More water input from local government
The Murray Darling Association is calling for local government to be given more say in the future of the Murray-Darling Basin, to better balance competing interests.
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The call from the Murray Darling Association comes after the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists released a report on Monday pushing for the Murray-Darling Basin plan to be delivered ‘in full and on time’.
Central to the report is a demand for government to guarantee 3200 gigalitres of water for the environment, including the controversial 450 gigalitres of so-called ‘up water’.
The Murray Darling Basin plan allows for the additional environmental water dependent on evidence that it will have no negative socio-economic impacts on Basin communities.
Member councils are concerned that any such evidence has yet to be demonstrated, with many communities clearly experiencing significant adverse impacts.
The MDA is calling for a rigorous and consistent process for assessing social and economic impacts that will yield reliable evidence to inform policy and planning decisions.
Without such an assessment that draws on local knowledge and valid data, competing interests will continue to offer conflicting arguments about social and economic impacts across the Basin.
Questions need to be asked of the comments made by the lead author of the Wentworth Group’s report, Dr Jamie Pittock, who on Monday told ABC News Breakfast the social and economic health of the Basin was as good or better than it was when the Basin Plan was passed into law in 2012.
Work done by our member councils, and numerous reports from state and federal governments and agencies shows that this is clearly not the case.
Many rural and regional communities across the Basin struggling in the face of such a rapid change to the price, availability and reliability of their water supply will be outraged by this statement.
It’s in the balance.
Dr Pittock’s assertion does no credit to the findings of their report, and further illustrates the importance of an evidence based assessment of the social and economic impacts of the Plan.
In arguing for more environmental water, the Wentworth Group also stated there was no evidence the 2050 gigalitres of environmental water delivered to-date had led to an ‘overall improvement in the condition of river systems across the Basin’.
But Murray Darling Association national president Cr David Thurley, himself a scientist, said it was premature to make such a judgement.
“To think that within five years of starting to repair the environment we would have seen major changes is unrealistic; it will take longer for the full environmental benefits to be seen,” he said.
Cr Thurley called on all interest groups and all levels of government to work together to ensure the best outcomes possible from the Plan.
“It was never going to be easy; it's about compromise and working together to get the best result,” he said.
He said local government had long been severely under-represented in decisions affecting the Murray Darling Basin, and the MDA, as the voice of local government in the Basin, needed to be given a seat at the table.
“The Murray Darling Association has more than 100 member councils so we’re connected straight to the diverse interests across our communities.
“The best way to get their input is to ensure local government is included,”; he said.
The association made a strong case for greater representation during meetings in Canberra earlier this month.
Emma Bradbury, Murray Darling Association.