“THERE IS NOT ENOUGH WATER IN THE SYSTEM TO DO EVERYTHING WE WANT” CONFLICTS

KEY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS Conflict over water use Importance of water as a resource Factors affecting the patterns of water use

ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE?

WATER IN THE BASIN CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS: Scarce Finite ……. It is also a versatile resource, required to meet the needs of: Economic Domestic Environmental Recreational Cultural Aesthetics For those within and beyond the basin

MAINTAINING A HEALTHY RIVER ENVIRONMENT Wetlands Floodplains Wildlife Vegetation

PROVIDING RELIABLE WATER SUPPLIES Irrigation Domestic needs Industry Mining Recreation HEP

REDUCE IMPACTS OF FLOODING & ENSURE WATER IS AVAILABLE DURING DRY PERIODS Regulated Storage Dams weirs

CONFLICT SINCE 1851 When the Murray became the border between NSW and Victoria Exacerbated between 2002 – 2010 during the drought

HOW MIGHT CONFLICTS ARISE? Differing views and needs One state vs another Cities vs Rural Environmental managers vs irrigators Small farms vs big farms Downstream vs up stream

ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS Concerns that if more water is returned to the river, less will be available for agriculture. This will lead to loss of Jobs Millions of dollars in economic growth Decline of small towns

USERS NEEDS Irrigators need to know how much water will be available so that they can plant their crops. Tourist industry needs to know that there will be enough water to attract visitors Environmentalists want “water for the river” Residents in towns want enough water for every day use

NEEDS NOT ALWAYS COMPATIBLE Irrigators and domestic users want to extract water from the river while tourist operators, fishers and environmental managers want to keep it for the river

LOCATION Depending on where a person is located may affect their perception of water use SA is located at the end of the basin, and is the most dependent state

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO CONFLICTS OVER WATER USE Large number of stakeholders with varying needs Water is unevenly distributed Dams, weirs and channels provide irrigation water to regions were agriculture would otherwise not be possible Between 1996 and 2006, the number of farm dams in the basin increased by 37% The amount of water stored in them increased by 48% Estimated to have reduced the flow by 450 GL

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO CONFLICT Attitudes have changed regarding conservation and the need to supply environmental flows to the rivers Australia’s growing population River flows through 4 states and 1 territory A number of LGA’s Government organisations and NGO’s involved in allocating and managing water resources

Water has been over allocated in some regions ½ the basins surface water management areas have been developed beyond 100% of sustainable water yield Another third have exceeded 70% of sustainable yield

THE CAP Limits the amount of water that can be extracted from the river

REGULATED FLOWS Before development of the basin, the river mouth experienced drought like flows 5 years in every 100 With water being extracted at 1994 levels these low flows were being experienced 61 years in 100 If extractions were to continue at a similar rate, it is estimated this figure would rise to 74 years

WATER EXTRACTIONS From the basins rivers have continued to increase