Healthy Headwaters sets the right path leading toward draft Plan

MUCH has changed in the Murray Darling Basin since the guide to the proposed Basin Plan was released to a wave of community protest last October.
For farmers who await the next stage in the process (the draft Basin Plan) in coming weeks, there are two main changes they will note.
The first occurred in their backyards with record-breaking rains and floods in three States, the water from which is still entering the Lower Lakes and flowing out the Murray mouth today.
The second was in Canberra, with changes at the executive of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, and a concession at the political level that the bureaucracy and government need to vastly improve how they listen and respond to regional communities.
All of this “new” water in the system has mounted an undeniable argument that the preceding years were indeed an exceptional drought and also that the environment has a tremendous ability to recover.
The changing political focus is a reminder that communities need to be heard.
As the draft Plan approaches, the information it contains will be the acid test of what we have learned from the last eight months. This draft will be the document that tells irrigation communities what their future could be, and also if the government is backing up its improved rhetoric with action.
Already, there is cause for some optimism. We can see in Queensland that some positive stories are emerging from government water recovery programs, specifically with the Healthy HeadWaters Water Use Efficiency (HHWUE) project.
Water recovery through infrastructure improvements is a constructive partnership that can benefit the environment and also help regional communities that would otherwise lose part of their economic base.
With round two open until 29 July, irrigators in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin can apply for a share in $20 million of funding to improve water use efficiency.
The project, which is delivered by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) and funded ultimately by the Commonwealth, aims to build more resilient irrigation communities and promote the most efficient use of available water.
Through on-ground works, farmers and DERM co-invest in efficient irrigation systems and technologies.
Activities eligible for funding include installing overhead irrigation, upgrading water management systems, improving furrow practice, minimising seepage and training to manage new technology.
Irrigators also agree to transfer at least 50 per cent of the achieved water savings to the Australian Government, which returns these savings to the environment. The project is now in its second round.
More than $35 million has already been approved for investment in on-ground works for the Border Rivers and Lower Balonne as part of the first round.
I’m told by DERM that contract negotiations for the 12 approved projects, which range from $500,000 to $5 million, are currently underway.
The proposed works include constructing water storages, raising dam wall heights, optimising surface irrigation and converting furrow irrigation to lateral moves or centre pivots.
The 10 projects represent about 15,500ML of water savings, of which up to 7950ML will be returned to the environment.
The total amount of water proposed to be stored in new or modified storages equals 27,840ML, which is estimated at 35 percent of the total storage volume of on-farm storages within the Condamine Balonne and Border Rivers.
There are other on-farm benefits, with these works hoped to reduce labour, save fuel, increase planting and provide greater crop rotation flexibility.
With the forthcoming draft Plan to reveal the size of the new Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs), programs such as Healthy HeadWaters will be important for meeting these water reductions.
Irrigators understand that due to budget constraints not all water can be acquired through infrastructure changes, but they also know that infrastructure must be a key part of the mix.
Environmentalists that dismiss infrastructure programs because of the extra cost are missing the point that these programs are also about assisting communities and delivering a positive economic legacy to match the planned environmental improvements.
Even if SDLs in the draft Plan are more modest than what we saw in the Guide last October, if all water is acquired through buyback, this poses a big risk for regional communities.
Therefore, we will need the right balance of buy-back and infrastructure to safeguard towns, as well as SDLs that don’t overreach and cause undue community damage that can’t be undone.
For information on Healthy Headwaters visit www.derm.qld.gov.au or call 4529 1321.