The Guardian 31 January, 2007
The Murray-Darling:
Howard’s great con job
Peter Mac
Last week John Howard announced a $10 billion project under which the Commonwealth would take control of the Murray-Darling river system from the four eastern states. There is justification for federal control, because each state government has tended to treat the nation’s rivers as though they were intended to benefit only that state. However, Howard’s claim that his scheme would solve the Australia’s critical water shortage is false.
Although the scheme involves worthwhile support for water conservation, it will actually consolidate the existing commercialised water system, which has allowed the irrigated farm corporations to plunder the Murray-Darling’s water.
Corporations whose farms grow cotton and rice are the worst offenders. So much water has been removed that the Murray will not discharge into the sea unless its South Australian outlet is continually dredged. Downstream communities, other farmers and natural ecosystems are deprived of adequate water supplies. Adelaide’s water supply is also under threat. About 20 percent of the water used by irrigators is equivalent to 17 percent of Adelaide’s consumption.
Last year’s Murray-Darling flow was the lowest in recorded history, about 25 percent less than the previous low. In 2002 a government report stated that about 1500 gigalitres of extra water (about three times the water in Sydney Harbour) would be required to restore the rivers to health.
State and federal ministers agreed to release a third of that amount to five of the worst-affected river sites, but so far none has been released, and the Howard scheme sets no targets for extra flows.
Under the scheme, $3 billion would be used to "buy out irrigators with over-allocated water licenses". This is likely to consist of purchasing some of their excess water entitlements. It is very unlikely that any of the farms of the worst offenders would be purchased by the Government, as has been recommended many times.. Another $6 billion would be allocated to install drip meters, and for a dollar-for-dollar subsidy for the irrigated farms to provide lining and piping for irrigation water channels.
These measures would reduce the consumption of water somewhat, but would, in effect, benefit the corporations which have caused the problem, rather than preventing their activities.
Queensland’s Premier Peter Beattie and NSW Premier Morris Iemma both endorsed the scheme. Iemma stated enthusiastically; "We are 100 percent in favour of a national approach on water."
However, South Australian Premier Mike Rann declared bitterly that the interests of cotton and rice corporations would be served by the Howard Government, rather than those of small farmers or river communities, and certainly not the interests of South Australians.
Howard himself declared his partisanship proudly. He referred to "the worst of both worlds — the irrigation sector goes into steady but inevitable decline, while water quality and environmental problems continue to worsen". He totally fails to acknowledge that the vast consumption by the irrigators is a major contributor to Australia’s water shortage, which he called "a problem created entirely by the states".
Malcolm Turnbull, in the new portfolio of Minister for Water and the Environment, has now endorsed a Victorian plan to create a drainage channel to divert the Murray and allow an extra 1300 gigalitres to be removed from the river.
Global warming
The increasing frequency and severity of droughts and bushfires which Australia is currently experiencing are a result of global warming.
The CSIRO has warned that unless greenhouse gas emissions decrease, the flow of the Murray Darling system will fall by up to 48 percent. Unless we take rapid and extensive action to avert the worst affects of climate change, drought will become the rule rather than the exception.
The worst irrigation water-guzzlers should be closed down as soon as possible, and river irrigation should be restricted to farms producing food. Drip farming should be widely encouraged. Flood irrigation should be banned, and there should be no further expansion of existing irrigated areas.
However, the Howard government has no intention of doing any of those things. Although its actions will be taken in the name of fighting global warming and restoring the Murray Darling, its priority will be on maximising the profit line.