Landscapes & Industries KNOWLEDGE Dryland and urban salinity costs across the Murray-Darling Basin AN OVERVIEW & GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING AND VALUING THE IMPACTS Dryland and urban salinity costs across the Murray-Darling Basin AN OVERVIEW & GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING AND VALUING THE IMPACTS the Murray-Darling costs across Dryland and urban salinity Dr Suzanne M. Wilson Author: Dr. Suzanne M. Wilson Integrated catchment management in the Murray-Darling Basin Published by: Murray-Darling Basin Commission Postal Address: GPO Box 409, Canberra ACT 2601 A process through which people can develop a vision, agree on shared values and behaviours, make informed decisions and act together to manage the natural resources of their catchment: their decisions on the use of land, Office location: Level 5, 15 Moore Street, Canberra City water and other environmental resources are made by considering the effect of that use on all those resources and Australian Capital Territory on all people within the catchment. Telephone: (02) 6279 0100 Our values Our principles International + 61 2 6279 0100 We agree to work together, and ensure that our We agree, in a spirit of partnership, to use the following Facsimile: (02) 6248 8053 behaviour reflects the following values. principles to guide our actions. International + 61 2 6248 8053 E-mail: [email protected] Courage Integration Internet: http://www.mdbc.gov.au • We will take a visionary approach, provide • We will manage catchments holistically; that is, leadership and be prepared to make decisions on the use of land, water and other For further information contact the Murray-Darling Basin Commission office on (02) 6279 0100. difficult decisions. environmental resources are made by considering the effect of that use on all those resources and on Inclusiveness This report may be cited as: all people within the catchment. • We will build relationships based on trust Wilson, S.M. 2004 Dryland and urban salinity costs across the Murray-Darling Basin. An overview & guidelines and sharing, considering the needs of future Accountability for identifying and valuing the impacts, Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra. generations, and working together in a • We will assign responsibilities and accountabilities. true partnership. • We will manage resources wisely, being ISBN 1 876830 883 • We will engage all partners, including Indigenous accountable and reporting to our partners. communities, and ensure that partners have the © Copyright Murray-Darling Basin Commission 2004 Transparency capacity to be fully engaged. This work is copyright. Graphical and textual information in the work (with the exception of photographs and the • We will clarify the outcomes sought. MDBC logo) may be stored, retrieved and reproduced in whole or in part, provided the information is not sold or used Commitment • We will be open about how to achieve outcomes for commercial benefit and its source Dryland and urban salinity costs across the Murray-Darling Basin. An overview • We will act with passion and decisiveness, taking and what is expected from each partner. & guidelines for identifying and valuing the impacts, is acknowledged. Such reproduction includes fair dealing for the the long-term view and aiming for stability in Effectiveness purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction for other decision-making. • We will act to achieve agreed outcomes. purposes is prohibited without prior permission of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission or the individual photographers • We will take a Basin perspective and a non- and artists with whom copyright applies. partisan approach to Basin management. • We will learn from our successes and failures and continuously improve our actions. To the extent permitted by law, the copyright holders (including its employees and consultants) exclude all liability Respect and honesty to any person for any consequences, including but not limited to all losses, damages, costs, expenses and any other • We will respect different views, respect each Efficiency compensation, arising directly or indirectly from using this report (in part or in whole) and any information or material other and acknowledge the reality of each • We will maximise the benefits and minimise the contained in it. other’s situation. costs of actions. The contents of this publication do not purport to represent the position of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. • We will act with integrity, openness and Full accounting They are presented to inform discussion for improvement of the Basin’s natural resources. honesty, be fair and credible, and share • We will take account of the full range of costs and Cover photo: Arthur Mostead, Dryland Salinity reclamation, Galong NSW. knowledge and information. benefits, including economic, environmental, social • We will use resources equitably and respect and off-site costs and benefits. MDBC Publication 34/04 the environment. Informed decision-making Flexibility • We will make decisions at the most • We will accept reform where it is needed, be appropriate scale. willing to change, and continuously improve our • We will make decisions on the best available actions through a learning approach. information, and continuously improve knowledge. Practicability • We will support the involvement of Indigenous • We will choose practicable, long-term people in decision-making, understanding the outcomes and select viable solutions to achieve value of this involvement and respecting the living these outcomes. knowledge of Indigenous people. Mutual obligation Learning approach • We will share responsibility and accountability, and • We will learn from our failures and successes. act responsibly with fairness and justice. • We will learn from each other. • We will support each other through the necessary change. Foreword Throughout the 1980s, the prevailing view was that the main impacts of dryland salinity in the Basin were lost agricultural production due to salinised land, and declining river health due to increased salt concentration in river water. Investigations in the early 1990s suggested that off-farm costs are larger than previously anticipated, and include not only damage to rural and regional assets such as roads, railways, bridges and culverts, but also damage to urban assets such as street paving and guttering, parks and gardens, and domestic and commercial buildings. Environmental assets such as floodplain wetlands are also being damaged. In 1998 the Murray-Darling Basin Commission initiated the Determining the full cost of dryland and urban salinity across the Murray-Darling Basin project to develop and apply a method to estimate the full range of dryland salinity impact costs across the Basin. In particular, the method needed to enable comparisons of salinity impact costs on agriculture with off-farm costs on rural and regional infrastructure and urban infrastructure. These guidelines introduce and describe the methods developed through this project. The guidelines have been prepared as one document with two parts. Part 1 of the guidelines gives a catchment scale overview of the costs related to the impacts of salinity in urban and dryland rural areas, excluding costs to irrigators, the environment and cultural heritage. Part 2 of the guidelines provide the detailed instructions and tools of this approach for specialist natural resource economists to assess the costs related to the impacts of urban and dryland salinity. In combination, these guidelines should be a valuable resource to assist in local and catchment planning processes. I commend these guidelines and tools to any person considering investment in dryland salinity management. Recent research, including the work initiated by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, suggests that focus should be on protecting future damage to higher value assets, and that close attention should be paid to analysing costs and benefits before making such decisions. Kevin Goss Acting Chief Executive iii How these guidelines are structured These guidelines have been prepared in two separate parts to meet the needs of different stakeholders involved in local action planning Part 1: An overview of the dryland and urban salinity costs across the Murray-Darling Basin. This part introduces this project, presents an overview of the nature and costs of salinity in urban and dryland rural areas, and demonstrates how this information fits into the bigger picture of preparing a local action plan and cost-sharing arrangements. It is suggested that readers are conversant with the material presented in Part 1 before working through Part 2. Part 2: Guidelines for identifying and valuing the impacts. This part provides the detailed instructions, tools and questionnaire forms a skilled natural resource economist will need to assess the nature and impact costs of dryland and urban salinity to various agricultural and non-agricultural stakeholders, the environment and cultural heritage in a particular catchment or area. iv v Contents Foreword . iii How these guidelines are structured . iv Summary . 1 Part One: An overview of the dryland and urban salinity costs across the Murray-Darling Basin . 3 1 Introduction. 4 1.1 Why have these guidelines been produced? . 4 1.2 Who are these guidelines for?. 5 1.3 What information is (and is not) provided? . 5 1.4 How were these guidelines produced? . 6 2 What is dryland and urban salinity and how is it caused? . 7 3 Where does dryland and urban salinity occur? . 8 4 What are the impacts of dryland and urban salinity and who bears them?. 11 4.1 Dryland agriculture . 11 4.2 Infrastructure . 13 4.3 Environment . 17 4.5 Flow-on social impacts . 22 4.6 Are there any benefits from dryland salinity? . 22 5 What are the costs? . 23 6 Why value the costs of dryland and urban salinity?. 24 7 How do these guidelines assist local action planning? . 26 8 References . 29 Part Two: Guidelines for identifying and valuing the impacts . 33 1 Introduction. 35 2 Identifying the nature of the salinity problem . 36 3 Identifying the affected stakeholders. 37 3.1 Introduction . 37 3.2 Proforma for identifying the stakeholders affected by dryland and urban salinity .