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Final Report of the Select Committee on the Murray River, South

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Final Report of the Select Committee on the Murray River, South Pp 222 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SELECT COMMITTEE on the MURRAY RIVER FINAL REPORT July 2001 South Australian Select Committee on the Murray River Final Report – 2001 South Australian Select Committee on the Murray River Final Report – 2001 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 3 PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS 5 RECOMMENDATIONS 8 1 INTRODUCTION 17 1.1 Appointment of Committee .................................................................................... 17 1.2 Terms of Reference ............................................................................................... 17 1.3 Membership ........................................................................................................... 17 1.4 Committee Powers ................................................................................................ 17 1.5 Chairman’s vote..................................................................................................... 18 1.6 Disclosure of Evidence .......................................................................................... 18 1.7 Conduct of Inquiry.................................................................................................. 18 2. BACKGROUND 19 2.1 Key achievements to date ..................................................................................... 19 2.2 About the Murray-Darling Basin............................................................................. 21 ECONOMIC VALUES 22 SOCIAL VALUES 23 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES 24 2.3 South Australia’s portion of the Murray-Darling Basin ........................................... 25 3. ADMINISTRATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 27 3.1 Murray-Darling Basin Initiative............................................................................... 28 3.2 Murray-Darling Basin Agreement .......................................................................... 28 3.3 Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council............................................................... 28 3.4 Murray-Darling Basin Commission ........................................................................ 29 3.5 Community Advisory Committee ........................................................................... 30 3.6 Legislative framework ............................................................................................ 30 3.7 State agencies ....................................................................................................... 31 3.8 Statutory bodies..................................................................................................... 32 3.9 Local Government ................................................................................................. 34 3.10 Local Action Planning Groups ............................................................................... 37 4. KEY ISSUES 38 4.1 Institutional framework........................................................................................... 38 MURRAY-DARLING BASIN INITIATIVE 38 INTEGRATED CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT 39 RIVER MURRAY CATCHMENT WATER MANAGEMENT BOARD 41 LOCAL GOVERNMENT 42 LOCAL ACTION PLANNING GROUPS 42 4.2 Salinity ................................................................................................................... 43 MURRAY-DARLING BASIN SALINITY AND DRAINAGE STRATEGY 43 THE SALINITY AUDIT OF THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN 44 DRAFT MURRAY-DARLING BASIN SALINITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 45 FUTURE IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT 46 SALT INTERCEPTION SCHEMES 46 LAND AND WATER MANAGEMENT PLANS 46 IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE MANAGEMENT PLANS 47 RIVER MURRAY SALINITY STRATEGY 47 South Australian Select Committee on the Murray River Final Report – 2001 2 4.3 The Cap ................................................................................................................. 48 REVIEW OF THE OPERATION OF THE CAP 49 STATUS OF THE CAP 50 4.4 Community involvement ........................................................................................ 51 4.5 Environmental flows............................................................................................... 51 ENVIRONMENTAL WATER REQUIREMENTS 53 WATER TRUST OR ‘ACCOUNT’ FOR THE LOWER-MURRAY DARLING 53 4.6 Water resources and use....................................................................................... 53 COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS WATER REFORMS 55 SNOWY MOUNTAINS HYDRO-ELECTRIC AUTHORITY CORPORATISATION 55 LOSSES FROM THE MURRAY-DARLING SYSTEM 58 WATER ALLOCATION, USE AND METERING 58 IRRIGATION 59 WATER TRADING 62 URBAN WATER SUPPLIES 64 WATER QUALITY 64 IMPLICATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE 65 4.7 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................ 65 4.8 Wetland management............................................................................................ 66 4.9 Land use change ................................................................................................... 68 4.10 Inland fisheries management................................................................................. 69 INLAND SALINE AQUACULTURE 71 4.11 Investment in the Murray-Darling Basin................................................................. 71 BASIN SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM 71 COST SHARING ARRANGEMENTS 72 CAPACITY BUILDING 72 FUNDING AND RESOURCES 73 5. KEY FINDINGS 74 GENERAL 74 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS 74 SALINITY 77 THE CAP 79 ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS 80 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 81 WATER USE AND MANAGEMENT 81 WETLAND MANAGEMENT 84 BIODIVERSITY 84 LAND MANAGEMENT 85 INVESTMENT IN THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN 85 RIVER MURRAY INLAND FISHERY 86 Acronyms ........................................................................................................................ 88 Glossary of Terms........................................................................................................... 89 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 93 Appendices A: Written submissions and papers B: Witnesses before the Committee C: Findings and Recommendation from the Environment, Resources and Development Committee’s inquiry into Fish Stocks of Inland Waters. South Australian Select Committee on the Murray River Final Report – 2001 3 FOREWORD The Select Committee on the Murray River is pleased to table its Final Report. The River Murray is vitally important to the quality of life enjoyed by all South Australians. South Australia would be in a precarious position indeed if we could not rely on a secure supply of water from the River Murray. Through this Select Committee, the South Australian Parliament has successfully managed to bring together members from various political persuasions and remove the politics to prepare a consensus report that outlines a direction for the future use and management of the River Murray in South Australia. Much has been spoken and written about the sharing, management and use of the land, water and other environmental resources of the River Murray and the wider Murray-Darling Basin. The large body of evidence received by the Select Committee is testimony to this statement. Members of the Select Committee regard themselves as fortunate to have had the opportunity to observe the unique natural beauty of the Murray-Darling Basin, gain an appreciation for the complexities associated with the management of this multi-faceted resource and meet with a range of people from across the Basin who depend on the Basin’s natural resources for their well being. During this inquiry, the Select Committee has become increasingly conscious of the fact that while development of the Basin’s resources has delivered considerable economic and social benefits, these benefits have come at a very significant environmental cost, at both a State and Basin-wide level. The magnitude of this cost is well established in South Australia and the middle reaches of the Basin, but only now becoming apparent in the upstream reaches. If we want the Murray-Darling system to continue to provide economic and social benefits into the future we must change our current approach to the sharing, management and use of the Basin’s natural resources. Having said this, the Select Committee acknowledges that many significant changes have been achieved. There is, however, much more to be done. The new Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) framework, developed by the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council is recognised by the Committee as another important step along the path of change. Particularly encouraging in the ICM framework is its commitment to establish targets for catchment health. This report contains 96 recommendations, and these are relevant at both a State and Basin- wide level. The Select Committee believes that action on all recommendations is essential to improving the health and management of the River Murray, especially in South Australia. In formulating its recommendations, the Select Committee identified a number of underlying themes: • Adaptive management Our current approach to the use and management of the Basin’s natural resources is not sustainable. Resource management must undergo fundamental change, and this can only be based upon the best available scientific knowledge. As new information becomes available, there will be a need for further change. • Commitment There are no quick fixes. Improving the health of the Murray-Darling system and moving towards sustainable development will require a long-term commitment by communities and governments.
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