Food Grows where Water Flows
October 18, 2011
It seems like the $1.2billion from the Gillard-Brown Government for stage two of the Food Bowl Modernisation will come at further cost to the irrigators and communities of Northern Victoria. In return for the cash the Victorian Government has agreed to the temporary lifting of the 4% cap on seasonal water trade out of their GMW system, and they will get another 200,000 megalitres of “savings” from this Stage 2.
This cap is the only thing left standing between irrigators and a further exodus of water out of our irrigation system. Less water means even fewer farmers to share the exploding costs of GMW. It means more stranded assets and pressure on the supply of enough milk and fruit, meat and cereal to keep manufacturing and transport jobs in the area. The Goulburn Murray Irrigation area lost 52% of its dairies during the drought and the surviving herds are only on the rebuild now. We have a magnificent food producing region with a global food task that we can respond to and prosper, but we must have enough secure water.
The temporary removal of the water cap gives the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder another 90,000 megalitres of high security liquid gold. The Gillard Government was only blocked from these purchases by the cap held in place to protect the viability of the system. We don’t mind water trade between farms, this is in fact very efficient, but all of this environmental water will be going out of productive use for all time.
Every 100 megalitres of water leaving our economy is one job less, whether it is out of the dairies, orchards, local shops, the transport or the services sector.
Our economy can and will recover, but we need an irrigation management plan for the future which does not depend on a heavily indebted, over staffed, inefficient state owned water authority, which is focusing on closing down the system or creating new ways to loose water to save its own neck.
With the removal of the cap and the sale of water to the Commonwealth, can GMW guarantee that its price hikes over the past 5 years of up to 82% will no longer continue? Will GMW now commit to no additional fees or charge increases to its customers for at least the next 5 years?
The cap must not be lifted. It might make the Greens happy but we depend on the water to grow their food.