Disclaimer This report has been generated as part of the Living Murray initiative. Its contents do not represent the position of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. It is presented as a document which informed discussion for improved management of the Basin’s natural resources in November 2003. Preparation of the social impact assessment scoping and profiling studies preceded the Living Murray First Step decision and the signing on 25 June 2004 at the Council of Australian Governments meeting of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Addressing Water Overallocation and Achieving Environmental Objectives in the Murray- Darling Basin. The communiqué from this COAG meeting is provided at www.coag.gov.au. These decisions provide the framework under which $500m will be invested by governments over 5 years to begin addressing water overallocation in the Murray-Darling Basin and achieve specific environmental outcomes in the Murray-Darling Basin. The first priority for this investment will be water recovery for six significant ecological assets first identified by the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council in November 2003: the Barmah-Millewa Forest, Gunbower and Koondrook-Perricoota Forests, Hattah Lakes, Chowilla floodplain, the Lindsay-Wallpolla system, the Murray Mouth, Coorong and Lower Lakes, and the River Murray Channel. The water will come from a matrix of options with a priority for on-farm initiatives, efficiency gains, infrastructure improvements and rationalisation, and market based approaches, and purchase of water from willing sellers, rather than by way of compulsory acquisition. Consequently, the assumptions that were made to enable the social impact assessment scoping and profiling studies to be undertaken in mid 2003, while reasonable at the time, have been overtaken by these decisions and the consequential benefits that will flow from them. As such, whilst being an important contribution, this report cannot fully and accurately represent the social issues arising from the Living Murray initiative. Stage 1 Volume 2 Profiling – Social and Economic Context F Social Impact Assessment of I Possible Increased N Environmental Flow Allocations A to the River Murray System L Prepared for R Murray-Darling Basin Commission E Living Murray initiative GPO Box 409 P CANBERRA ACT 2601 O Prepared by R T THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND PROFESSOR HELEN ROSS In association with MARY MAHER AND ASSOCIATES August 2003 Ref: AU1-196 Volume 2 DISCLAIMER All description, figures, analyses, forecasts and other details have been prepared in good faith from information furnished to the consultants by other parties. These data are believed to be correct at the date of preparation of this report. However, it should be noted that predictions, forecasts and calculations are subject to assumptions which may or may not turn out to be correct and Hassall & Associates Pty Ltd expressly disclaim all and any liability to any persons in reliance, in whole or in part, on the report in total or any part of its contents. It is important to note that little information was available to the consultants on the Environmental Flow Reference Points (EFRP) in terms of the environmental response that would occur, how the water would be recovered for the river system, and the nature of the economic impacts associated with water recovered for the river. Please cite this report as Hassall & Associates Pty Ltd, Helen Ross and Mary Maher and Associates (2003) Profiling – Social and Economic Context: Social Impact Assessment of Possible Increased Environmental Flow Allocations to the River Murray System, Stage 1, Volume 2. Report prepared for Murray Darling Basin Commission, Hassall & Associates Pty Ltd, Sydney. 1 Stage 1: Social Impact Assessment: Possible Increases in Environmental Flows Allocations to the River Murray System VOLUME 2 Volume 2 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 12 2. DEFINITION OF THE STUDY AREA ................................................................ 13 2.1 STUDY AREA BOUNDARIES................................................................................. 13 3. DEVELOPMENT OF DESCRIPTORS ................................................................ 17 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 17 3.2 EXPLANATION OF DESCRIPTORS ......................................................................... 17 4. STUDY AREA OVERVIEW.................................................................................. 27 4.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 27 4.2 MURRAY CATCHMENT........................................................................................ 34 4.3 MURRUMBIDGEE CATCHMENT............................................................................ 37 4.4 LOWER MURRAY DARLING CATCHMENT............................................................ 39 4.5 NORTH EAST CATCHMENT.................................................................................. 41 4.6 GOULBURN-BROKEN CATCHMENT ..................................................................... 42 4.7 NORTH CENTRAL CATCHMENT ........................................................................... 44 4.8 MALLEE CATCHMENT ......................................................................................... 47 4.9 SA MDB CATCHMENT ....................................................................................... 49 5. MURRAY CATCHMENT...................................................................................... 53 5.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND ..................................................................................... 53 5.2 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND THEIR USE ....................... 53 5.3 SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY............................................................. 56 5.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES AND ECONOMY ....................................................... 64 5.5 DEPENDENCE ON WATER..................................................................................... 73 5.6 COMMUNITY WELLBEING AND SERVICES ............................................................ 79 5.7 CULTURAL HERITAGE ......................................................................................... 81 5.8 CUMULATIVE CHANGE AND COMMUNITY RESPONSE ........................................... 82 5.9 SUMMARY........................................................................................................... 86 6. MURRUMBIDGEE CATCHMENT ..................................................................... 89 6.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND ..................................................................................... 89 6.2 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND THEIR USE ....................... 89 6.3 SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY............................................................. 92 6.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES AND ECONOMY ..................................................... 100 6.5 DEPENDENCE ON WATER................................................................................... 110 6.6 COMMUNITY WELLBEING AND SERVICES .......................................................... 114 6.7 CULTURAL HERITAGE ....................................................................................... 117 6.8 CUMULATIVE CHANGE AND COMMUNITY RESPONSE ......................................... 117 6.9 SUMMARY......................................................................................................... 119 2 Stage 1: Social Impact Assessment: Possible Increases in Environmental Flows Allocations to the River Murray System VOLUME 2 Volume 2 7. LOWER MURRAY DARLING CATCHMENT................................................ 121 7.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................... 121 7.2 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND THEIR USE ..................... 121 7.3 SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY........................................................... 124 7.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES AND ECONOMY ..................................................... 128 7.5 DEPENDENCE ON WATER................................................................................... 136 7.6 COMMUNITY WELLBEING AND SERVICES .......................................................... 140 7.7 CULTURAL HERITAGE ....................................................................................... 141 7.8 CUMULATIVE CHANGE AND COMMUNITY RESPONSE ......................................... 142 7.9 SUMMARY......................................................................................................... 143 8. NORTH EAST CATCHMENT............................................................................ 146 8.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................... 146 8.2 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND THEIR USE ..................... 146 8.3 SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY........................................................... 149 8.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES AND ECONOMY ..................................................... 155 8.5 DEPENDENCE ON WATER................................................................................... 164 8.6 COMMUNITY WELLBEING AND SERVICES .......................................................... 167 8.7 CULTURAL HERITAGE ......................................................................................