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Buying some water entitlement from irrigators, installing cameras on the river, and a subsidy for farmers to install water meters are at the centre of a $70 million Federal Government spend to prevent fish kills.
Key points:
- Government commits $70 million to prevent fish kills in Murray-Darling Basin
- Scientific study recommends sticking with basin plan
- Cameras to be installed on river and live stream in bid to increase transparency
Water Minister David Littleproud will today splash the funding in response to the findings of Professor Rob Vertessy’s scientific study of mass fish kills in the lower Darling River.
The funding includes $25 million to subsidise AS4747 water meters in the northern basin, $5 million for cameras to live stream river flows, $20 million for water and environment research and a commitment to, together with the NSW Government, buy A-Class licences in the Barwon-Darling.
“We’re looking to protect those low flows through securing some of those A-Class licences in consultation with the community, making sure we can bring them with us,” Mr Littleproud said.
Mr Littleproud reiterated a commitment, agreed to with the Opposition and NSW Government, to provide more water for Indigenous communities, and announced a further $10 million to restock native fish species across the Murray-Darling Basin.
The Minister accepted 10 recommendations relating to the Commonwealth Government, and said he would work with the states on the remaining 17 recommendations.
“It was an extreme event and obviously a tragic event,” Mr Littleproud said of the fish kill.
“It’s not the first one and it won’t be the last.”
Mr Littleproud said the report found the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was the best way to prevent further fish kills occurring.
“Improving our water management between the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the states is paramount, and understanding that these extreme weather events will happen again and we need to be better equipped to handle that and be prepared for that,” he said.
Professor Vertessy supported the basin plan.
“This is a really important time, where I think all stakeholders in the basin need to get behind the basin plan,” he said.
“It is a good plan, it does need to be accelerated, but it is really important that we get on with things.
“We oppose ideas of pausing the plan or changing direction because we think that will only result in getting into a great big argument and we’re at a moment in time where action on the ground is what is needed and that is what the basin plan offers us.”
Professor Vertessy’s report called on NSW to modify its water access arrangement to protect low flows and remove barriers to fish movements.
It included a recommendation that “NSW and the Australian Government support structural adjustment of lower Darling farms with permanent/perennial crops that depend on high reliability water entitlements, including appropriately targeted strategic water acquisition and compensation for the reconfiguration of farm business”.
“There are a small number of horticulture users in the lower Darling that have high security licences, they’re just the type of water licences the government needs to provide water to eco-systems during dry sequences, like the one we’re in, and we think strategic acquisitions of water like that from willing sellers is good policy,” Professor Vertessy told the ABC.
It is estimated more than 1 million fish died in three separate kills, near Menindee NSW, in December 2018 and January this year.
The funding, which was not in last week’s federal budget, comes a day after more than 600 irrigators protested in Albury, NSW calling on State and Federal Government to pause the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
It follows a separate report by the Australian Academy of Science, requested by Labor, that in February found excess upstream irrigation, drought, and water releases from the Menindee Lakes created the perfect storm that led to the fish kills.
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from Trend Gossip Now http://bit.ly/2UwGNLG
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