The Whine of the Current Irrigator
"Although the Murray-Darling Basin receives only 6% of Australia's annual rainfall, over 70% of Australia's irrigation resources are concentrated there, which makes up around 90% of the resources in the basin. It contains 42% of the nation's farmland and produces 40% of the nation's food. It can be seen that, in Australia as a whole, over 70% of water is devoted to irrigation."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigation_in_Australia
In this country, we should spell Drought with a capital. We should give the word gravity and express it as a proper noun - like a name or a place or anything else that we deeply respect and fear.
Because more than any other single event Drought punctuates our history and hangs over us like a pestilence, often as a prelude to even worse catastrophe. The worst of them produce deep trauma, not only for farmers but for the entire country.
During the last years of one of our worst dry spells, the Federation Drought (which lasted between 1890 and 1902), pastures withered into a desert. By 1902 Australia's sheep and cattle population built up over generations had died in such unprecedented numbers that half a million livestock perished of thirst and starvation. It was during this drought that an alcoholic Henry Lawson undertook his now famous trek in outback NSW between Bourke and Hungerford and was so deeply affected by what he saw that it resulted in a number of works which now stand as literary classics.
"..She is not a coward, but recent events have shaken her nerves. A little son of her brother-in-law was lately bitten by a snake, and died. Besides, she has not heard from her husband for six months, and is anxious about him.
He was a drover, and started squatting here when they were married. The drought of 18–– ruined him. He had to sacrifice the remnant of his flock and go droving again. He intends to move his family into the nearest town when he comes back, and, in the meantime, his brother, who keeps a shanty on the main road, comes over about once a month with provisions. The wife has still a couple of cows, one horse, and a few sheep. The brother-in-law kills one of the latter occasionally, gives her what she needs of it, and takes the rest in return for other provisions."
Drought returned in 1911, when the national wheat crop was 'all but lost' and again in the 1920's when Henry Lawson, our greatest story teller was also lost. Again Drought returned in the 1930's, the late 40's, and since has reappeared again and again and again. No decade since settlement has escaped the devastation of Drought.
To combat its worst effects the very first irrigation schemes were setup around Mildura and the Goulburn Valley in 1886. The Goulburn Weir, which stands astride the river at Nagambie, was one of the first major irrigation diversions ever built.
These irrigation diversions have since created enormous opportunities with orchards, farms and other enterprises thriving along the channel backbones. Irrigation has brought prosperity and certainty to rural communities. And we have come to rely heavily upon it.
The problem now is that the over allocation of water from the region's rivers is now officially recognised as a direct threat to the environmental health of the entire Basin.
And somehow we have to find a solution.
"The best-available science suggests there is a substantial risk that a working river will not be in a healthy state when key system level attributes of the flow regime are reduced below two-thirds of their natural level. To achieve a level of two-thirds natural flow in all the catchments of the Basin the environment's share of the existing Cap on diversions would need to be increased by approximately 4,400GL (i.e. 4,400GL long-term Cap equivalent). This represents a reduction of approximately 40% of the current Cap on diversions."
"It's nobody's fault"
Since the late 1880's the population of Australia has grown from 2.2 million to 22.5 million people today. In Victoria, as at June 2009, the population of Melbourne exceeded 4 million with its metropolitan footprint (from Grovedale in Geelong to Lilydale in the eastern suburbs) being one of the largest in the developed world.
Rural Victoria, by comparison, has less than 1.5 million residents, not even half of Melbourne's. This is reflected in the makeup of the Victorian Parliament with its Lower House, the Legislative Assembly having only 31 rural seats out of a possible 88.
In the last Federal election over 75% of the total number of votes cast originated from urban electorates where the support for the environmental lobby grew by 4.0% to nearly 12%. In the Senate, where the vote topped nearly 14%, (a result driven largely from urban electorates) a candidate from the Australian Greens was elected from every state.
The Australian Greens will work with the states and territories to:
"..We'll ensure our rivers have guaranteed minimum flows to keep them – and the regional economies that depend on them – healthy.
We could conclude that as a result of increased living standards that our urban populations have become completely disconnected from the natural environment. They are protected by offices, sealed roads and neatly organised parkland. A suburban resident has never had to watch a paddock wither in the heat or watch while livestock die of thirst. Or feel a farmer's trauma when their family has been forced to walk away from their property because of Drought. The effects of extreme Drought to the average urban dweller are restricted to their ability to water the roses.
But here's the harshest of all realities.
But we shouldn't sacrifice one for the other. We should fight for both an environmental solution as well as one that suits irrigation users because both are still possible.
We at the fading edge of the worst Drought in living memory, and still dealing with the trauma it has produced in our rural communities. But there is much to be hopeful for. Local water saving solutions are being devised and implemented. The channel upgrades are proceeding with urgency and the recent rain has given all of us some hope.
But Drought will return, as it has always done.
"The skies are brass and the plains are bare,
Death and ruin are everywhere;
And all that is left of the last year's flood
Is a sickly stream on the grey-black mud;
The salt-springs bubble and the quagmires quiver,
And this is the dirge of the Darling River. "
Because more than any other single event Drought punctuates our history and hangs over us like a pestilence, often as a prelude to even worse catastrophe. The worst of them produce deep trauma, not only for farmers but for the entire country.
During the last years of one of our worst dry spells, the Federation Drought (which lasted between 1890 and 1902), pastures withered into a desert. By 1902 Australia's sheep and cattle population built up over generations had died in such unprecedented numbers that half a million livestock perished of thirst and starvation. It was during this drought that an alcoholic Henry Lawson undertook his now famous trek in outback NSW between Bourke and Hungerford and was so deeply affected by what he saw that it resulted in a number of works which now stand as literary classics.
"..She is not a coward, but recent events have shaken her nerves. A little son of her brother-in-law was lately bitten by a snake, and died. Besides, she has not heard from her husband for six months, and is anxious about him.
He was a drover, and started squatting here when they were married. The drought of 18–– ruined him. He had to sacrifice the remnant of his flock and go droving again. He intends to move his family into the nearest town when he comes back, and, in the meantime, his brother, who keeps a shanty on the main road, comes over about once a month with provisions. The wife has still a couple of cows, one horse, and a few sheep. The brother-in-law kills one of the latter occasionally, gives her what she needs of it, and takes the rest in return for other provisions."
Extract from The Drover's Wife - Henry Lawson.
First published in the 'Bulletin', 23 July, 1892
To combat its worst effects the very first irrigation schemes were setup around Mildura and the Goulburn Valley in 1886. The Goulburn Weir, which stands astride the river at Nagambie, was one of the first major irrigation diversions ever built.
These irrigation diversions have since created enormous opportunities with orchards, farms and other enterprises thriving along the channel backbones. Irrigation has brought prosperity and certainty to rural communities. And we have come to rely heavily upon it.
The problem now is that the over allocation of water from the region's rivers is now officially recognised as a direct threat to the environmental health of the entire Basin.
And somehow we have to find a solution.
"The best-available science suggests there is a substantial risk that a working river will not be in a healthy state when key system level attributes of the flow regime are reduced below two-thirds of their natural level. To achieve a level of two-thirds natural flow in all the catchments of the Basin the environment's share of the existing Cap on diversions would need to be increased by approximately 4,400GL (i.e. 4,400GL long-term Cap equivalent). This represents a reduction of approximately 40% of the current Cap on diversions."
Sustainable Diversions in the Murray Darling Basin,
Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists
June 2010.
Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists
June 2010.
Murray Darling Basin Authority
October 2010
Since the late 1880's the population of Australia has grown from 2.2 million to 22.5 million people today. In Victoria, as at June 2009, the population of Melbourne exceeded 4 million with its metropolitan footprint (from Grovedale in Geelong to Lilydale in the eastern suburbs) being one of the largest in the developed world.
Rural Victoria, by comparison, has less than 1.5 million residents, not even half of Melbourne's. This is reflected in the makeup of the Victorian Parliament with its Lower House, the Legislative Assembly having only 31 rural seats out of a possible 88.
In the last Federal election over 75% of the total number of votes cast originated from urban electorates where the support for the environmental lobby grew by 4.0% to nearly 12%. In the Senate, where the vote topped nearly 14%, (a result driven largely from urban electorates) a candidate from the Australian Greens was elected from every state.
The Australian Greens will work with the states and territories to:
- review the impact of climate change on catchments, rivers, wetlands, groundwater systems and estuaries and ensure that all future planning adequately addresses climate change;
- implement a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) system of reserves for Australia's unique and high conservation value freshwater ecosystems, and fully protect rivers that still have natural flow regimes;
- implement integrated catchment management planning and establish environmental flow targets for all catchments on a national basis;
- buy back water entitlements in severely degraded and over-allocated systems;
- permit extraction from groundwater systems that do not exceed recharge rates, as determined by a comprehensive hydro-geological assessment; and
- support the introduction of water recycling measures.
Australian Greens Web Site - http://greens.org.au/
Victorian Greens web site. http://vic.greens.org.au/policies/water
But here's the harshest of all realities.
- Any amount of fresh produce can be brought in from overseas at comparable or cheaper prices than any farmer (however efficient) can grow it here. The Fair Trade agreements (and the increased value of the $AUS) means that for the first time in our recent history Australia has become a net importer of food.
- Because we live in a democracy where we treasure the principle of one vote one value our more numerous urban cousins will determine the policy direction of the Government towards the natural environment. They won't put up with this regions river being turned into muddy, lifeless ditches just to keep farmers on the land.
- The rise of the Greens into a viable political force means that the allocation of water from the Murray Darling Basin to farmers, orchardists and rural communities will be reduced in favour of the environment.
But we shouldn't sacrifice one for the other. We should fight for both an environmental solution as well as one that suits irrigation users because both are still possible.
We at the fading edge of the worst Drought in living memory, and still dealing with the trauma it has produced in our rural communities. But there is much to be hopeful for. Local water saving solutions are being devised and implemented. The channel upgrades are proceeding with urgency and the recent rain has given all of us some hope.
But Drought will return, as it has always done.
"The skies are brass and the plains are bare,
Death and ruin are everywhere;
And all that is left of the last year's flood
Is a sickly stream on the grey-black mud;
The salt-springs bubble and the quagmires quiver,
And this is the dirge of the Darling River. "
The Song Of The Darling River
Henry Lawson , circa 1889
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