Additional Comments from the Australian Greens
Water Policy Initiatives
Understanding the likely
impacts of reduced rainfall, increased temperatures and increased climactic
variability and the need to undertake appropriate forward planning and
developing appropriate adaptation strategies are critical issues for water
resource security in Australia. The Australian
Greens believe that these issues are not being dealt with the degree of urgency
or at the level of detail required. We are extremely concerned that the
consensus among our scientific experts in the areas of water resources, climate
and agriculture is that predicted climactic changes and those already thought
to have taken place pose a major threat to the security of our water resources
and the ongoing viability of some of our agricultural zones.
Significant evidence was
presented to the committee inquiry on this issue that demonstrated that there
is a pressing need to act decisively on these issues.
Need to factor climate
change into water management
Under these circumstances we
urgently need to re-evaluate our water resource security planning, look at our
priorities for water use and the way we allocate risk, and to take very
seriously the issue of developing adaptation strategies based on the best
science.
The Australian
Greens believe that we need to consider the flexibility and adaptability of our
allocation systems to deal with the likely impacts of climate change.
The fundamental importance of
factoring the impacts of climate change into our systems of water management
and allocation was put very clearly by CSIRO in their submission to the
inquiry, where they stated that:
... "Under the present water reforms, longer term
water security is not guaranteed since these reforms do not explicitly take
into account threats to water quantity and quality due to enhanced climate
variability and change."
CSIRO
suggests that there are significant knowledge gaps in terms of the impacts of
climate change on irrigation, water management, regional planning and the
economy suggesting that "it is crucial to understand the impact climate
change would have on water demand and potential land use changes as water is
traded to higher value production."
This
implies that we should undertake this analysis on the likely (social, economic
and environmental) impacts of current water reforms as a matter of priority.
CSIRO
then suggested that: "a multi-stakeholder national initiative is needed
to consider climate change impacts on farm to regional levels, and to devise robust
policy options for the viability of irrigated agriculture, hydroelectric power
generation, rural industries and regional communities."
And
then went on to recommend:
"There is a need to incorporate climate
variability and change scenarios into understanding the sustainable footprint
of irrigation, irrigation demand management, whole farm planning and
environmental management."
The Queensland Farmers
Federation also stated:
QFF recognises that responding to and managing for
climate variability and change is fundamentally a responsibility of farmers and
rural industries. It is also recognised that this management effort must also
be supported by clearly defined government policy and targeted scientific
research.
...
QFF does not believe that current drought programs
adequately address the needs of intensive agricultural industries, continuous
production systems, and those impacted beyond the farm gate.
Recommendations for policy change include:
- A national approach to drought
preparedness and drought management is a preferred position to the present
reactive and uneven approaches embedded in the ‘Exceptional Circumstance’
programs.
- Farm management system programs
which incorporate climate variability offer considerable leverage in dealing
with future droughts and climate change/variability, and therefore should
become the linchpins of future ‘drought policies’.
- There is a need to prepare
ahead for drought so the impacts can be minimised.
QFF suggests that a national approach to drought
preparedness and drought management is a preferred position to the present
reactive and uneven approaches embedded in the ‘Exceptional Circumstance’
programs.
[QFF submission 34, page 5]
Climate change must be
given greater attention in water resource management and decision making.
The impact of recent water
policy initiatives
The terms of reference of the
inquiry directed that the committee look specifically at the impact on
rural water usage of recent policy initiatives and the possible role of
Commonwealth agencies.
To an extent, the ability of
the committee to assess the impact of recent national policy initiatives has
been limited by the extent to which the current major initiative NWI (the
National Water Initiative) appears to be in and early stage of implementation. However,
given that the NWI was signed by most of its parties of 25th June 2004 and built on a previous COAG framework that had been in place for a
decade, the lack of progress on the initiative and the difficulty faced in
identifying and assessing its major impacts is itself a cause for major
concern. The Australian
Greens are concerned that given the increased risk to water security currently
facing Australia that the committee report has not gone far enough in assessing
and commenting upon the impacts of this policy, nor does it provide sufficient
discussion and recommendations as to how these issues could be addressed,
particularly in relation to the potential role that could be played by
Commonwealth agencies.
Water policy is
constitutionally a state responsibility, and the delays in the implementation
of key aspects of the NWI - such as the adoption of standardised terminology, a
consistent approach to water entitlements, the sharing of monitoring data, and
facilitation of cross-border water trading - can predominantly be laid at the
feet of recalcitrant state bureaucracies. However, at the same time it must be
noted that there has been an absence of leadership at the federal level, and
that the Commonwealth has not been above politicising water issues.
The committee heard evidence
of this in Toowoomba, where the decision to impose a referendum on direct
potable reuse, that failed to present an alternative water supply options and
did not allow time for community education, has left the town without
an easy answer to its water crisis. The ultimate consequence of the politicisation of this
referendum is a significant setback for public acceptance of water recycling
schemes at a time when water resource experts are saying that
recycling will of necessity play a central role in solving our nation's water
security problems. It is important that the Commonwealth makes the most of the
opportunity to show leadership through NWI, and more thought should be given to
how the Commonwealth can play a constructive role in getting NWI back on track.
The Commonwealth could, for instance, more closely link delivery of its funds
(from the $2 Billion Australian Government Water Fund) to the achievement of NWI
commitments. The decision to move away from outcomes-based funding under NWI
has proved to be a retrograde step.
Adaptation Strategies
& Farming Innovation
The issue of the adaptation
of Australian agriculture to reduced rainfall, higher temperatures
and increased climactic variability is particularly important to the future of
regional Australia. The Australian Greens are
concerned that seriousness of the implications of climate change for the future
of our rural communities and exports, our waterways and our environment are not
being sufficiently canvassed.
We believe that there is a
pressing need for research and development into adaptation strategies, and
believe there needs to be wider discussion of the options beyond the GM cotton,
drought resistant wheat varieties and improved irrigation practices mentioned
in the committee report.
Improvements to the water use
efficiency of irrigation systems and the resilience of current crops are only
one aspect of farming innovation. While these incremental improvements are an
important part of water resource management, and there are opportunities to
recover significant volumes of water lost by current irrigation practices in
many areas through leakage and evaporation, they are unlikely to recover
sufficient volumes of water alone. The extent to which the system is already over-allocated
combined with the predicted impacts of climate change on water availability
make it likely that these initiatives alone will not be sufficient to ensure
the ongoing sustainability of our rural industries and populations.
This is where farming
innovation and agricultural research and development aimed at adaptation
strategies is likely to be of crucial importance. The Australian Greens believe that we need to give greater
consideration to increasing the sustainability, the flexibility and the
resilience of our agricultural production systems and that we need to be
providing better risk management tools to our land managers.
In their submission to the
Inquiry, ACF suggested that:
"...
there is an urgent need for a national policy framework that drives large-scale
private investment in a wide variety of commercial-environmental ventures ... It
should serve to build the capacity of private land and water managers and
investors to explore and identify new commercial opportunities that demonstrate
multiple environmental benefits." (ACF submission 15 page 9)
These comments refer to the
findings of the 2001 Allen Consulting Group report to the Business Leaders
Roundtable commissioned by CSIRO Land & Water, a group of private companies
and ACF, which found that there were productive opportunities for
industry-government partnerships that could deliver benefits to both land
holders and the environment provided government provided the right kind of
policy incentives.
The Australian
Greens believe that more consideration needs to be given both to the kind of
incentive schemes adopted and the extent to which incentives are linked to
specific outcomes in particular target landscapes. We are concerned that there
is a need for the incentive schemes to avoid the kinds of problems that have
emerged from the experience of MIS (Managed Investment Scheme).
The Australian Greens also
believe that more thought needs to be given to the sustainability and viability
of alternative crops and systems advocated, and that ultimately this
needs to be part of a renewed national effort to assess and plan for the likely
impacts of climate change on our agricultural zones. Such an assessment could
then provide the basis for an extended research and development program
targeted to address known gaps, and the development of incentives and support
packages for landholders in areas of identified need. Such targeting would
address the concerns raised by QFF in relation to the "reactive and
uneven approaches" embedded in the 'Exceptional Circumstances'
programs.
While The Australian Greens support calls for improving irrigation
efficiency and believe that governments can play an important role in doing so,
we believe that public investment in improving irrigation infrastructure should
be provided under circumstances where this action results in an appropriate
level of public benefit in return - for example, through water savings being
returned to public uses (town supplies, environmental flows). The public
benefits ultimately need to balance the costs for this not to simply
be an undue form of industry subsidy - they should be justifiable and
comparable to the costs of securing water by other means. This view is
supported by the ACF submission, which states:
"There
are clear opportunities for partnerships between business and government
jointly investing in efficiency projects and using public money to leverage
private investment in adopting farm-based innovation. All investment of public
money should result in commensurate public benefit, and water recovered as a
result of public investment must be returned to the environment rather than the
consumptive pool." (ACF submission 15 page 9)
The Australian Greens believe
that it is reasonable for the community to expect that there is a level of obligation
on all Australian industries, including irrigation, to contribute to
making their industries more sustainable.
Conclusion
The Australian Greens believe
that a greater sense of urgency is required to address the water crisis facing Australia. The
system is unlikely to ever return to 'business as usual,' particularly in the
Murray Darling Basin, and so it is essential that State and Federal governments
move more quickly to address the problem of over-allocation, address climate
change and take action to save our waterways, floodplains and wetlands before
it is too late.
Senator Rachel Siewert
Australian
Greens
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