Footnotes

[1] House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Getting Water Right(s) - the future of rural Australia, 21 June 2004.

[2] See Appendix 5: select statistics on Australian water use.

[3] Australia State of the Environment 2001 - Inland Waters, Department of the Environment and Heritage 2001, p.19, 27.

[4] Under the National Water Initiative, from 2005 a new National Water Commission will have responsibility for future assessments of water-related reform commitments by States and Territories under the National Competition Policy see the Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative, 25 June 2004, p. 2.

[5] Ecological Assessment of Environmental Flow Reference Points for the River Murray System, interim report by Scientific Reference Panel for MDBC, October 2003, p.12.

[6] Council of Australian Governments Communiqu, 29 August 2003.

[7] Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council Communiqu, 14 November 2003.

[8] House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Inquiry into Future Water Supplies for Australias Rural Industries and Communities - interim report, March 2004. Dr J. Marohasy, Myth and the Murray, Institute of Public Affairs, December 2003.

[9] M.D. Young & J.C. McColl, Robust Reform: the case for a new water entitlement system for Australia, The Australian Economic Review, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 226-227.

[10] Prof. P. Cullen, Committee Hansard 11 December 2002, p.4, 8, 20.

[11] Council of Australian Governments Communiqu, 29 August 2003.

[12] Council of Australian Governments Communiqu, 25 June 2004

[13] Prof. M. Young, Committee Hansard 11 December 2002, p.27. Torrens title: a system in which the law declares that ownership of land is as shown in a register maintained by the state. This removes the need for buyers to check the entire previous chain of transactions in order to be sure that the seller has good title.

[14] Mr P. Sutherland (NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.789.

[15] For example: Greens MP Ian Cohen said the long term future of rivers remained in jeopardy as long as there were inflexible, perpetual water licences. Knowles backs away from water levels, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 March 2004, p.2.

[16] For example, rights (other than riparian) in California and Colorado are defined for access to a specific volume of water. Water is supplied to right holders in order of their date of appropriation first in time has priority until all available water is taken. Productivity Commission, Water Rights Arrangements in Australia and Overseas, 2003, p.xviii.

[17] Expressing surface water rights as a share allows the risks of a shortage to be spread across all users. All right-holders will receive some level of supply in lower than average rainfall years. For example, an individual who holds a one per cent share of the available flow is guaranteed to receive that one per cent, regardless of whether the one per cent converts to 10 litres or 10 ML. Productivity Commission, Water Rights Arrangements in Australia and Overseas, 2003, p.99.

[18] Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative, 25 June 2004, s37.

[19] For example, Say NO to water licences in perpetuity. NCC cannot see the sense in offering $6.8 billion worth of water to a private industry Nature Conservation Council of NSW at http://www.nccnsw.org.au/ , July 2004.

[20] Whether more water should be given to the environment is an earlier argument. The consumptive pool is the water left for users after allowing for environmental needs to the extent that the community deems adequate.

[21] For example, COAG water test for Carr, media release, Nature Conservation Council of NSW, 24 June 2004.

[22] For example, when land appreciates because of a rezoning decision.

[23] Mr J. Grabbe, Committee Hansard 25 August 2003, p.48.

[24] Cr W. OMally (LGSA of NSW), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, pp.734-5. Similarly Mr D. Aber (Moree Plains Shire Council), Committee Hansard 26 August 2003, p.110. Mr N. Shillabeer (South Australian Murray Irrigators Inc.), Committee Hansard 20 April 2004, p.524.

[25] The comment assumes that water would be rated if it is owned by a person who also owns the land it is used on. The problem arises of whether or how to rate water entitlements owned by non-residents. It would be possible, as part of initialising the system, to tag every water entitlement to a local government area. An absentee owner would pay water rates just as an absentee landlord pays land rates. However this implies that every entitlement, no matter where the water is used, carries an obligation to pay rates to the source LGA indefinitely. The scenario is comparable to proposals that farmers in irrigation areas wishing to sell out should pay exit fees equivalent to the ongoing levies they would pay to maintain the shared infrastructure. Both scenarios, in the long term, would probably impede the economic efficiency gains from water trading.

[26] Securing Our Water Future Together, Victorian Government White Paper, June 2004, p.71.

[27] The IGA also envisages government recovering water by investing in efficiencies (s79(ii)(a)). However governments should not expect to get bargains by this route, since if there were bargains to be had farmers would presumably do the investment themselves to sell the saved water.

[28] Mr P. Cosier (Wentworth Group) Committee Hansard 11 December 2002, p.3

[29] Mr J. Kahl (Lower Namoi Cotton Growers Association), Committee Hansard 26 August 2003, p.140. Similarly for example, Mayor J. Stone (Balonne Shire Council), Committee Hansard 25 August 2003, p.47. Mr P. Weller (Victorian Farmers Federation), Committee Hansard 21 April 2004, p.593.

[30] Miss J. Hamparsum (Upper Namoi Water Users Association), Committee Hansard 26 August 2003, p.178.

[31] Mr P. Weller (Victorian Farmers Federation), Committee Hansard 21 April 2004, p.593.

[32] Mr N. Shillabeer (South Australian Murray Irrigators Inc.), Committee Hansard 20 April 2004, p.527.

[33] Prof. P. Cullen, Committee Hansard 11 December 2002, p.12.

[34] Mr C. Creighton (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 14 July 2004, p.677.

[35] Prof. M. Young, Committee Hansard 11 December 2002, p.13.

[36] Mr R. Dalton (DAFF), Committee Hansard 14 July 2004, p.710. Mr P. Sutherland (NSW DIPNR), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.799.

[37] Securing Our Water Future Together, Victorian Government White Paper, June 2004, p.69

[38] Mr P. Cosier (Wentworth Group), Committee Hansard 11 December 2002, p.10.

[39] Mr K. Goss (MDBC), Committee Hansard 30 October 2004, p.312. Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Scoping of economic issues in the Living Murray, with an emphasis on the irrigation sector, 2003. Hassall & Associates et al, Scoping Study: Social Impact Assessment of Possible Increased Environmental Flow Allocations to the River Murray System, Stage 1, 2003. Hassall & Associates et al, Profiling - Social and Economic Context: Social Impact Assessment of Possible Increased Environmental Flow Allocations to the River Murray System, Stage 1, Volume 2, 2003. EBC, Development of a Framework for Social Impact Assessment in the Living Murray: Water Recovery in the Murray Irrigation Area of NSW 2003.

[40] Mr T. Mader (Riverland Development Corporation Inc.), Committee Hansard 20 April 2004, p.541.

[41] Mr M. Bramston (Coleambally Irrigation Cooperative Ltd), Committee Hansard 27 August 2003, p.235-6.

[42] [COAG], National Water Initiative Discussion Paper, [April 2004], p.16.

[43] s60(vi): no imposition of new barriers to trade, including in the form of arrangements for addressing stranded assets. s62: the Parties agree to ensure that support mechanisms such as access and exit fees and retail tagging, do not become an institutional barrier to trade.

[44] Indefinitely: this is the case where an exit fee is set at the net present value of the stream of future maintenance levies which the departed farmer would have paid.

[45] For example, Mr R. Browne (Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association) Committee Hansard 26 August 2003, p.134. Similarly House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Getting Water Right(s) - the future of rural Australia, 2004, p.84.

[46] Mr D. Miell (NSW Irrigators Council), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.772.

[47] Mr P. Cosier (Wentworth Group), Committee Hansard 30 October 2003, p.275.

[48] Prof. S. Khan (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 14 July 2004, p.665.

[49] Dr W. Hurditch (Pratt Water), Committee Hansard 21 April 2004, p.568.

[50] Mr C. Creighton (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 14 July 2004, p.678.

[51] CSIRO Land and Water [M.D. Young & J.C. McColl], Robust Separation - a search for a generic framework to simplify registration and trading o interests in natural resources, September 2002, p.9.

[52] Prof. M Young (Wentworth Group), Committee Hansard 30 October 2003, p.281-2.

[53] Mr T. Mader (Riverland Development Corporation Inc) Committee Hansard 20 April 2004, p.549.

[54] Miss J. Hamparsum (Upper Namoi Water Users Association), Committee Hansard 26 August 2003, p.163. Similarly Mr N. Shillabeer (South Australian Murray Irrigators Inc.), Committee Hansard 20 April 2004, p.523.

[55] Mr P. Sutherland (NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.791,793

[56] Mr M. Murray (Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association), Committee Hansard 26 August 2004, p.124-5. Mr J. Warnock (Upper Namoi Water Users Association), Committee Hansard 26 August 2004, p.163-4.

[57] Mr K. Alvarez (NSW Department Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.792.

[58] Mr P. Sutherland (NSW Department Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.793.

[59] National Land and Water Resources Audit report Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000, June 2001, p. 27. The report estimated total storage capacity at 79,000GL.

[60] Submission no. 52, Attachment A, p. 34.

[61] Mr P. Weller (Victorian Farmers Federation), Committee Hansard 21 April 2004, p.600.

[62] Supplementary submission no. 12A, p.1.

[63] The Hon D Evans, Committee Hansard, 15 July 2004, p. 720,723.

[64] The Hon. D. Evans, Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.723.

[65] Prof. P. Cullen, Committee Hansard 14 July 2004, p.706.

[66] Prof. R. Vertessy (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 30 October 2003, p.300-302. R. Vertessy, L. Zhang, W.R. Dawes, Plantations, River Flows and River Salinity, Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology, n.d., p.3,10.

[67] M.D. Young & J.C. McColl, Robust Reform: the case for a new water entitlement system for Australia, The Australian Economic Review, vol.36 no.2, p.227

[68] Plantations, River Flows and River Salinity - comments by the National Association of Forest Industries, n.d. [2003]

[69] Committee Hansard 27 August 2003, p.260-262.

[70] Mr P. Sutherland (NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources), Committee Hansard 15 July 2004, p.794.

[71] Submission 54, National Association of Forest Industries Ltd, p.3.

[72] Prof. M. Young (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 30 October 2003, p.289.

[73] Dr J. Williams (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 30 October 2003, p.297

[74] Prof. M. Young (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 30 October 2003, p.298.

[75] RAMSAR list: the list of wetlands of international importance established under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971)

[76] New South Wales government response to the Consultation Draft Water Resource (Condamine and Balonne) Plan 2003, May 2004, p.14.

[77] Submission 61, Culgoa Balonne Minor Water Users Association.

[78] P. Cullen, R. Marchant & R. Mein, Review of Science Underpinning the Assessment of the Ecological Condition of the Lower Balonne System, January 2003, p.31,34.

[79] Mr O. Betts (Culgoa Balonne Minor Water Users Association), Committee Hansard 14 July 2004, p.639.

[80] New South Wales government response to the Consultation Draft Water Resource (Condamine and Balonne) Plan 2003, May 2004, p.5.

[81] The Hon. Stephen Robertson, Condamine-Balonne Draft Water Resource Plan Released, media release 3 December 2003.

[82] Submission 77, O & K Betts, p.2.

[83] Mr O. Betts (Culgoa Balonne Minor Water Users Association), Committee Hansard 14 July, p.634.

[84] Submission 77, O & K Betts, p.2. According to the NSW government the total on-farm storage capacity in the Lower Balonne is 1,513 gigalitres. New South Wales government response to the Consultation Draft Water Resource (Condamine and Balonne) Plan 2003, May 2004, p.14.

[85] Mr O. Betts & Mr R. Treweeke, (Culgoa Balonne Minor Water Users Association), Committee Hansard 14 July, p.636.

[86] Prof. P. Cullen, Committee Hansard 14 July 2004, p.701,703.

[87] New South Wales government response to the Consultation Draft Water Resource (Condamine and Balonne) Plan 2003, May 2004, p.6,7,9,10,14.

[88] Giant irrigators great wall danger, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 December 2002.

[89] Dr J. Williams (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 11 December 2002, p.14.

[90] Dr C. Barber (Centre for Groundwater Studies), Committee Hansard 20 April 2004, p.510.

[91] Dr P. Hairsine (CSIRO), Committee Hansard 30 October 2004, p.291.

[92] Submission 45, Victorian Farmers Federation, p.1-2.

[93] Mr E. Greenaway (Victorian Farmers Federation), Committee Hansard 21 April 2004, p.597.

[94] Submission 45, Victorian Farmers Federation, p.2-3. Mr E. Greenaway (Victorian Farmers Federation), Committee Hansard 21 April 2004, p.598.

[95] Mr P. Weller (Victorian Farmers Federation), Committee Hansard 21 April 2004, p.589.

[96] About us - Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, at www.cmis.csiro.au/healthycountry/about.htm [August 2004]

[97] Mr C. Creighton (CSIRO), Committee Hansard, 14 July 2004, pp. 660-661.

[98] NLWRA home page http://www.nlwra.gov.au/

[99] The web site for the Atlas is at http://audit.ea.gov.au/ANRA/atlas_home.cfm

[100] National Land and Water Resources Audit Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000, p. 83.

[101] National Land and Water Resources Audit Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000, p. 84.

[102] National Land and Water Resources Audit Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000, p. 84.

[103] In May 2004 the ABS published Water Accounts Australia 1997-98 to 2000-01, which contains the latest figures on water use.