The Environment Institute
Where ideas grow
Striking the Balance between Food and
Fibre Production and the Environment
Mike Young
Executive Director, The Environment Institute
The Environment Institute
Environmental policy
• Triple bottom line?
• Environment first?
– Transition arrangements often confused with
definition of final outcome to be pursued
Economic
Social
Environmental
Life Impact The University of Adelaide
The Environment Institute
Getting the balance right
• Recognise the difference between
– Identifying environmental objectives
– The science of estimating how much water is
needed to deliver each environmental objective
• The amount needed can be reduced by
improving institutional arrangements
– But volumes needed will change as technology,
knowledge and institutional arrangements
improve
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Three
important
observations
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Scarcity is compromising
Biodiversity!
After Vörösmarty and others (2010).
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With 10% less rainfall
Users
Users
Environment
Environment
River Flow
River Flow
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Water accounting matters
• Improvements in water use efficiency come at a big cost to
rivers
• Forests, farm dams, overland flow capture water
• Need to assume groundwater is connected to a river
• MDB Guide found that the cost of not dealing with water
accounting has major (in-equitable) consequences
– up to 37% reduction in water entitlements if interception
excluded, only 29% if included
• Water accounting risks need to be assigned so that their
distribution does not erode the environment’s interest
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The MDB
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Current building blocks
• Hydrological integrity
– Bring in small farm dams, forestry, overland flow capture,
etc
• Equitable risk sharing with Environment
– Environment to be a major entitlement holder
• Subsidiarity for regional planning
but not for environmental water
– Uniform definition of SDL across the Basin built around a
114 year average less 3% allowance for adverse climate
change
– But Environmental water held centrally
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Suggested trade-offs in Guide
1. Conveyance to and thru mouth 9 yrs in 10
2. Prepared to lose 25% of red gum forests
3. Most benefits from 3,000 GL to 4,000 GL
local and within region where reduction
occurs
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Entitlement-based planning
Uncontrolled floods and overland flows
Entitlement shares
Conveyance
Entitlements
- Controlled watering
- Irrigation, urban and Industrial uses
Conveyance water
Life Impact The University of Adelaide
The Environment Institute
A way forward
1.
2.
Recognise that the collective environmental aspirations in existing plans need review
The Act allows the SDLs to be defined in any way the Authority thinks appropriate – Section 23
(2) (c)
Rather than a volumetric approach they could identify the portfolio of entitlements that should
be acquired for the environment places in regional environment trusts
3.
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4.
Still need to define conveyance reserve
Define maximum limit on annual allocations as amount when all existing entitlements in a region receive
100% allocation
Grandfather in 100% of interception processes – linked to the entitlement system
Identify a proportion of each entitlement type to be acquired for the environment – A target portfolio
Purchase the portfolio needed
Place a significant proportion in environment trusts
Move forward step by step, monitoring, adjusting and learning with communities as the Basin
goes forward
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5.
Environmental infrastructure
Removing grazing from key areas
Buying entitlements
Commitment to keep on investing until health is restored
–
If the money is used wisely, there is enough on the table over $0.5million per irrigator
Life Impact The University of Adelaide
The Environment Institute
Where ideas grow
www.adelaide.edu.au/environment
www.myoung.net.au