This was one of the key talking points when local organisations met with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in Sydney on Monday.
Southern Riverina Irrigators (SRI) joined other irrigation representatives and met with the MDBA in Sydney, at which issues and concerns with the discussion paper were raised.
CEO Sophie Baldwin said it was a positive meeting with clear and consistent messaging coming from all attendees.
“Everyone in the room was in agreeance - the omission of the value of agriculture (particularly irrigated agriculture) and its contribution socially, economically and environmentally is a major flaw in the review, and the fact the terms farming and agriculture are mentioned less than 10 times over the entire 112 page document shows where the focus is,” Ms Baldwin said.
She said other issues including accountability, connectivity and deliverability were discussed.
It was also pointed out the continuous quest to improve the river system by adding more and more water had resulted in unseasonal flows, and contributed to negative environmental impacts in both the Murray and Darling Baaka systems.
“Many people agreed farmers were often used as the scapegoat for failed project delivery when in fact the failure should be contributed to departmental implementation and project design in the first place.
“There has to be more accountability and as the independent river operator, the MDBA should be more vocal when it comes to issues, particularly around deliverability and constraints,” Ms Baldwin said.
She said a lot of the meeting discussion could be attributed to the fact the Basin Plan is based on inaccurate modelling, data and unachievable assumptions and outcomes.
“It was great to see the MDBA admit in their evaluation ‘some Basin Plan environmental outcomes may not be feasible and need to change’ and ‘outcomes for Coorong Lower Lakes Murray Mouth need to be adjusted over the next 10 years’.
“SRI and other advocates have been pointing this out for many years, so to see these points publicly acknowledged is a start, but we need action and what changes need to be made.”
Since its inception the Basin Plan has become one of the most contentious pieces of legislation and its impacts have been far reaching across our region.
As more water leaves the footprint via buybacks, competition for a smaller productive pool increases and costs rise, profitability is impacted and farmers can no longer afford to grow those important staple food products like cereals, rice, dairy, fodder and livestock.
This then flows onto local business impacting on job security, people leave the area, schools close and we start to lose facilities.
“As the years have passed the Basin Plan has become a political football passed around to the detriment of farmers and our region.
“Water leaving the footprint impacts on farmers, communities and businesses and this review does provides an opportunity for people to tell their own story.”
SRI urges anyone impacted to make a submission.
“They don’t have to be long, they don’t have to be technical, and they don’t have to be written - the MDBA is accepting submissions in a variety of formats - the important thing is just to make one by May 1,” Ms Baldwin said.
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