed to develop its Basin Plan free from pressure from those who fail to grasp, or choose to ignore, the profound, long term, economic, social and environmental implications of a degraded Murray-Darling river system.

"Governments must now devise concerted regional development initiatives, to enable Basin communities to transition to a sustainable future," Dr Douglas concluded.

See also: Murray Darling Basin plan must not become a political football

Comments yesterday from Tony Burke, Federal Minister with responsibility for water, appear to infringe upon the statutory independence of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, according to environmental and public water rights advocacy group, Fair Water Use.

Comments yesterday from Tony Burke, Federal Minister with responsibility for water, appear to infringe upon the statutory independence of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, according to environmental and public water rights advocacy group, Fair Water Use.

Commenting on the long-awaited Basin Plan being drafted by the Authority, Mr Burke indicated that he was worried that the Plan may not be considering the “knock-on” impacts, upon regional businesses, of reduced diversions from the Murray-Darling river system.

There can be little doubt that the Authority is all too well aware of the full, regional implications of an effective Basin Plan. However, as acknowledged by its Chair, the Authority is required to place the health of the river system above all other concerns – and for sound reasons.

The Authority knows that it cannot rely on unpredictable flooding rains to maintain the river system. Unless outflows from the Murray mouth are significantly increased year on year, the nation’s most vital rivers will continue to degrade as a result of salinisation and increased toxin load.

However, the Minister’s comments can only place extreme pressure on the Authority to dilute its recommendations and thereby compromise the future of the river system and all who depend upon it.

The Federal Government is to be lauded for moving to address the endemic mismanagement of the Murray-Darling. However, the long term interests of Basin communities will be best served by carefully designed regional development initiatives - not by a timid and ineffective Basin Plan.

Without obtaining the prior mandate of the electorate, successive Australian governments have been seeking to establish a water-market in this country. For as long as the people of Australia are required to “buy-back” the nation’s water, especially during times of crisis, they will have no water security. Bidding-wars, as currently being waged by Senators Wong and Joyce, are now an unattractive and dangerous feature of Australian water policy: profits arising will be privatised but the impacts will be borne by the Australian public. The electorate of this country must be given the opportunity to indicate whether it wishes its water to be privatised and exposed to global speculation - or protected for future generations of Australians.

Water policy options say “buy, buy” to Australia’s water security

The much-vaunted water policy announcements from the major parties over recent days should be treated with great scepticism, according to a statement released today by national public water-rights and environmental advocacy group, Fair Water Use (Australia):

“Without obtaining the prior mandate of the electorate, successive Australian governments have been seeking to establish a water-market in this country.

As an inevitable consequence, private corporations are wielding ever-increasing control over Australia’s water future. This has led directly to the current chaos in water management and has serious long-term implications for all Australians and the environmental health of this country.

Privatisation hurting the Murray-Darling

Privatisation is severely compromising attempts to resolve the plight of the Murray-Darling. In a privatised setting, once sustainable diversion limits are set, subsequent to the eventual adoption of the Basin Plan, further remedial action will largely be limited to the purchase of water from the private sector; water that was at no time sold by the nation.

Bidding-wars, as currently being waged by Senators Wong and Joyce, are now an unattractive and dangerous feature of Australian water policy: profits arising will be privatised but the impacts will be borne by the Australian public.

For as long as the people of Australia are required to “buy-back” the nation’s water, especially during times of crisis, they will have no water security.

Australia has been identified as one of the parts of the world most threatened by severe water shortage.

The CMO of Summit Global Management, a large, US based, water investment company recently stated, “There are few areas where we can execute our strategy - but Australia is one of them."

Other countries abandoning water privatisation

Widespread problems overseas have resulted in a growing number of countries turning their backs on water privatisation.

However, in Australia, opportunistic administrations from both sides of the political spectrum continue to encourage consideration of the nation’s water as a tradeable commodity, rather than an essential public asset.

This unsanctioned process must be halted and reversed if governments are to ensure responsible management of our struggling water resources, including the Murray-Darling river system, for the benefit of all Australians, now and into the future.

Get water away from the corporates

Fair Water Use believes that Australian water must be removed from the portfolios of corporate investors, who seek to control the availability and price of this vital natural resource, and returned to public hands. Resolution would entail fair reparation of those impacted by this process, not “buy-back”.

The electorate of this country must be given the opportunity to indicate whether it wishes its water to be privatised and exposed to global speculation - or protected for future generations of Australians.

Source: FairWaterUse, 13th August 2010

On Wednesday 20 January, South Australian State Independent MP David Winderlich is organising a massive protest outside a scheduled Federal Cabinet meeting to demand effective action to save the Murray-Darling. The recent inundations of the northern headwaters give this Government a rare opportunity to save the our dying river system, that is, if it has the political will to stand up to commercial interests who would, instead, divert this much-needed water for their own short-term gain.

The following has been sent to me from David Winderlich's office. It was originally published on David Winderlich's web site at davidwinderlich.com. - JS

Massive murray protest

On the 20th of January, a Federal Community Cabinet meeting will be held in Adelaide. So I'm organising a Murray protest to be held outside, to let all the Federal ministers know what we think of their inaction on this national emergency.

An immediate Federal intervention can help save the Murray and get the floodwaters down to the Riverland and Lower Lakes. Even if there is agreement to send some water down the Murray this will only be piecemeal - we need a permanent whole river solution instead of constant crisis management!

Let's take our demands for immediate action right to the Prime Minister. All South Australians who care: turn up to the Community Cabinet meeting and send Rudd a rocket on the Murray.

When: 20th January 2009 at 4:30pm (assemble at 4pm)

Where: Norwood Morialta High School Oval, 505 The Parade Magill

Please pass this event on to your other networks, it is vital that we get enough people to get the attention of Rudd and Rann, and don't forget to bring signs stating what suburb or town you are from and if you like bring a bucket - some of those interstate Ministers might have brought some water.

If you're interested in being a part of this, or want to volunteer to help organise the protest, contact my office on (08) 8237 9278 or through email benjamin.howieson [ AT ] parliament.sa.gov.au.

See also: "MDBA legally obliged to place the health of Murray Darling above all else" of 12 Jan 10, See also: "Canberra must deliver on promised audit of private water storages" of 7 Jan 10, fairwateruse.com.au.

Last month, Fair Water Use contacted the Chairman of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Mr Mike Taylor, urging him to clarify the priorities of the Authority.

It appears that the advice was heeded.

In a statement received yesterday (11th January), Mr Taylor has affirmed that the Authority is legally obliged to place the health of the river system ahead of all other considerations.

This news should be applauded loudly. It is now generally understood that if the ecological decline of the Basin is not reversed, a bleak future awaits all who wish to utilise its waters.

Australians now seek confirmation that the MDBA is walking-the-walk: A highly significant first step would be for it to do all possible to ensure that the entire system reaps the environmental benefits of the inundations that have blessed much of its northern headwaters.

If Mr Taylor feels he is unable to achieve such an outcome, then the Commonwealth must be encouraged to invoke urgent legislation to enable him to do so - now and in the future. Failing that, the Authority should be put out to pasture, as was its predecessor, and a new, entirely independent body established; one invested with the powers to enable it to truly act as the guardian of the Murray-Darling.

Should a declaration of a state of emergency be able to facilitate these changes, then the Federal Government should be aware that resistance to such a move has collapsed in recent months: it could well be a very sound and defining decision in this election year.

See also: "Canberra must deliver on promised audit of private water storages" of 7 Jan 10.

This article has been updated from what was previously a #media">media release, which is still included below.The article below was originally published on 4 Nov 09 on the ABC Unleashed web site.

State of Emergency

Rice producers are gearing up to plant a crop this year, following the NSW Government's announcement of a further increase to their water allocations. The Rice Growers Association is predicting a harvest of around 200,000 tonnes.

Analysis of 2005-2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics indicate that the value of the 2009-2010 crop will be around $55 million (in 2006 terms), or 0.37 per cent of the gross value of agricultural production of the Murray Darling Basin ($15 billion in 2005-2006), representing approximately 0.03 per cent of the likely global rice harvest in 2009-2010.

Historical water usage data from the ABS suggests that cultivation of this meagre rice crop will consume around 250 billion litres of Murray-Darling water. This comes at a time when the Australian Bureau of Meteorology is once again forecasting below average rainfalls across much of the Basin, the Murray River is still not flowing to the sea, the Menindee Lakes are at all time seasonal lows and some downstream communities are unable to drink the water that flows from their taps.

It is interesting to note that this estimated volume, to produce what is likely to be one of the smallest Australian rice crops in recent years, is over three times the amount that the Brumby Government in Victoria is seeking to extract annually from the struggling Goulburn River using a pipeline costing taxpayers $750 million.

It is also close to double the collective annual consumption (137 billion litres) of Adelaide's 1.1 million domestic water users in 2008 and equivalent to two-and-a-half times the maximum annual output of the highly controversial desalination plant that the Rann Government is constructing in South Australia, at a price to the public purse of $1.83 billion – and at the risk of significant cost to the local marine environment.

The seemingly generous decision of the NSW government is in fact further evidence of the dysfunctional governance of the Murray-Darling. It confirms that while individual State Governments continue to manage the water of the Murray-Darling Basin they will serve their own interests. As a result it is unlikely that the rivers will receive genuine increases in environmental flows of the magnitude required for their revival. This casts doubt on the river's abilityto support the millions of Australians who depend on it.

When contemplating the merits of rice cultivation in the Murray-Darling Basin, the following information should be considered:

- Most recent relevant ABS data reveals that, in 2005-2006, rice cultivation consumed 16 per cent of all water used for agriculture in the Murray-Darling Basin, but contributed less than two per cent to the gross value of agricultural production in the Basin in that period.

- Based on the same ABS data from 2005-2006, the cultivation of rice requires 4,536 litres of irrigation water (all obtained from the Murray-Darling system) to produce one dollar's worth of product, as opposed to the Basin average of 515 litres per dollar for all agricultural commodities.

- The Australian Bureau of Meteorology predicts that, within two to three decades, drought will occur twice as often and be twice as severe throughout the continent.

- Analysis of data from the International Rice Research Institute, reveals that, even in its bumper season of 2000-2001, Australian rice comprised a mere 0.27 per cent of the global rice harvest.

- The largest rice crop in recent years was in 2005-2006, when around one million tonnes was harvested in the Murray-Darling Basin. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, this crop was worth 276 million dollars: 0.7 per cent of the total Australian value of agricultural commodities in that year (37.8 billion dollars).

- Australia exports 85 per cent of its rice harvest to wealthier countries (Australian Science Media Centre data).

Nonetheless, our rice and cotton communities deserve sympathy.

As with all irrigating enterprises in the Murray Darling Basin, these industries grew in response to irresistible, but untenable and ethically-dubious, governmental over-allocation of the Murray-Darling river system; arrangements which currently permit extraction of much more water than the system can replace in historically "average" years - of which there have been none of late.

Australians are increasingly questioning why the semi-arid ecology and hydrology of the Basin are being sacrificed to enable cultivation of water-intensive crops, especially rice and cotton which contribute little to domestic markets and whose major players are predominantly overseas investors.

It is now painfully clear that an ecologically debilitated Murray-Darling river system can not provide the wide range of ecological services essential to its communities and the millions of other Australians who depend on the agricultural productivity of the Basin.

Moreover, in the absence of a healthy riparian environment, the multimillion dollar regional tourist industry will inexorably decline.

The current policy of the Council of Australian Governments effectively leaves the future of our water in the hands of market forces; treating this essential and threatened resource as a tradeable commodity.

Even if one agreed with this highly contentious approach and the associated National Water Plan, it will quite simply take many years too long for this mechanism to induce the fundamental change in agricultural practices that is urgently required if the Murray-Darling is to be anything more than a shadow of its previous self.

Irrespective of worrying climate change predictions, unless Basin agriculture undergoes radical and rapid transformation, this food-basket of the nation will in future be capable of supplying a fraction of the staple cereals, vegetables, meat and dairy products which it has historically provided to Australian households. Importantly, the social fabric of the region will continue to unravel.

Australians look to the Commonwealth to protect our natural resources and rural communities for future generations. It must demonstrate its commitment by wresting control of the Murray-Darling Basin from the squabbling States and placing its management in the hands of a truly-independent and appropriately empowered body. This body must understand that the environmental health of the river system underpins any services that we seek to obtain from it and prioritises this above the demands of vested interests.

It also requires that the irrigating community admits – for the sake of the future of the Murray-Darling as a whole – that inappropriate crop selection by some of its members has had a deleterious effect on what once was the vibrant bread-basket of the nation.

Such a process must reject political tokenism, corporate spin and institutional obfuscation and demand sincerity, understanding and meaningful action from all stakeholders.

It will also require urgent and dramatic reduction in private water allocations, with fair reparation for those affected by this essential restructuring.

If the Commonwealth believes that to enable this to occur a State of Emergency must be declared, they should have confidence that the majority of Australians would support that decision.

Previous governments have cracked the Basin; current governments must now pay to have it restored, before it disintegrates.

In so doing, Australians will cease to perceive their elected representatives as instigators

#media" id="media">Media release

28 Oct 09

Environmental and public water rights advocate, Fair Water Use (Australia) notes comments reported today from Andrew Gregson, CEO of the NSW Irrigators Council, indicating that the irrigation community fully understands the need to promote the environmental health of the river system.

In welcoming this announcement, national coordinator of FWU, Ian Douglas, has requested that that Mr Gregson does all he can to ensure that irrigators act in-line with this philosophy and do not give into temptation resulting from irresponsible governance.

Dr Douglas stated, "The Rice Growers Association announced last week that, in response to the lifting of water allocations by the NSW government, its members are preparing to plant a crop this year, in expectation of a harvest of around 200,000 tonnes."

"Based on 2005-2006 data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, FWU has estimated that the cultivation of this crop will remove 250 billion litres of water from the system, to produce a harvest which we estimate will be worth only 55 million dollars based on 2006 prices", he continued.

"This cannot be seen as a socially or environmentally responsible use of Murray-Darling water, coming at a time when the Australian Bureau of Meteorology is once again forecasting below average rainfalls across much of the Basin, the Murray River is still not flowing to the sea, the Menindee Lakes are at all time seasonal lows and some downstream communities are unable to drink the water that flows from their taps," he added.

Dr Douglas concluded, "Although the primary blame lies squarely with the NSW Government in approving this increase in water allocations, all Australians concerned about the future of the Murray-Darling must place its environmental health before financial opportunism; the selection of appropriate crops is an essential component of this policy".

Contact: Ian Douglas
(National Coordinator)
+61 (0)416-022178

Authorised by: Ginny Brown
Media Coordinator
media[AT]fairwateruse.com.au
+61 (0)414 914248

Fair Water Use (Australia)
+61 (0)8 8398 0812
PO Box 384, Balhannah, South Australia 5242
www.fairwateruse.com.au

Tired of waiting?

Fair Water Use is urging supporters to participate in its national campaign, which in-part calls for the declaration of a State of Emergency with respect to the Murray-Darling Basin and for the Commonwealth to assume control of its management via a truly independent and appropriately empowered national authority.

The Federal Government has the constitutional powers to do so.

We are hopeful that, should Mr Rudd receive sufficient numbers of post-bags full of letters demanding that he move on this issue, even if he cannot grasp the scale of the crisis, he will at least understand that it would be a sound political decision.

Please take a moment to print off and sign the letter to the PM which can be downloaded at http://www.fairwateruse.com.au/images/stories/pdfs/the%20hon%20kevin%20rudd%20mp.pdf, or via our home page, and post or fax (02-6273-4100) it to Canberra.

PM urged to take acting lessons from Californian Governor

Comparison of the water crises currently gripping California and the Murray-Darling Basin reveals stark similarities in their causes and effects, but a glaring contrast in the willingness of those in high office to act appropriately, according to Australia’s largest public water rights advocacy group.

Fair Water Use (Australia) has scrutinised the Proclamation of a State of Emergency, issued earlier this year by Californian Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in response to the Californian crisis and has defined that many of the parameters which were sufficient to cause the Californian administration to act are exceeded in severity and duration by those which apply in the Murray-Darling Basin.

“More and more Australians are stunned by apparent inability of the Commonwealth Government to take meaningful action on this issue,” national coordinator of Fair Water Use, Ian Douglas, said earlier today.

Dr Douglas added, “We have provided the Prime Minister with a draft proclamation, incorporating the concerns which were sufficient for the State of California to apply the necessary, urgent measures and comparing them directly to those which apply in the Basin.”

Fair Water Use hopes that this will convince Mr Rudd that the plight of the Murray-Darling is at least as grave as its Californian counterpart, requiring Canberra to make similarly decisive moves.

“We are urging the Prime-Minister to follow Governor Schwarzenegger’s lead by acting appropriately,” Dr Douglas concluded.

The draft SOE proclamation can be viewed at: http://www.fairwateruse.com.au/content/blogcategory/14/47

See also: "Environmental group calls for declaration of State of Emergency to save dying Murray-Darling system" of 5 Sep 08, www.fairwateruse.com.au.

Media Release: 3 August 2009

In response to today's news that the Queensland government is still considering activating sleeper licences to the Cooper Creek system, the coordinator of Fair Water Use (Australia), Dr Ian Douglas, is today reported as saying: "The Rudd Government stands condemned for its failure to put an end to the dysfunctional and conflicting governance arrangements that have brought the Murray-Darling to its knees."

He went on to say that "State premiers and water-ministers show no interest in looking at the big-picture and addressing the ever-increasing threat to Australia's water future."

Dr Douglas indicated that the evidence of the chaos continues to build chronologically:

• The Victorian Government's imposition of a 4% cap on the trading of
  water licences out of the state
• Commencement of construction of the North-South Pipeline by the Brumby Government, a project described by the Senior Advisor on Water Issues to the President of the United Nations General Assembly as "about the stupidest idea that has ever been conceived"
• The decision of the Rann Government in SA to pursue High Court action against the Victorian cap
• The declaration of an NSW embargo on trading of water licences to prevent further purchase of environmental water by the Federal Government
• The statement by NSW Premier Rees that his government may join its SA counterpart in the High Court challenge
• The announcement by Victorian Premier Brumby of a slow and partial phase-out of the 4% cap in return for a $ 300 million cash pay-out from the Commonwealth
• Confirmation by SA Premier Rann that his government intends to persist with its High Court challenge
• The NSW government's auction of water rights to the groundwater of the Great Artesian Basin, in direct conflict with the Federal Government's Cap-and-Pipe initiative
• The environmental havoc being wreaked as a resul t of the Rann Government's construction of water-regulators in the Lower Lakes
• The Queensland government's reported intention to activating sleeper licences to the Cooper Creek system, which may have major environmental consequences and threaten the public water supply to the South Australian outback community of Innamincka

Dr Douglas' statement concluded: "Fair Water Use will continue to lobby Mr Rudd until he supplies answers to vital questions that we and the senior water advisor to the United Nations have been asking him for many months; questions that all concerned Australians are entitled to pose", namely:

1. Whether his Government is giving urgent consideration to the declaration of a State of Emergency to enable it to override the self interest of the States and allow meaningful action to be taken to address the multiple, non-drought, causes of the crisis?
2. Whether his Government is giving urgent consideration to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the management and governance of the Murray-Darling Basin: past, present and future?
3. If he is not contemplating the above actions, would he please detail the reasons why he believes that the crisis does not warrant such an approach?

See also: "Qld Govt told to keep hands off SA water" on the ABC on 3 Aug 09, "Artesian basin water auction sells out environment and farmers" of  Jul 09, "'Last undefiled waterway' threatened" by Asa Wahlquist in The Australian of 13 Jul 09, fairwateruse.com.au.

Contact: Ian Douglas (National Coordinator)
+61 (0)416-022178

Authorised by: Ginny Brown
Media Coordinator media[AT]fairwateruse.com.au

Fair Water Use (Australia)

Tune in

Dr Douglas has a grasp on the broader politics and bureaucracy problems which are making it impossible for the governments involved in regulating water (i.e. all Australian governments) to act effectively on the issue. When I say 'effectively', I mean to say that they simply seem to be paralysed and allowing things to drift into ever greater crisis. They are not paralysed on the privatisation issue; they appear to be enthralled by the privateers, but they are paralysed on taking the necessary measures to safeguard Australian water sources. They need the public to keep up a huge pressure because only public pressure will wake these bureaucratic government sleepwalkers, who will take Australia beyond survival mode if they are not woken up.

See other articles on this issue from Fair Water Use here: http://candobetter.org/taxonomy/term/619.

The message coming from Fair Water Use Australia is that the Federal and State Governments are not handling Australia's water properly, transparently or effectively. The mishandling is causing a dangerous crisis. The public should be very concerned and NGOs should support Fair Water Use and the UN in their call for a state of emergency and a Royal Commission. Australia, this is really serious.

Higher rainfall should mean more water - so where is it going?

Higher rainfall should mean more water in public and environmental reserves, but it is going to private holdings instead and the public is not aware

Private sector increases its strangle-hold on the Murray-Darling

Data obtained by Fair Water Use from the Bureau of Meteorology and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority provides confirmation of the effect of the rapid increase in privately-held water in the Darling Basin on the volumes of water available for essential public and environmental use, refuting claims that the crisis in the Darling is predominantly drought-related.

image from Fair Water Use site http://www.fairwateruse.com.au/

Despite average-to-above average rainfall in the Darling Basin over the last two years, the amount of water flowing down the Darling has reduced dramatically.

image from Fair Water Use site http://www.fairwateruse.com.au/

Public H20 store 80% less than it should be

Storage in the Menindee Lakes is currently around 80% less than would be expected under average rainfall conditions. As there has been no similar increase in volumes released from the Lakes, the water-hoarding activities of the private sector stand clearly incriminated.

There can be little doubt that, although compounded by drought, rampant water-privatisation is also a major contributor to the current devastation of the Murray catchment. However calculations are impeded by the apparent unwillingness of State Governments to provide required data.

UN Senior Water Advisor supports State of Emergency and Royal Commission on MDB Water

Fair Water Use is encouraged by the recent support of the senior water advisor to the United Nations for its call for declaration of a State of Emergency and the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the management of the water of the Murray-Darling Basin. Such actions offer the only means whereby Australians can regain control of this vital and acutely-threatened resource.

Listen to interview.

Source: Fair Water Use Australia. Fair Water Use Australia strives for a revived Murray-Darling basin by supporting environmentally sustainable water-use.

The closing date for submissions to the Human Rights Consultation process established by the Federal Government is June 15th 2009.

The following is a draft of a submission prepared by the Australian Water Network, in consultation with FWU. We encourage all supporters to submit their concerns with respect to Australia's water future, via the link posted to the "NEWS" page of the FWU site.

Rationale for inclusion of reference to right to water within a proposed bill of rights.

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its 22 May, 2009 report expressed concern about the negative impact of climate change on the right to an adequate standard of living, including on the right to water, affecting in particular indigenous peoples, in spite of the State Party’s recognition of the challenges imposed by climate change.

“It needs to the recognised that sooner or later the Federal Government will need to (or be forced to) take on the role of conservator and distributor of water without fear of favour. Corrupt and parochial state and local governments can have no part in such undertakings and neither can cashed up private companies who have shown an inclination to feed corruption for their own ends”. (Bruce Haig and Kellie Tranter. courtesy ABC Online, May 27, 2009)

“National Water Plans and Senate Inquiries offer little hope of prescribing the empirical rethink that is manifestly required. The implications of "getting it wrong" are quite simply too momentous to leave the task in the hands of those who happen to be charged with governmental responsibility at this time” (Ian Douglas, Fair Water Use (Australia): courtesy ABC Online, Sept 16, 2008)

In his concluding notes on the Right to a Pristine Environment, (Statute of Liberty pp 205/6) Geoffrey Robertson says,

'there are repeated references in international treaties and resolutions to the human right to a healthy environment. It has been recognised in the South African Constitution and by the Supreme Court of Canada. Australians proudly sing “our land abounds in nature’s gifts in beauty rich and rare”, so why not provide nature’s gifts with a measure of legal protection against being given away.'

This must include the essential right to water as a global commons. (Article 31, United Nations, Maude Barlow Blue Gold /Blue Covenant)

Proposed text

The Right to Water and a Healthy Environment

The Federal Government of Australia will use its vested powers to ensure that its citizens are vouchsafed the fundamental human right to water for sustenance and all reasonable use.

The governance of the nation’s water, including determination of “reasonable use”, will fall under the sole jurisdiction of a fully independent body accountable, via federal parliament, to the Australian people. The structure and independence of this water authority will be analogous to that of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The right to water will be declared an essential human right as a global commons. Under this definition, the right to water will be given precedence and advantage, in international and local law, over any other interests. Access to water will not be subject to market forces or to private or corporate interests. The precautionary principle of ecosystem protection must take precedence over commercial demands on water.

The carriage of this right will always be within the public domain. Any dilution of this right or interference in its carriage will be declared an offence under Australian Federal law.

These fundamental rights are contained within, and hold self-evident, provisions pertaining to the right to a pristine and healthy environment, namely:

The right:

(i) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being of citizens

(ii) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that:

- prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
- promote conservation; and protect native flora and fauna, and areas necessary to maintain biological diversity and ecosystems;
- secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development;
- establish a planning system that ensures encroachments upon areas of natural beauty or heritage value and species and ecological communities of National Environmental Significance are not approved unless by fair, transparent and non-corrupt process, which takes that value into account.

(iii) to timely and adequate assistance in the event of fire, flood, cyclone or other natural disaster or catastrophe.

Fair Water Use (Australia) has been investigating the Critical Water Allocation (CWA) Scheme recently announced by the State Government of South Australia, in view of concerns raised about its consequences.

At first glance, this appears to be a laudable initiative whereby "viable irrigators of permanent horticultural plantings in the River Murray corridor" in South Australia may apply for Government assistance in providing these crops with the additional water that is required to ensure their survival through the current financial year. This will be enabled by Government-underwritten acquisition of "critical water" for the purpose.

Most South Australian tax-payers would have few objections to the use of public funds to provide bridging assistance for mature vineyards, orchards and groves which have supported farming communities for decades.

However, Fair Water Use has been informed that, under the terms of the CWA Scheme, "permanent plantings" are defined as any approved crop put in the soil prior to the 1st of July 2008. The Riverland Response Centre, which is coordinating the initiative, has also indicated that agribusiness companies operating Managed Investment Schemes in the area are able to apply for CWA assistance.

FWUA Coordinator, Dr Ian Douglas, stated this morning that, if this were indeed the case, he doubted whether the South Australian public would support their dollars being used to improve the profitability of the vast irrigated plantations established by MIS groups in the last few years.

Dr Douglas continued, "The majority of these corporate irrigators have deplorable environmental credentials and are plundering the land and the River Murray for short-term financial gain".

Concerns have also been raised in recent months about the increasing number of large-scale MIS plantations in the region, and their impact on the profitability of smaller, often family-owned, mature plantings.

As farmers applying for assistance under the CWA scheme must be able to prove "the longer-term viability of their businesses", there are valid concerns that an unintended consequence of this scheme will be the demise of many of these smaller, less profitable farms which have supported the Riverland for countless decades; whilst the monoculture moonscapes recently created by water-hungry MIS Schemes are allowed to flourish - to the detriment of the river system, its environment and the very communities the scheme is designed to support.

"These MIS companies actively invested in the water-market, frequently with the financial support of overseas speculators, in the midst of the worst drought on record. They do not deserve the support of South Australian tax-payers", Dr Douglas concluded.

Authorised by: Ginny Brown, Media Coordinator media [AT] fairwateruse.com.au +61 (0)414 914248

Fair Water Use (Australia) +61 (0)8 8398 0812
PO Box 384, Balhannah, South Australia 5242
www.fairwateruse.com.au

Media release: 3rd November 2008

Not long ago it could be argued that the just-approved, multi-million dollar, riverside development at Mannum in South Australia's Murraylands would be a welcome initiative; the 570 new residential allotments and 150-berth houseboat marina providing a much-needed economic boost for that regional community.

However, that was in the good old bad old days. Now even the most unobservant Australian can see all too clearly the widespread effects of our overexploitation of the Murray-Darling river system.

Irrespective of all the talk, as a nation we are little closer to implementing a mechanism which will urgently address the underling non-drought causes of the widespread degradation of this nation's vital river system and heal the ecological wounds we have inflicted.

It bears remembering that, as you read this, the River Murray is not flowing to its mouth, vast areas of its natural wetland lie disconnected and in decay, some river communities are similarly unplugged from their water supply and several existing marinas in the Lower Lakes are largely high and dry. The river system, on which millions of Australians depend, is struggling - big time.

Far from validating the project, the confirmation by South Australian River Murray and Water Security Minister, Karlene Maywald, that the developers have sourced and purchased the 520 megalitres of water that they require for the project, merely demonstrates the grim outlook for water use in the Basin if free-marketeers continue to rule the roost: a future where water is provided to those who can pay the most for what is an essential natural resource, to the detriment of all other stakeholders, dependent communities and the environment.

Fair Water Use believes that now is certainly not the time for this project to proceed. Despite the developers' spin, any benefits it may provide will be more than offset by its impacts, and, as importantly, it sends entirely the wrong message interstate. The approval of such developments by the South Australian government will be viewed with justified cynicism in the light of simultaneous demands to inject more water into the Lower Murray and Lakes, to put an end to the inefficient use of water upstream and to reject a proposal to construct a marina at Mildura.

The already slim chances of a meaningful cooperative approach to the problem can only be hindered by the approval of the Mannum project. Until, as a nation, we have demonstrated our ability to address the failing health of the Murray urgently and effectively, the Mannum marina development is simply inappropriate and must be put on hold.

Such issues will continue to arise until a State of Emergency is declared and the Federal Government assumes immediate responsibility for implementing the suite of critical care measures that the Murray-Darling so desperately requires.

Contact: Ian Douglas
(National Coordinator)
+61 (0)416-022178

Authorised by: Ginny Brown
Media Coordinator
media[AT]fairwateruse.com.au
+61 (0)414 914248

Fair Water Use (Australia)
+61 (0)8 8398 0812
PO Box 384, Balhannah, South Australia 5242
www.fairwateruse.com.au

Yesterday's #NWC-mediaRelease">statement by National Water Commission CEO, Ken Matthews, that water desalination has a major role to play in Australia's water future, raises more questions about the priorities of our peak water body. In issuing his media release, Mr Matthews appears to be endorsing a process which has yet to be proven environmentally-benign under Australian conditions, whilst his Commission fails to address two of the most pressing threats to Australia's water security, namely the devious and constitutionally dodgy hyper-allocation and de-facto privatisation of Murray-Darling water.

Despite concerns raised by Fair Water Use two months ago, the NWC has yet to state a clear policy for putting an end to this endemic abuse of the nation's water resources, inconsistent with its major responsibility under the terms of the National Water Plan, for "driving progress towards the sustainable management and use of Australia's water resources".

Rather than advocating the reining-in of water speculators and the decommissioning of the Sydney Harbour-scale water storages constructed by ecologically-negligent agribusinesses, Mr Matthews appears to be proposing that we ignore or yield to these insatiably thirsty elephants-in-the-room and attempt to desalinate our way out of the water crisis through the widespread implementation of a technology known to have the potential to create its very own array of problems.

Fair Water Use urges the Federal Water Minister to heed the increasingly loud calls for declaration of a State of Emergency, which would enable her to equip the NWC with the administrative teeth it desperately requires if it is to drive efficient and reasonable water-use, rather than support the production of "new" water by a process whose impacts on Australia's unique and sensitive coastal ecosystems remain largely unknown.

Contact: Ian Douglas: 0416 022178

Authorised by: Ginny Brown, Media Coordinator, media [AT] fairwateruse com au, +61 (0)414 914248

Fair Water Use (Australia), www.fairwateruse.com.au
+61 (0)8 8398 0812, PO Box 384, Balhannah, South Australia 5242

#NWC-mediaRelease" id="NWC-mediaRelease">Appendix: Desalination and Australia's long-term water security

National Water Commission Media Release of 30 October 2008

The CEO of the National Water Commission, Ken Matthews, today released a report showing that desalination technologies will play an increasingly important role in securing Australia's water supplies.

'Emerging trends in desalination will inform decisions on the merits of desalination technologies and the part they can play in our suite of water supply options.'

Mr Matthews said, 'The Commission believes that all water supply options should be on the table. The public needs to be clear about the potential of desalination, especially in providing more secure water supplies. At the same time, the costs and risks need also to be made clear. This publication does just that.

'Australian governments have to date committed to investing over $7.5 billion in desalination plants to supplement bulk drinking water supplies and further investments are being considered.

'This Waterlines report indicates that desalination technology is becoming an increasingly competitive water treatment option. It also shows there are good prospects to further reduce environmental impacts and improve energy efficiencies. The Commission encourages research and development in these areas.'

Mr Matthews also welcomed the Australian Government's $20 million investment to establish a National Centre of Excellence in Water Desalination in Perth, which will develop and commercialise new water technologies.'

'It is important to understand that desalination technology is used for much wider purposes than just removing salt from sea water. Other water treatment applications include recycling wastewater for urban irrigation schemes, treatment of bulk drinking supplies, industrial re-use of water and in-land treatment of brackish waters.'

Emerging trends in desalination is a technical publication commissioned by the National Water Commission from the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Technology. The report reviews the latest research and emerging trends in desalination, including energy minimisation and environmental protection, the economics of desalination, and the merits of various desalination technologies.

The release of this Waterlines publication contributes to Australia's blueprint for water reform, the National Water Initiative, by providing information to improve the health, safety and reliability of Australia's urban water supplies.

Read: Emerging trends in desalination: A review

Media contact: Lynne Griffiths 02 6102 6023/ 0412 786 945, www.fairwateruse.com.au

Greed and stupidity, undiluted

At the conclusion of the program, any independent observer of the Four Corners report, aired by our national broadcaster last night, 20 October, would have risen somewhat unsteadily from the couch, staggered by the degree of ignorance and/or greed displayed by many of those at the heart of the Murray-Darling crisis: politicians and water-users alike.

We are now at the mercy of Queensland's water minister

The future for the Darling itself can only be grim as long as the apparently myopic Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Water continues with the Queensland Government’s hasty application of absurd dollar-values to water licences virtually donated to their agribusiness cronies, including previous parliamentary colleagues, not so very long ago; valuations curiously based, not on projected volumes of available water, but on the size of the dams constructed, and still being built, by these agribusinesses and other water-speculators, anywhere where the natural flow of surface-water can be impeded.

Privatisation of Murray-Darling water by stealth?

These individuals are not driven by any desire to tend for the land, toiling for a well-earned crust; they are simply committed to the privatisation-by-stealth of Murray-Darling water - and the vast profits that they will be able to reap from their investment in the water-scarce future which we are all facing. This has been their underlying agenda for some time, but last night on national television they stepped out of the closet and admitted the fact – such is their disdain for the true farming communities of the region.

As an apolitical organisation, Fair Water Use has been a more than occasional critic of Senator Wong, but it can scarcely be a surprise that the Minister appeared phased during her interview when you consider the pressure that these individuals, groups and governments are applying - attempting to derail the initial efforts of the Federal Government to counter the endemic abuse of the resources of the Murray-Darling.

Corporate cowbows

It is evident that these corporate cowboys, active throughout the entire Murray –Darling Basin, will continue to leech its life-blood, as long as their State Governments are also riding high in the saddle, assisting them in their activities. Sadly, despite the COAG rhetoric, it is becomingly increasingly clear that the States have little if any intention of dismounting to cede their control of Murray-Darling water.

- Unless our elected representatives in Canberra rise to the occasion and show true leadership.

Article by Dr Ian Douglas of Fair Water Use Australia

Fair Water Use repeats its call for the declaration of a State of Emergency and the establishment of a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the management of the Basin.

Media release: 17th October 2008 by Dr Ian Douglas: Coordinator, Fair Water Use

As soon as the laws of financial karma came into play internationally, once fiercely-independent, red-neck trading, banking institutions wasted little time in sidling up to global treasuries, cap in hand, seeking charity - and forgiveness for their previous irresponsible activities. As we all know, the cost of such clemency will be borne by the tax-paying public.

One can reasonably accuse many groups and individuals invested in Murray-Darling water of the same maverick use of resources, as they extract tomorrow's water from the Basin, apparently ignoring warnings that ever-increasing levels of extractions are unsustainable, and happy to leave it to the Federal Government to attempt to buy its way out of the water crisis with public funds. We continue to hear their glib assertions that, as they are acting within the laws of the land, it is unfair to describe them as water-barons or ecological pariahs.

The Cubbie Group, which can effectively divert the Culgoa River into its vast network of irrigation channels, frequently responds to criticism of its practices by reiterating that its activities are entirely legal, implying that Australians should therefore not be concerned about the environmental impacts and the indirect export of vast volumes of Murray-Darling water.

Grazing property, Mirage Downs, comprising 50,000 hectares on the Warrego River, was recently purchased by an overseas-funded group which intends to convert it into an intensive and water-hungry cropping enterprise, sucking-up much of the increased environmental flows which would have otherwise resulted from the Federal Government's welcome purchase of Toorale Station.

On the banks of the Lachlan, Great Southern Investment Managers (Australia) Ltd continue to develop their 500 hectare almond irrigation project, despite CSRIO predictions that groundwater extraction in the Lachlan Valley is likely to triple over the next 20 years, effectively reducing surface water availability by about 11% and leading to a further 8% drop in water available for irrigation.

One could list countless other instances of such officially-authorised but demonstrably untenable exploitation of Murray-Darling water.

Fair Water Use believes that any perceived "right" to extract water from the Basin should impose fiduciary duties upon users, with respect to the care of the vital ecological, economic and social resource that is Murray-Darling water. Sadly, many such consumers, and especially the growing number of water-rich agribusiness enterprises, are clearly in breach of such responsibilities.

The causes of the current implosions of the global banking system and the Murray-Darling river system are starkly similar: both resulting from unfettered competition for resources and a lack of appropriate regulation. Australia can ill afford to wait, Wall Street style, for the inevitable collapse of enterprises which are gambling on the continued availability of water to drive their corporate profits into the future, whilst running the ecology and social structure of the Basin literally into the dust.

Fair Water Use has long advocated compulsory acquisition of water rights with reasonable compensation of those directly affected. Senator Wong has consistently rejected this approach, despite increasing evidence that the Federal Government's voluntary buy-back of entitlements is proving ineffective and in the face of dire climatic and water-use projections. In any event, the question must be asked once again: why should our tax dollars be used to purchase that which was never sold?

In these times of self-serving politics, it is regrettably unlikely that our parliamentarians will demonstrate the intestinal fortitude required to endorse compulsory acquisition. Such visionary proposals tend to emanate from politically-independent bodies. In that regard, Fair Water Use repeats its call for declaration of a State of Emergency and the establishment of a Royal Commission of Enquiry - and will continue to do so until common-sense prevails.

 

Authorised by: Ginny Brown, Media Coordinator media [AT] fairwateruse.com.au +61 (0)414 914248

Fair Water Use (Australia) +61 (0)8 8398 0812
PO Box 384, Balhannah, South Australia 5242
www.fairwateruse.com.au

See also: Parliamentary process fails the Murray-Darling of 13 Oct 08, The virtual urban-rural water divide of 16 Oct 08, Transcript of interview with Maude Barlow, Canadian water rights activist on Background Briefing of 12 Oct 08.

Media Release: 13th October 2008

The rejection of the findings of the Senate Enquiry into the Coorong and the Lower Lakes and the issuing of an alternate minority report_#main-fn1">1 by the #appendix2">well-intentioned senators who called for the enquiry is further confirmation that the Murray-Darling crisis cannot be resolved by parliamentary process alone.

On returning to Australia today, the national coordinator of Fair Water Use, Dr Ian Douglas, repeated calls for the declaration of a State of Emergency, giving the Federal Government total control of Murray-Darling water resources and the powers to turn around the progressive ecological and social demise of the Basin, whilst a Royal Commission reviews its administration and governance.

"Australians are rapidly losing patience with its elected representatives on this vital issue", Dr Douglas stated. "We appear to have reached the point where our parliamentarians have run out of options and are left bickering amongst themselves in attempts to gain political brownie points."

"As long as the health of the Basin continues to be subject to the self-interest of state governments which render the Federal Government almost impotent on the issue, it will be impossible to take meaningful action to address the underlying causes and not just the symptoms of the crisis."

"Recent rains may have provided some short-term respite to the Lower Lakes, but this is only one aspect of a Basin-wide predicament and the underlying problem of mismanagement remains. Given BOM and CSIRO predictions, it is frightening to contemplate the state of the Basin in a few years time, if matters are left to take their current course", Dr Douglas concluded.

Catastrophes such as occurred in the Aral Sea clearly demonstrate that social and economic collapse follows close on the heels of ecological degradation.

Fair Water Use has contacted the Prime Minister, the Federal Water Minister and the Federal Minister for the Environment seeking the reasons why they are resisting calls for a State of Emergency and the establishment of a Royal Commission of Enquiry.

Contact: Ian Douglas 0416-022178
Authorised by: Ginny Brown, Media Coordinator media [AT] fairwateruse.com.au +61 (0)414 914248

Fair Water Use (Australia) +61 (0)8 8398 0812
PO Box 384, Balhannah, South Australia 5242
www.fairwateruse.com.au

Footnotes

#main-fn1" id="main-fn1">1. #main-fn1-txt">↑ Both the minority and majority reports can be found within the 1.2M pdf file to be found here.

---

#appendix1" id="appendix1">Appendix 1: Letter to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

13th October 2008

The Prime Minister,
Parliament House,
Canberra

Dear Prime Minister,

Given the failure of the Senate Enquiry into the Coorong and Lower Lakes to come to terms with the underlying anthropogenic causes of the current water crisis, as would be expected given its parochial terms of reference, I am sure that you appreciate that much of the Murray-Darling Basin is still on the verge of ecological collapse.

Should this occur, sadly your government will be remembered domestically and internationally as the regime that oversaw the greatest preventable environmental catastrophe thus-far encountered by this country. The complex and vital ecology of the Basin will not survive the continuing abuse and overuse of its dwindling water resources. Catastrophes such as occurred in the Aral Sea clearly demonstrated that social and economic collapse follows close on the heels of ecological degradation.

As coordinator of this national group, I would like to ask whether you are giving urgent consideration to:

1. the declaration of a State of Emergency to enable your Government to override the self interest of the States and allow meaningful action to be taken to address the multiple, non-drought, causes of the crisis.
2. the establishment of a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the management and governance of the Murray-Darling Basin: past, present and future.

If you are not contemplating the above actions, we would ask you to detail the reasons why you feel that the crisis does not justify such an approach.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Ian Douglas
National Coordinator

#appendix2" id="appendix2">Appendix 2: Greens Media release Monday 13 October 2008

Greens won't give up on Lakes and Coorong communities

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Greens will continue to stand up for the communities of the Lower Lakes and Coorong and step up the call for fresh water flows to the parched lower Murray, despite the majority report from a Senate Inquiry saying there is not enough water in the system to help the situation.

The Australian Greens have released a minority report on the Water Management in the Lower Lakes and Coorong Inquiry, recommending 60 gigalitres of fresh water be sourced from the 1500 gigalitres currently available in the southern Murray-Darling Basin.

"The Government has just run up the white flag on this issue," said Senator Hanson-Young.

"It will be the communities around the lakes and Coorong, who are already struggling, who will pay the biggest price.

"If you actually look at the evidence that was presented by witnesses at the Inquiry hearings, it's clear to see that there is enough accessible water in the basin to ensure that we don't go past the critical tipping point.

"What's missing from this sorry situation is the political will. It beggars belief that the Government thinks it's all too hard to source just 60 gigalitres to tide these communities over until spring next year, while we make the necessary changes for the longer-term."

Senator Hanson-Young said that aside from the environmental catastrophe that will ensue if more fresh water is not brought down to the lower Murray, there will be a disastrous impact on the economic and social fabric of the lower Murray communities.

"During the Inquiry we heard from those who live and work around the Lakes and Coorong of the acute impact being felt by the business and wider communities there," she said.

"The Coorong Council tells us that a school there has lost a fifth of their enrolments as young families move elsewhere for better opportunities. The real estate market and tourism industry are both dramatically down on previous years.

"This the human impact of environmental mismanagement."

Senator Hanson-Young called again for a taskforce to be set up to assess the scientific, engineering and economic options for securing the long-term health of the Coorong and Lower Lakes, as was moved for by the Senate last month.

"With the unexpectedly good rain over winter, we dodged a bullet," she said.

"We cannot waste this opportunity to get things right.

"Let's move from talk to action, set up this taskforce, and get solutions underway for the sake of our Storm Boy country."

For more information: Gemma Clark on 0427 604 760

Ian Douglas of Fair Water Use (www.fairwateruse.com.au) shows how the 'reform', commencing in 1994, which promised to rectify the Murray-Darling's chaotic piecemeal water management structure by making water allocations a marketable commodity separate from the land titles, has, instead, only help bring the Murray-Darling system to the brink of collapse . In accord with our national constitution's provisions for such national crises, he calls for the declaration of a state of emergency.

Originally published with readers' comments on the ABC News web site on 16 Sep 08 08:48:00

By Ian H Douglas

Originally published on the ABC News web site on 16 Sep 08 08:48:00

In the midst of the cacophony of political lambasting, parochial foot-stamping and media static engendered by the crisis currently affecting the Murray-Darling Basin, there has been scant voicing of what many view as the underlying anthropogenic cause of its plight: the 1994 decision of the Council of Australian Governments "to implement a strategic framework to achieve an efficient and sustainable water industry", emphasising "the adoption of pricing regimes based on the principles of consumption-based pricing"; in effect, the establishment of an open water market.

For the majority of the subsequent 14 years, this water "reform" process has induced increasingly polarised opinion but little frank debate. It was left to the likes of then Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks, shortly before his resignation last year, to call the beast by its true name, privatisation.

Moreover, in recent months it has become increasingly clear that the maze of administrative and governance mechanisms responsible for the welfare of the basin are dysfunctional and frequently self-defeating. Concerns have even been raised regarding the validity of current arrangements under Section 10 of the Australian Constitution insofar as it applies to the "reasonable use" of water.

Current events confirm that the chaos continues, with "environmental" water being acquired as a result of one administrative decision, only to be redirected by another. This was demonstrated by the recent purchase of water-rich properties in the Darling catchment involving the Federal and NSW State Governments, raising hopes that our elected representatives were beginning to understand the importance of holistic ecological health as applied to the Murray-Darling Basin, followed all too quickly by last week's approval of the Victorian Government's North-South pipeline by the Federal Minister for the Environment and erstwhile conservationist, Peter Garrett. The Minister apparently believes that this project "will not require an environmental study" as "it will not impact on matters of national environmental significance".

The recent statement from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water that much of the rainfall in the upper Darling catchment "breaks out into floodplains or alternatively feeds into terminal wetlands resulting in a great loss of this water" confirms that some authorities have yet to grasp that the ecological health of the basin is essential to the economic well-being of its agricultural sector.

Such is the morass that is governance of the Murray-Darling.

Proponents of water reform, including the Wentworth Group, largely adhere to the mantra that a consumption-based pricing policy, monitored by an "independent" body, is the mainstay of efficient water management; trusting the market to take care of the precious resource that is Murray-Darling water. Under the circumstances, might the free market be a superior arbiter? Based on the evidence, this is certainly not the case.

The Queensland Government recently announced that it intends to grant tradable water licences to irrigators in the Condamine-Balonne river system, for volumes only marginally less than their current allocations: entitlements which were all but gifted to them not so very long ago. The current drought has convinced some agribusinesses that there would be more profit to be made from selling their water than using it for the purpose for which it was originally allocated to them.

It is not entirely implausible to suggest that, in the near future, some water-rich farming enterprises will list agriculture as a non-core activity, their primary income being derived from water trading.

In other parts of the basin, despite direct warnings from CSIRO scientists, irrigators are increasing the volume of water extracted from already stressed aquifers, as it is more financially advantageous to use groundwater rather than purchase the water they require from the rivers and associated impoundments; apparently oblivious to the absolute connectivity of water in river systems.

This is merely the neonatal phase of a process which, if unchecked, will lead to decisions directly affecting the price and availability of water being made by those whose sole credential is financial clout. Regrettably, neither Mother Nature nor the majority of the farming community have the credit rating required for membership of this potential star chamber. Overseas interests are becoming increasingly invested in this country's water-based commodity market. The unfettered export of our dwindling water resources continues. Under the doctrine of economic rationalism espoused by the water reform movement, there must be major concerns as to where water will be allocated and the uses to which it will be put.

Frustrations are escalating throughout the region: from the headwaters of the Darling, where farmers accuse their neighbours of water theft, to the Goulburn, where opponents of Premier Brumby's pipeline are threatening militant action, and in the Lower Murray, where, while large sections of the local community maintain their strident insistence that fresh water must be injected into Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, other residents are equally strongly advocating the opening of the barrages to allow ingress of seawater. Water wars, as feared by some overseas commentators, are surely not on the cards in this fine country; but the rumblings are unsettling and must be heeded.

National Water Plans and Senate Inquiries offer little hope of prescribing the empirical rethink that is manifestly required. The implications of "getting it wrong" are quite simply too momentous to leave the task in the hands of those who happen to be charged with governmental responsibility at this time.

Australians should indeed be grateful to those who drafted our Constitution, defining the processes to be invoked in response to national crises: a state of emergency must be declared, to enable application of the necessary treatments to address the acute aspects of the malaise affecting the Murray-Darling Basin. A Royal Commission of Inquiry should also be established, to carry out an all-encompassing and independent review of the past, present and future of this ecologically profound and vital natural resource.

Ian H Douglas is the national coordinator of Fair Water Use (Australia), a lobby group which advocates environmentally responsible use of the nation's water.

See also: Environmental group calls for declaration of State of Emergency to save dying Murray-Darling system, Water stolen from dying Murray-Darling by technicality.

Readers comments

Of course privatisation of water is a disaster

Of course privatisation of water is a disaster. Look at the schemozzle private enterprise has made of electricity and the railways.

All the arrogant hyper actives want to do is play Monopoly as they have been doing with banks and investment companies. No matter what disaster they cause, these types walk off with millions.

Every public utility should be controlled by elected boards. If they don't behave to the best advantage of the community, fine them and sack them.

Keep solicitors and MBA's (Masters Of Bugger All) away from anything that requires intelligent direction.

Set up chairs of public administration in all universities.

We've had enough of large enterprises being handed over to executives with no experience in the industry.

Once privatised, publicly owned things, become a remnant of what they once were

Aah monopoly. The great game of collusion that creates winners amongst the related and losers of everyone else. It's true that most things once publicly owned that become "privatised" become a remnant of what they once were however it is the "mantra" of apparently modern economics and public management. This of course is closely tied to the other screamer of "the market will sort itself out" which can be seen to be so blindingly untrue following any of the "recent" financial collapses in the U.S. and their flow on effects on world markets.

The States have absolutely stuffed up water management yet you need to ask why. The short term provision of either votes or monetary income has allowed the State Governments to use water as a means to an end. This use has been exploited to a point that is detrimental to the health of the river systems in question. What exactly is it that has fed this insatiable desire to irrigate. Cotton of course. Now you can't eat cotton and the material that cotton makes isn't actually of much long term value however it posts a great return to a solicitor's trust fund and also enables certain "tax deductible investments" to be used in the greater desire of earning more money. Money is the funny thing, you can't eat that either. But they think they can buy anything they need when they have it.

The biggest scam ever perpetrated on a sovereign state

Don't just stop at water, electricity and railways.

Private enterprise makes a hash of most things - except ripping off profits and delivering executive salaries, perks and bonuses.

The biggest scam ever perpetrated on a sovereign state is that the market and private enterprise works better for people than government services.

Victrorian Government neglect of Sunraysia compounded by water management debacle

The management of the Murray Darling basin and all water management should be in the hands of one authority who would look at the interests of all water users and not just those in the City. The passing of the legislation for the pipeline is the final disgrace.

The people of Sunraysia where I live are being given a raw deal in many ways including transport, proposed closure of CSIRO and research station at Walpeup, the closure of FMIT, the difference in water allocation between NSW and Victoria, no train service, little public transport, a hospital which cannot cope with demand within budget, a private hospital with no nurses so midwifery wing closed and should you need medical treatment in a capital city then be sure you have a couple of thousand dollars each time you travel.

This is all on top of the debacle called water management which is putting emotional and financial strain on all members of the community.

Add environmentally inappropiate crops to that list of failings.

I'd add using environmentally inappropiate crops to that list of failings. Australia, as we are all well aware, has a vastly different climate and terrain yet we persist with water thirsty crops.

Real problem is growing water-thirsty crops in a semi-arid desert

The real problem is that of trying to grow crops which need water in what is essentially a semi-arid desert. Over much of the basin there is no run-off to top up the river, most of the flow originates in the Great Divide. For most of its length it flows through areas where the evaporation rate far exceeds the rainfall. All of this talk of water allocation and water trading is all crap if the water is just not there in the system, it is a smoke haze to hide the real problem.

We need to acknowledge the fact that Australia is not Europe, and as such is totally unsuitable for growing any crops that need any water other than whatever rain falls from the sky. We can all sit around making clever speeches, having committees pass resolutions, have special boards of inquiry and then feel smug about it all, but the whole Murray-Darling system really is beyond help unless we get rid of any forms of agriculture etc that cannot sustain itself on whatever rainfall there is. This will never happen, of course, because there is too much money and livelihood tied up in it all, even though it has no future. The future is that the lower Murray becomes a series of pools and only occasional flow every few years. Most of South Australia becomes dependent on Teflon Mike's desalination plant, at huge expense. The towns along the river, from the riverland, through sunraysia and upstream all wither as there is no income and the whole of western Victoria and central NSW become desolate ghost towns...

The real water guzzlers are the livestock industries and crops

One of Australia's main exports is dairy, and also red meat. We know cotton and rice are water-consuming crops, but the real water guzzlers are the livestock industries and crops, and so much of it is for wealth creating exports. At least 50% of our milk is exported. Why not save water and stop these exports? We should consider Australia first, not companies that are making money and profits from it. Much of our dairy is owned by Japan now, and they want it for Japan. Our ecosystem has helped make our prosperity, but Nature is screaming out that this cannot go on. We need to ensure our own food bowl, and not use if for wealth creation. Export 21st century technologies instead is what we need to do, not irrigation agricultural products. - Vivienne

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The title previously was: Mother Nature: dig out your begging-bowl - dem cotton farmers is coming yo' way

Not content with being a major contributor to the desiccation of creeks and rivers in the Murray-Darling and to the increased salinity of the system, in the midst of the nation’s worst water crisis the cotton industry is intending to increase its use of groundwater, as this is more cost-effective than purchasing impounded surface water at current prices.

NSW Cotton growers too thirsty

Fair Water Use has been informed that twelve Southern NSW cotton growers will tap the already compromised ground-water reserves of the Basin to irrigate 2500 hectares of cotton this season. At an average irrigation rate of 6.3 megalitres per hectare (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005-06), this equates to an additional 15,750 megalitres extracted from stressed local aquifers and, to all intents and purposes, exported.

CSIRO identifies groundwater drawdown as major threat

In a recent publication “The shared water resources of the Murray-Darling Basin”, the CSIRO identified one of the most serious threats to the future of the Basin as the rapid increase in groundwater extraction. CSIRO scientist, Dr Tom Hatton, has also pointed out the stupidity of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, as groundwater extractions exacerbate the widespread impacts of the endemic overuse of surface water.

Market forces making matters worse, not better

Fair Water Use, and an increasing percentage of Australians, believes that it is totally unacceptable to leave the waters of the Murray-Darling Basin at the mercy of the market. To continue to do so will deliver control of the availability and price of water into the hands of those who are most able to pay. Mother Nature will doubtless be left squatting on the banks of the dried-out Darling, proffering her begging-bowl: and the line of Australians queuing beside her will grow ever-longer.

The Murray-Darling is crying out for complete overhaul, commencing with the declaration of a State of Emergency, as per our submission to the current Senate enquiry.

Source: 'Fair Water Use – striving for a revived Murray-Darling basin by supporting environmentally sustainable water-use'

Media Release: 4 September 2008

Murray-Darling chaos: the final straw

National coordinator of Fair Water Use (Australia), Dr Ian Douglas has responded to today's statement by the Federal Water Minister that the commonwealth is not in a position to purchase major irrigating agribusiness enterprise, Darling Farms, in the absence of support from the State Government of NSW.

"It merely confirms what has become increasingly clear to Australians over recent months: that current arrangements with respect to the governance and administration of the Murray-Darling Basin are dysfunctional and self-defeating, and are clearly failing to maintain this vital river system for the benefit of us all", Dr Douglas said.

Fair Water Use has today submitted documentation (attached) to the Secretary of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, which is coordinating submissions to the Senate Inquiry into water management in the Coorong and Lower Lakes and the Emergency Water (Murray-Darling Basin Rescue) Bill 2008.

These documents call for and define the terms of a declaration of a State of Emergency (pdf, 67K) and the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (pdf, 69K) into the management and governance of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Contact: Ian Douglas: 0416 022178

Authorised by: Ginny Brown, Media Coordinator,
media [AT] fairwateruse com au, +61 (0)414 914248

Fair Water Use (Australia), www.fairwateruse.com.au
+61 (0)8 8398 0812, PO Box 384, Balhannah, South Australia 5242

See also: National Water Commission: No plan - no future for Murray-Darling.

Twelve months ago, John Corboy, co-convenor of Foodbowl Unlimited (www.foodbowl.com.au), ex-Chairman of SPC and strong proponent of the Victoria’s north-south pipeline, went on record as stating that the future for agriculture in the Goulburn Valley was “not all gloom and doom” as Australian farmers stand to benefit from the impact of two ecological time-bombs: the impending collapse of the largely ground-water irrigated agricultural sector in Northern China, home to around half of the country’s population of 1.3 billion, and the ever-worsening degradation and pollution of river systems in India and China.

In his speech to the Foodbowl Unlimited forum in September 2007, Mr Corboy also welcomed the reduction of global agricultural output as a result of increased biofuel production, saying this will “bring supply and demand into balance”. He indicated that by 2040 there would be 3 billion more mouths to feed on this planet and urged that agribusiness take “full advantage” of such opportunities: a degree of economic rationalism that would be hard to surpass.

Fair Water Use will leave it to others to comment on the moral calibre of such statements, but would like to inform Mr Corboy, and all those who seek to exploit the dwindling resource that is Murray-Darling water, that there is no need for him to travel as far as China or the Indian subcontinent to see rivers whose waters are unfit for human consumption as a result of mismanagement. A trip to the lower Murray will provide him with the opportunity to sample water with salinity levels in the region of 20,000 e.c., around eight times higher than the maximum salt content of potable water, and view large areas of what is described by the CSIRO as “monosulfidic black ooze”, acidic mud with a pH often less than 4.

There are great concerns that, under the terms of the Victorian Water Plan strongly supported by Mr Corboy, the Brumby Government will be able to “borrow” billions of litres of water from the environment and redirect it for industrial and domestic use.

Unless all those currently driving the water-privatisation agenda are called to account, the Murray-Darling Basin risks experiencing socio-ecological collapse similar to that anticipated by Mr Corboy in Northern China and India.

See also Fair Water Use media releases. For information on a related topic, see articles about the threatened privatisation of NSW's electricity assets.