Page 171 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 2019
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Further, a report by the Australia Institute has linked fish deaths to decisions made by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority based on instructions from the New South Wales government. As the institute’s senior water researcher, Maryanne Slattery, told the Guardian:
It is clear what has caused the Darling River fish kill—mismanagement and repeated policy failure … To blame the fish kill on the drought is a cop-out, it is because water releases were made from the lakes when this simply shouldn’t have happened.
While the Darling River’s water remains murky, one thing is clear: the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the federal government and even the New South Wales government have failed the Murray-Darling Basin and the many communities that rely on it.
The South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission report released less than a fortnight ago paints an incredibly bleak picture of negligence and maladministration from the authority and the Australian government; a failure to ensure the Murray-Darling plan was lawful in terms of the limits placed on the removal of water from the basin for consumptive use, such as irrigation; a failure to use the best available scientific knowledge in developing a sustainable limit on water taken from the basin; and a failure to grasp the real risks of climate change, despite the Water Act and the basin plan specifically mandating that these risks be considered.
It is no wonder that the head of the royal commission, Bret Walker SC, has recommended a complete overhaul of the scheme. His report outlines how the habitual behaviour of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is marked by an unfathomable predilection for secrecy; how the authority ignored climate change projections for its modelling of the basin plan, meaning it was not based on the best available scientific knowledge; and how the authority never bothered to review climate change for the basin, a decision he described as not only negligent and indefensible but also incomprehensible. Coupled with cuts to water science and research, and the broader implications of a crippling drought on the supply of water to communities across Australia, yet again we have cause for concern.
Back in the ACT, governance fortunately could not be more different. Water security and environmental management have been top priorities for this government for many years. The territory has proven to be proactive and responsible when it comes to maintaining the health of the Murrumbidgee River and managing the resources of the Murray-Darling Basin, so much so that much of the water used in the territory is actually returned to the Molonglo River and then on to the Murrumbidgee River, flowing into the Murray-Darling system.
The ACT water strategy 2014-2044, striking the balance, outlines the government’s vision for water management over three decades, including the delivery of a secure water supply and healthy waterways. As part of this strategy, the government aims to ensure that water leaving our borders is of the same quality as, or better quality than, water flowing into the ACT.
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