1 / 25

The Murray-Darling Basin Mike Young Executive Director, The Environment Institute

The Murray-Darling Basin Mike Young Executive Director, The Environment Institute. Murray-Darling Basin. Directly supports 3 million people Feeds approximately 20 million people Significant environmental values 14% of Australia (size of Spain & France)

Download Presentation

The Murray-Darling Basin Mike Young Executive Director, The Environment Institute

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Murray-Darling Basin Mike Young Executive Director, The Environment Institute

  2. Murray-Darling Basin • Directly supports 3 million people • Feeds approximately 20 million people • Significant environmental values • 14% of Australia (size of Spain & France) • Australia’s three longest rivers • 40% Australia’s farmers • Agricultural exports earn $9b/year • Gross value of agricultural production $15b (40% Australia) • Irrigation: $5.5b (15%) • Home to 34 major Indigenous groups

  3. Flow generation

  4. The Murray will haveto solve its own problems

  5. Major water storages in the MDB

  6. Ecosystem Health Assessments 2004-07

  7. Change? (CSIRO Water Availability – 2008)

  8. Amplification -decreases in runoff

  9. Growth in Basin diversions 9

  10. Single Title to Land with a Water Licence National CompetitionPolicy 1993/94Plus Cap Water Land Tradable Right Price Entitlement Sharesin Perpetuity Use licences with limits & obligations Bank-like Allocations Water Rights Reform & unbundling National Water Initiative2004

  11. Water Reform Trading opened up Scarcity and Trading Source: Murray Darling Basin Commission, 2007

  12. Return to investment in entitlement systems & trading After Bjornlund & Rossini 2007

  13. A robust sharing system Flood water Entitlements Entitlements Environment Environment with a fully-specified share Volume of water available Shared Water Now buying back water for the MDB environment $3.1 billion Water needed to ensure conveyance

  14. The Guide to the Plan • Conveyance to and through Mouth 9 in 10 yrs • Prepared to lose 25% of red gum forests • Most benefits from 3,000 GL to 4,000 GL local are within region where reduction occurs • States must comply with SDLs even if Commonwealth fails to buy enough water

  15. Guide principles and concepts • Hydrological integrity • Most interception is included in the SDL algebra • Equitable risk sharing with Environment • Conveyance reserve specified separately • Environment gets an entitlement for freshes and some overbank work • Maximum subsidiarity • Uniform definition of SDL across the Basin built around a 114 year average less 3% allowance for adverse climate change • But CEWH takes a centralised view of the world .... • Robust planning as the “premier” control instrument • Entitlement and allocation system sits under the plan • Could reverse this approach

  16. Some critical dimensions • Only buy up to 45% of any system • But free trade?? • Average is a good basis for planning • Portfolio of entitlements would be better approach • No discussion of abandoned assets • Not clear about what will happen if Commonwealth fails to buy enough entitlements • Compensation? (Groundwater?) • Impact on each state in proportion to current share of the system

  17. SDL proposals * If only this component is reduced Surface water: 17

  18. South Australia – Tier 1 Flow • SA has an “administrative” Choke • Storage options, interstate trade & environment flow management is severely constrained • Inconsistent with notion of free trade and efficient management

  19. The LTA SDL • Long Term • Hides climate change signal • Average • Mean not mode or median • Sustainable • Not defined as a limit Don’t compromise key environment or productive base • Diversion • Not allocated • Not “used” • Limit • Not a share of inflows • Not a seasonal resource allocation

  20. “Take” not “net use” environmentally sustainable level of take for a water resource means the level at which water can be taken from that water resource which, if exceeded, would compromise: (a) key environmental assets of the water resource; or (b) key ecosystem functions of the water resource; or (c) the productive base of the water resource; or (d) key environmental outcomes for the water resource. • Management of “take” not amount “allocated” for taking • Little concept of optimal storage management

  21. Conveyance Reserve • Conveyance water is water in the River Murray System required to deliver water to meet critical human water needs as far downstream as Wellington in South Australia. • Not to barrages • No requirement to have a minimum annual flow to the sea

  22. Elements of a way forward • A much more regional approach • Commit to a fully specified entitlement system rather than a “planning” system • Define conveyance water needed throughout the system • Define the maximum amount that may be allocated in any irrigation season as the amount held when every “user” including interceptors has 100% allocation • Define a target portfolio of entitlements for the environment in each district • Continue with a market-driven approach • buy entitlements at higher and less callous prices • Establish community development funds and place money in proportion to money spent on buy backs and scale of the buy back • Establish regional environmental trusts to hold and manage entitlements. • Move forward step by step, monitoring, adjusting learning as we go

  23. Funding adjustment

  24. www.adelaide.edu.au/environment www.myoung.net.au

  25. When it takes effect proposed Basin Plan Final Basin Plan 25 2010 2014 2020

More Related