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Showing posts with label Rivers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rivers. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
National Volunteer Week 11-17 May 2015 --- and there's a job on the Yarrowee for you with billy tea and scones to follow.
Tuesday, 2 September 2014
Dale Hess Calendar - 14-09-01
Tuesday 2 September, 6 pm for 6.30 pm: Anzac Centenary Planning Meeting. Uncovering the truth of past Australian historical myths and exploring how they influence our national life to-day and bringing all this into the public realm. Venue: the Kildara Centre, rear 39 Stanhope Street, Malvern. Further info: Harry: 0424 950 852
Saturday 6 September, 9 am – 11.30 am: OASES Monthly Breakfast Conversations: Being Alive with Myth & Story. Hosted by Robert Hoskin and Eleni Rivers. ‘People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive.’ – Joseph Campbell. Join us for a delicious breakfast and a conversation to discover how we bring vigour and meaning to our lives today, how myth and story help us to navigate the labyrinths of our lives and the myths and stories that are relevant to you. Eleni and Robert have deeply explored the myths operating in their own lives and in our broader contemporary culture. Recent travels to their homelands in Crete and England & Ireland have offered new perspectives on these landscapes. They will bring this experience and some practices from the OASES on Myth Mapping. Cost: $25/$15 including delicious buffet breakfast (with vegetarian options). Oases Graduate School, Community Learning and Research Centre | 2 Minona St | Hawthorn, VIC 3122.
Sunday 7 September – 8 September; Saturday 8 November – Sunday 9 November: Myth Mapping. If you would like a taste of the OASES experience, please join us for this short course with experienced facilitators, Dr. Robert Hoskin, and Eleni Rivers. In this workshop we explore several major myths that have influenced our Western consciousness as a way to understand what it means to be ‘Australian’ in the 21st Century. One of the key objectives will be to identify the myths operating in our own lives, explore what they have to teach us and to creatively engage with them through an art process to be developed over the course of the workshop. Cost: $800 - Four days course. For more info & to register, click here.
Tuesday, 9 September, 6.30 pm: Ringbalin - River Stories. Join us for this unique film and storytelling event, hear from Uncle Major Sumner, elders from Indigenous groups along the Murray and ACF’s Campaigns Director Dr Paul Sinclair about spiritual connection to country and the drive to protect it.
Buy tickets to this unique event now. Venue: Kino Cinemas, Collins Place, 45 Collins Street, Melbourne
Buy tickets to this unique event now. Venue: Kino Cinemas, Collins Place, 45 Collins Street, Melbourne
Wednesday 17 September, 7.30 pm: Public Seminar: Our Oceans – Plastic Perils. Canadian marine biologist, Dr Jennifer Lavers has gained a unique insight into the health of our oceans from her 10 years study of sea birds on remote islands, from the Arctic to the Tropics. In these beautiful places, she has become aware of the increasing plastic pollution in our oceans, much of which begins as street, river and beach litter. The seminar will highlight these concerns and help us understand causes, impacts, and solutions to the plastic pollution problem. Join us afterwards for tea or coffee. Gold coin donation. Venue: High Street Road Uniting Church, 482 Hugh Street Road, Mt Waverley, Melway 62G12. Website: www.highstreetroad.unitingchurch.org.au
Sunday 21 September: People's Climate March. In September, heads of state from around the world will be in New York for a historic summit on climate change. To mark this global moment for climate action, rallies will take place across Australia demanding Action Now, Not Words.
Save the date and stay tuned for details!
Save the date and stay tuned for details!
Sunday 28 September – Saturday 4 October: Swan Island Peace Convergence. Nonviolent action. Further info:swanislandpeace@gmail.com
Friday 29 September, 5.30 pm: The Sixth Extinction. Join New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Kolbert and ACF CEO Kelly O'Shanassy at the Melbourne Writers Festival to discuss one of the biggest issues facing humankind. Tickets are selling fast so get in quick! Deakin Edge, Fed Square, Melbourne CBD. Book online: http://www.mwf.com.au/session/talking-points-the-sixth-extinction/#tickets
Tuesday 7 October, 6 pm – 8 pm: The United States, Russia and China: The Prospect of a New Cold War. Prof. Joe Camilleri at St Michael’s Church at 120 Collins Street, Melbourne. ‘I am greatly looking forward to a thoughtful conversation on the many challenges we face and possible responses in Australia and internationally.’ Cost: $15 or $50 for whole series of four lectures. Bookings can be made at:
Wednesday 8 October – Friday 10 October: Is Prison Obsolete? Forget reform. It is time to talk about abolishing prisons in society. So what's the alternative? This puzzling question often interrupts further discussion of the prospects for abolition. Why is it so difficult to imagine alternatives to the current system of imprisonment? What about building the kind of society that doesn't need prisons with the redistribution of power and income, and a decent sense of community that can support every member. This conference will explore and encourage discussion about abolition and alternatives to prison over three days. Venue: Royal on the Park, Corner Alice & Albert Streets, Brisbane, QLD 4000. Further details: http://www.sistersinside.com.au/conference2014.htm
Tuesday 14 October. 6 pm – 8 pm: Coping with Risk and Uncertainty: Volatile Markets, Anxious States and Tentative Social Movements. Prof. Joe Camilleri at St Michael’s Church at 120 Collins Street, Melbourne. ‘I am greatly looking forward to a thoughtful conversation on the many challenges we face and possible responses in Australia and internationally.’ Cost: $15 or $50 for whole series of four lectures. Bookings can be made at:
Tuesday 21 October, 6 pm – 8 pm: The Middle East: Holy Land or Crucible of Conflict? Prof. Joe Camilleri at St Michael’s Church at 120 Collins Street, Melbourne. ‘I am greatly looking forward to a thoughtful conversation on the many challenges we face and possible responses in Australia and internationally.’ Cost: $15 or $50 for whole series of four lectures. Bookings can be made at:
Tuesday 28 October, 6 pm – 8 pm: Australia Adrift: Navigating New Pathways. Prof. Joe Camilleri at St Michael’s Church at 120 Collins Street, Melbourne. ‘I am greatly looking forward to a thoughtful conversation on the many challenges we face and possible responses in Australia and internationally.’ Cost: $15 or $50 for whole series of four lectures. Bookings can be made at:
Wednesday 3 December – Friday 5 December: Melbourne Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Workshop. The purpose of the DRM workshop is both to develop practical skills for risk management practitioners who are involved in initiatives across the Disaster Risk Management Cycle (DRMC) spectrum in both Australia, and the Asian-Pacific region. Venue: 277 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Further details: http://www.torqaid.com/images/stories/melbdrmdec2014...pdf
Wednesday 10 December – Friday 12 December: Melbourne Participatory Project Management (PPM) Workshop. The purpose of the PPM workshop is to develop practical project management skills for community development (CD) practitioners or project managers, working in either Australia or overseas, who are involved in initiatives throughout the Project Management Cycle (PMC). Venue: 277 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Further details: http://www.torqaid.com/images/stories/melbppmdec2014...pdf
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Saturday, 25 January 2014
Our Rivers, Our Lifeblood campaign launch - 2pm Sunday 16 February @ The Green House, Birrarung Marr
Our Rivers, Our Lifeblood campaign launch
When: 2:00 pm Sunday 16 February
Where: The Green House, Birrarung Marr as part of the Sustainable Living Festival
Please join us and special guest speaker Tammy van Wisse for the launch our new campaign Our Rivers, Our Lifeblood and the unveiling of our innovative interactive web atlas that comprehensively looks at the condition of our rivers, the threats and solutions. It's all part of the Sustainable Living Festival. We hope to see you there!
Victorian Water Act review in progress
The Napthine government is currently reviewing the Victorian Water Act and an Exposure Draft of the new legislation is out for public consultation. Although water law may seem far removed from environmental protection, the Water Act is actually a really important piece of environmental legislation and Environment Victoria is taking a good look at the proposed changes. While the suggested revisions make some useful changes to allow the government to implement its new strategy for Melbourne’s water supply and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, we are not convinced that it offers any improvement in protection for environmental water.
To find out what the review is all about, you can attend a public forum being held by the Office of Living Victoria. These are occurring at selected locations around the state over the next couple of weeks. All the details about the forums are here – you need to RSVP to the Office of Living Victoria.
If you go to a forum be sure to ask some questions about how the health of your river will be improved by the new Act, and what the proposals will do to provide greater environmental protection. Please put your hand up so that your concerns are registered.
You can also make a submission – again the details are here. If you need some help with what to say, pleaseget in touch with Juliet and I can send you some suggestions. Submissions close on Friday 14 February.
Environmental watering in progress!
This week Melbourne Water is releasing environmental water into the Yarra and Tarago Rivers to improve water quality after the recent heatwave. And the Commonwealth and Victorian Environmental Water Holdersare watering the Goulburn , Loddon, Murray and other rivers round the state. While there’s still a long way to go until our rivers get all the water they need, it’s exciting to see environmental watering in progress. You can check out the success of watering events in 2012/13 here.
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Friday, 19 July 2013
Yarra River Keepers 2013 winter news bulletin - their study recommends against prospecting in Yarra Ranges Park
The latest news bulletin
from the Yarra River Keepers
- a valuable organisation keeping watch on
and stimulating interest in the welfare of
the Yarra River
from the Yarra River Keepers
- a valuable organisation keeping watch on
and stimulating interest in the welfare of
the Yarra River
It is filled with good news about the Yarra and success in advocating for its care. The stories are:
- “Vital win for river landscape” – In response to objections, VCAT stops an encroaching riverside development
- “Launch of our new patrol boat” – Melbourne’s Lord Mayor launches YRKA's fine new river vessel
- “Waterkeepers across the globe” – getting together with waterway advocates overseas
- “Yarra gets record environmental flow” – the largest ever environmental water release targets fish spawning
- “Pollies inspect the Yarra” – YRKA shows three VIPs our special river
- “Our bike ride beside the Yarra” – book now for YRKA's ever-popular annual ride
- “Honour for yrka committee member” – a valued contributor is awarded an OAM
- “No prospecting in Yarra Ranges Park” – study recommends against damaging activity.
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Monday, 20 May 2013
Lake Eyre Basin is a great water system in the heart of Australia. Please help to give it a sustainable future.
The next threatened great water system in Australia is the Lake Eyre Basin.
The sixth biennial
Lake Eyre Basin Conference
will be held in Port August, South Australia,
on 17-19 September 2013.
Please do your bit to give the LEB a sustainable future.
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Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Maria Riedl and Jon Altman on the Wild Rivers of Queensland and LNP plans
Maria writes to Minister Burke to protest Queensland government intentions to regulate wild rivers...
Dear Minister Burke,
I would like to draw your attention to yet again Queensland government intentions to regulate wild rivers. Their actions would impact on International agreements such as CAMBA JAMBA ROKAMBA and RAMSAR wetlands as well as the aquifers, other important but not listed wetlands and areas which depend on the free flowing, unregulated systems and other states.
This is madness on the part of the blinkered Queensland government and totally disregards the impacts any regulation of these rivers would cause. There needs to be a referral to the commonwealth. There needs to be a strategic assessment immediately on the impact of separated proposals as well. Not only would the ecological diversity and biological health of matters dependent upon these free wild rivers but what about the associated infrastructure, the changes to direction of flows, the alteration of inflows to other rivers, wetlands, aquifers such as the GBR, roads, dams, pipelines...
Perhaps it is time to take a very microscopic look at the GBR and a strategic assessment of it before we have yet again the terrible Impacts as in the MBD replicated.
Queensland seems to be rushing, without referrals and without consultation with other states on the impacts of regulating wild rivers.
Aren't we ALL living in Australia, or is Queensland a separate country that does not care or consider impacts on the entire system of the GBR, the Lake Eyre Basin and even impacts on the MDB?
I ask the you ask for an explanation and that you are made aware of ANY changes to these wild rivers immediately.
Expansion of mining and other water extractive industries must not be allowed if they alter our natural environment in a manner that WILL have a cumulative and singular impact. Surely the health of our river systems, our Basins is more important than government's and mining companies and irrigators rush to make more dollars.
We are talking yet again about the Precautionary Principle and the Principle of intergenerational equity as highlighted in the EPBC Act.
As the Minister for the Environment you have the responsibility to ensure that states are adhering to the EPBC Act and international conventions and agreements that Australia has signed up for. Near enough is simply not good enough.
Again, I would also ask that the Commonwealth does not pass the EPBC Act baton to states at the next COAG meeting on this subject. States have vested interest. Prime examples are Queensland and their weakening of environmental laws to allow so called "cutting of green tape or red tape". Victoria is another state that is on the process of doing the same, as is Western Australia. Handing over the control of EPBC Act to these will have a detrimental effect on matters protected under the act as well as all of Australia because we KNOW that cumulative impacts of single actions on each state will be unacceptable in their intensity.
The Commonwealth has a role to ensure that states do NOT weaken laws that have been. Implemented by the states to ensure their compliance with the EPBC Act. This is exactly what they are doing in preparation of huge huge huge expansion of mining, for minerals for water, expansion of cotton, of other crops that are no sustainable on a continent that has such a shortage of water. Water must be shared in a balanced manner with the environment and not everything is about money!!!
Have a close look at what states are sneakily, without consultation, doing to National parks!!!! Cattle in them, prospecting, thinning or logging, hunting, developments, more roads, mining etc
We need a rethink on what a "National" park is and what they are setup for. It shouldn't be that single activities are approved piecemeal wi strategic assessments!
I also have concerns about the Tarkine and your failure to list the 430,000ha as recommended. An opportunity Minister Burke.
If there will be a change of government later this year perhaps this presents you (at the moment) with an unprecedented opportunity to make decisions that are nation building, such as listing the the entire area of the Tarkine as recommended, as ensuring that the EPBC Act is not passed to the states and rejigging the EPBC Act to include cumulative impacts, stronger strategic assessments, climate change and...
You have a once in a lifetime opportunity, please use it as it was used in the Franklin Dam listing. You can if you have the will. Please, this is about the future of our natural environment which is already degraded and in dire peril from many many fronts.
Regards
Maria Riedl
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Further reading
SA Govt urged to fight Qld's Wild Rivers change
SA Govt urged to fight Qld's Wild Rivers change
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Sunday, 17 February 2013
Maria on the MDB, Desal, NVIRP, Mildura and the Tim Holding resignation
My feisty friend, Maria in Mildura, has written to her local Council to remind them of salient facts concerning Tim Holding who announced his resignation from politics last Friday. Miss Eagle is nothing if not a cynic about politics, politicians and, in particular, post-politics careers. Will watch with interest how Tim Holding will earn a crust from here on - something to do with water could be on the cards?
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15 February 2013Dear councillors,
Tim Holding is the politician who, against all logical thought, approved water decisions like:
1. the north-south pipeline, which was to take water from the dry north, and forever, out of the Murray Darling Basin
2. the Wonthaggi desal plant which is the biggest in the southern hemisphere, locking Melbournians into millions of dollar payments no matter if they do not take one drop of water and releasing nasty chemicals back into the sea
3. and NVIRP, part of which is just juggling figures and calling it saved water, eg measuring from different sections, and lining channels with black plastic
4. Closed down the local FMIT (First Mildura Irrigation Trust) set up by the Chaffey Brothers, which had been looking after irrigators for a historical 114 years, not giving them a chance. With LMW putting his criticism letter on its website for a few years and calling the letter history. The Supreme Court jury made a decision on this lately that was not flattering to either Mr Holding or FMIT
All of the above forces Victorians to pay millions and millions for these decisions well into the future and lost us our local FMIT and still leaves the very high possibility of taking water out of the MDB forever to Melbourne.
This instead of recycling and conserving and looking rigorously at long-term environmentally sustainable options by planning well into the future with proper community consultations.
Instead he made these decisions without proper EIAs and without listening to the community. In fact ignoring their concerns by limiting the referrals for these projects and limiting public consultations so he had his own way. (He did not want a repeat of the Nowingi Toxic waste dump hearings which lasted 58 days). This includes those of the community who went to a lot of trouble to present at the hearings for the desal plant and the hearings for the north-south pipeline. And then failed to take into account us up in the north, by only concentrating on the NVIRP area, that too was a decision made around a table of vested interest people.
Our council, realising the importance of maintaining water in the MDB, assisted the community and myself, by paying for buses to Yea and Bendigo because by taking water from the north during the longest drought in history he was taking this water to Melbourne, out of the already stressed Murray Darling Basin, forever, never to be returned to the MDB, when there were other options.
For him to now state that some of these decisions were his best shows that some politicians just don't get democracy and environmentally sustainable development and don't care whose money they spend because they do not admit responsibility, because they just move on and out, leaving us, the people to pay for over 25 years, for these whopper of bad decisions.
He also broke a cardinal rule of bush walking by failing to take a gps or any safety signalling device and walking alone, forcing tax payers to pay for his one day jaunt into the Alps (the area just burnt) by getting lost. A helicopter was called and guess who paid for that?
He dived at a dive site just set up, with a new sunken ship, when no one else was allowed to dive there for safety reasons.
This is probably the best decision he has ever made and certainly in the best interest of Victorians. Thank you Mr Holding.
http://www.theage.com.au/
Regards
Maria Riedl
"Democracy is not a spectator sport"
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Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Another milestone in the hydropolitics of the Murray Darling Basin
The catchments of the Murray Darling Basin
MEDIA RELEASE
28 August 2012
Statement from the Chair
Today is an important milestone in the progress towards a Murray–Darling Basin Plan as it represents, under the process mandated by the Water Act, the end of the period where Basin ministers advise the Commonwealth minister of any further views on the draft plan.
Basin ministers have today provided both their consensus views and individual state views on the current version of the plan. From this point, any suggestions or directions about further changes can only come from the Commonwealth minister. We note that the Commonwealth minister has, despite his clear authority to act unilaterally, indicated his intention to use his best endeavours to continue to work with all jurisdictions to finalise the plan this year.
The Murray–Darling Basin Authority will now consider the information as part of the next step of progressing the draft plan. This opportunity for Basin ministers to provide their views follows their ministerial notice to the MDBA in July, where ministers achieved common ground on a number of important and key issues.
As the Commonwealth minister has noted in his statement today, it is anticipated he will be providing further comments on the draft plan as he continues his discussions with Basin ministers in the coming weeks.
The MDBA would like to thank the Commonwealth and state and territory governments for their suggestions so far and to restate our commitment to use a balanced approach to managing the water resources of the Basin. We also thank the many groups and individuals in the Basin who have contributed to this process of developing the plan and also reaffirm our commitment to continue working with them as we undertake this important national water reform.
ENDS
Join the discussion on the MDBA blog: http://freeflow.mdba.gov.au/
Murray–Darling Basin Authority
GPO Box 1801 Canberra ACT 2601
MEDIA ENQUIRIES: (02) 6279 0141
GPO Box 1801 Canberra ACT 2601
MEDIA ENQUIRIES: (02) 6279 0141
blog: freeflow.mdba.gov.au
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Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Wentworth Group condemns latest Basin Plan version as based on shoddy foundations
Wentworth Group slams latest version of Proposed Basin Plan: |
The following review of the latest offering from Craig Knowles' MDBA largely validates FWU's long-held concerns about the true intent of the Basin Plan, and is published in full:
SUITE 3, 3B MACQUARIE STREET, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 2000
Telephone: +61 2 9251 3811 Contact: Tim Stubbs, Environmental Engineer
Email: information@wentworthgroup.org ACN 128 963 431
"This is the third attempt by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to produce a proposed Basin Plan. This latest version reinforces the fact that if you start with shoddy foundations you will end up with a shoddy house. In the case of the proposed Basin Plan, some things get worse with each iteration.
This August version of the Plan does not identify how much water must be returned to achieve a healthy working river and comply with the Water Act.
Yet again no scientific justification has been given for why 2,750 Gl is the proposed reduction in water extractions. This number will still not achieve the majority of targets required for a healthy working river.
The Authority has attempted to justify the 2,750 Gl volume through the identification of “constraints” to water delivery. The August edition of the Plan requires the preparation of a constraints management strategy 12 months after the commencement of the Plan. This will be critical information that must be considered by the Parliament before making a decision on the Basin Plan. It will be of little use 12 months after the Parliament makes an uninformed decision.
Ground water extractions are to increase by over 1,700 Gl from current levels. Nowhere is it made clear why this resource should be given away in such huge amounts without a clear and defined need. In its analysis of groundwater sustainability the Authority has neglected important issues and has made indefensible assumptions to the extent that the public, and ultimately Parliament, are being misled about the sustainability of groundwater use in the Basin.
The August edition of the Plan proposes a new mechanism to allow the taxpayer to further subsidise the irrigation industry within the Basin beyond the $8.9 billion already allocated. The Plan proposes a mechanism to increase or decrease the Sustainable Diversion Limits as a result of irrigation infrastructure upgrades or environmental works and measures.
Both measures will be paid for by the taxpayer, therefore any water saved should go to the public good (the river) not private benefit. Currently the Plan proposes that water savings from environmental works and measures should go to irrigators even though the taxpayer will foot the bill. The unfairness of this arrangement is amplified because environmental works and measures never deliver equivalent environmental outcomes to the flood events they replace.
As it stands, the Australian Parliament should reject this Plan because unless current scientific consensus is completely wrong, it has no chance of creating a healthy working Murray Darling Basin.
The Water Act requires the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to determine the volume of water that needs to be returned to the river to achieve the objectives of the Act. The Authority must determine this volume and clearly identify and quantify the cost and complexity of addressing any “constraints” within the system.
The Minister and ultimately the Parliament can then make an informed decision on what is the right outcome for the $8.9 billion of taxpayers money being spent on this reform.
Each of the dot points above are outlined in more detail below.
How much water?
The only analysis undertaken to identify how much water must be returned to the river to achieve the targets set under the Water Act identified a range of between 3,856 Gl (high uncertainty of achieving the targets) and 6,983 Gl (low uncertainty of achieving the targets). This analysis was in the Authority’s original document, the Guide to the proposed Basin Plan released in October 2010. Since the Guide the Authority has failed to model how much water the river actually needs.
Where did the 2,750 Gl come from?
As with previous editions the August edition of the Basin Plan provides no scientific justification for why 2,750 Gl is the appropriate volume of water to return to the river. Supporting documents for earlier versions of the Plan had emphasized that 2,750 Gl was the starting point of an adaptive management process culminating in the 2015 review. The 2015 review and the adaptive management process have all been scrapped however we are still left with the unjustified “starting point”.
The CSIRO led review of returning 2,800 Gl to the river identified that the sustainable diversion limits associated with this volume “do not achieve the majority of hydrological targets.”
Constraints
In supporting documentation for earlier editions of the Basin Plan “constraints” to the delivery of environmental water were given as a justification for the 2,750 Gl volume.
CSIRO in its review found that “While operational constraints preclude the meeting of some hydrologic and ecological targets, in other cases the shortfalls against targets appear to be a result of insufficient environmental water, the shortcomings in modelling environmental flow regimes in unregulated rivers or a combination of these factors.”
An assessment of these constraints, how significant they are and how they can be addressed under the $8.9 billion Water for the Future Program will be a critical input into the Parliaments final decision in the Basin Plan.
The August edition of the proposed Basin Plan requires the Authority to prepare a Constraints Management Strategy within 12 months after the commencement of the Basin Plan.
This requirement for the Authority to identify information critical to decision making 12 months after the decision has been made personifies the incompetence of the Authority and the failure of the Basin Plan. This Plan would not pass a science test, a fairness test, a governance test, it would not even pass the laugh test.
Groundwater
The August edition of the proposed Basin Plan increases groundwater extraction by over 1,700 Gl on current levels of take. In its analysis of groundwater sustainability in previous editions of the Plan the Authority has neglected important issues and has made indefensible assumptions to the extent that the public, and ultimately Parliament, are being misled about the sustainability of groundwater use in the Basin.
No additional supporting information has been provided with this edition of the Plan. This edition is worse than the previous edition with a new groundwater unit in Queensland being invented and 100 Gl of extraction being permitted where there was previously none.
There are also additional increases of 15 Gl in the Goulburn-Murray Deep and Wimmera - Mallee deep groundwater units. Extractions in the Goulburn-Murray sedimentary plain are increased by 4.1 Gl and in the Eastern Porous rock plan areas extractions are increased by 4.0 Gl. Extractions in the New England Fold Belt are also increased by 1.1 Gl. No justification is given for these increases or their sustainability.
Adjustment mechanism
The August Proposed Basin Plan includes an adjustment mechanism for certain additional changes in infrastructure and other measures that occur between the commencement of the Plan and 1 July 2019. This does not include infrastructure or other measures that either were in operation at the time that the Basin Plan commenced or were expected to be in operation by 2019. There are two defined types of infrastructure or other measure:
1. Supply measure – if a work or measure results in an increase in the quantity of water in the river systems before take (for example through reduced evaporation in lakes and storage systems) the saved water is allocated to socio-economic use (that is, the adjustment reduces the reduction amount)
2. Efficiency measure – if a work or measure results in a saving of water after take for consumptive use (for example more efficient irrigation), the saved water is allocated to environmental use (that is the adjustment increases the reduction amount).
This allocation of savings is wrong. Both efficiency measures and supply measures will be paid for by the taxpayer, therefore any water saved should go to the public good (the river) not private benefit (socio-economic use).
When calculating a supply adjustment (the volume saved from environmental works and measures) the calculation is to be done on the basis of “a repeat of historical climate conditions”. This requirement means that what will be likely dubious estimates will become further and further from reality as climate change impacts affect the Basin. This failure to acknowledge the impacts of climate change conflicts with Government Policy on climate change.
On top of this there is the simple fact the environmental works and measures can never deliver all the environmental outcomes of the natural flood events they purport to replace.
Subsequently the culmination of these factors means that the taxpayer is paying for irrigators to get more water and the stated outcomes the taxpayer is supposedly buying will not materialise in reality."
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