‘The Weekly Times’ water reporter, Peter Hunt, appears to be off the scent.
Mr Hunt attempted to downplay the Darling’s historical contributions to South Australia’s allocations.
The article that appeared in the March 24 edition reported that ‘a 20-year-old, one-off calculation is being used by opponents of flood plain harvesting to exaggerate the value of the Darling River’s flow to Murray River communities.’
The ‘one-off’ calculation that Mr Hunt is referring to is the 39% contribution that the Darling historically made. The statement is not a one-off and it has appeared in various reports, including an opinion piece by NSW Irrigators CEO that featured in ‘The Land’ on October 23, 2020.
The entire water reform relies on decades-old averages. The cap is the long-term average of water taken at the 1994 level of development. If there is no growth in use, then long-term averages should stay the same and be relevant 20, 50 or 100 years later.
Why does Mr Hunt’s defence of floodplain harvesting fail to mention there has been no limit on growth since 1994? Interception in the northern basin has never been measured nor has been previously subject to the cap.
In fact, the level of development and the ability to catch and store water has increased by nearly two and a half times since 1994, figures NSW DPIE agree with. Not just DPIE, but the MDBA and NSW Natural Resource Commissioner, all acknowledge there has been a growth in extractions in the northern basin. Extractions upstream must impact on water downstream, that is an unavoidable fact.
Mr Hunt continued, “But anyone who steps back and looks at the whole river system soon realises such calculations are irrelevant.”
They are not irrelevant to Victoria, which receives 50% of these inflows. They are not irrelevant to NSW Murray Valley, which receives the other 50%, and they sure as hell are not irrelevant to the communities on the Darling who rely on river connectivity for their land, culture and communities.
Mr Hunt’s claims continued, “It’s also worth understanding that about half the water northern NSW irrigators harvest off the floodplain would never have returned to the Darling and its upper tributaries anyway.” Even NSW DPIE has released reports which demonstrate that it cannot model or estimate return flows. With no metering in place for floodplain harvesting in northern NSW valleys, one would assume the amount of water which is currently being floodplain harvested is unknown and is therefore impossible to make this statement…
Let the smoke and mirrors continue.
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 1 April 2021.
