Water report reveals heavy community toll of water cuts

SUSTAINABILITY has become one of the buzzwords of the Federal Election.
From a political point of view, the focus on sustainable populations would probably have broad appeal to the motorists stuck in traffic on congested roads in South East Queensland. But a new report released last week studying the potential impact of water reform on the Murray Darling Basin has put the “sustainability” equation into a new context.
This report, completed by NSW-based Judith Stubbs and Associates (JSA), highlights the severe socioeconomic impact that could result once the sustainable diversion limits (SDLs) are enforced and irrigation water is permanently removed, changing irrigation farms to dryland enterprises in the Murray Darling Basin.
The report estimates that a 25 percent reduction in water allocations would cause 14,000 job losses at an annual cost of $1.4 billion.
It would also hit households – obviously the hardest in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB), but notably also in households across the country.
Considering the potential scaling of costs resulting from a 50pc reduction in entitlement, the annual cost per household nationally would be $380. In the MDB it would be $4500.
The report also analyses various other factors such a rising unemployment and negative impacts on health, with these effects lingering for much longer than the short-term benefit that could result from fund delivered through water buyback entering the local economy.
Not surprisingly, the report predicts that populations will decrease in regional irrigation towns as the jobs dry up.
The case study on the Balonne Shire – where irrigation is a major driver of the St George economy – estimated that a 25pc water reduction would cause a loss of 220 jobs, or about 9.6pc of the workforce.
These numbers indicate a stark contrast to recent political announcements on plans for food security and sustainable populations, particularly as they relate to encouraging regional development.
If all sides of politics are serious about the sustainable population debate, a good place to start would be to ensure that the Basin Plan does not pull the rug out from regional communities.
It seems the Labor Party are taking some positive steps with their water policy announced on Tuesday in Adelaide.
While we don’t yet know how big of a reduction will be needed to meet the SDL, Julia Gillard said she would meet the full cut by buying water from willing sellers.
If this water is purchased without qualification from willing sellers, then this will be welcome news in the irrigation community.
However, it is also worth noting that, so far, very little water has been purchased in Queensland, so the government may yet have to do some further work in meeting the market for water prices.
Because, nonetheless, while this policy is welcome to the alternative of having water taken away without compensation to meet the SDL, it must be remembered that there will still be an economic price to pay, and it will be borne by those communities who most rely on the irrigation sector for economic stability – as the JSA report revealed.
The incoming government should take note of this report and its numbers, and use it to ensure policies that help provide a sustainable population for all areas of Australia and a plan for national food and fibre production that is both environmentally sustainable and economically resilient.