Ministerial Statement

MURRAY RIVER WATER ALLOCATIONS

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (14:06): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I wish to inform the house about changes to the River Murray Drought Water Allocation Decision Framework and the subsequent advantages arising from these changes for irrigators.

Ms Chapman: I'm waiting.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I am going to stay firm, Vickie. Over the past three months, rainfall and inflow conditions have improved across the Murray catchment, including from recent flooding events in Victoria. The resultant improvements mean that there will be significantly more water flowing into South Australia than in recent years, although at this stage the inflows are still below the long-term average for winter and early spring. There is, however, justifiable expectation that we will see further significant flows into South Australia in the near future, as foreshadowed in my statement to the house yesterday.

This optimistic situation has led to some speculation—unfortunately, much of it ill-informed—about what this will mean for the River Murray irrigator allocations in South Australia. In some respects, the speculation has unrealistically raised expectations, doing a disservice to both irrigators and the communities in which they live.

Irrigators certainly stand to benefit from the improved inflows. However, it needs to be understood that the majority of the improvements expected to be derived from the recent floods in Victoria will be unregulated flows; that is, they will be flows that cannot be captured and stored and cannot be used to provide water for consumptive purposes such as irrigation. It is important also to understand that allocations to irrigators can only come from the 1,850 gigalitre entitlement flow that South Australia is entitled to receive under the current Murray-Darling Basin Agreement. Of that, irrigators can only receive a maximum of 650 gigalitres in any one year, which is the equivalent of 100 per cent of what is available for allocation.

Today I can announce that South Australia has received a 130 gigalitre improvement in our allocation from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, taking us up to 1,720 gigalitres of our 1,850 gigalitre entitlement for this year. Given that we have now secured our critical human needs requirements for this year, and the next, and given that the environment will enjoy further significant benefits through the anticipated unregulated flows, the government has taken the decision to vary the River Murray Drought Water Allocation Decision Framework by putting all the 130 gigalitre improvement towards irrigator allocations.

In addition, the government will be allocating a further 15 gigalitres of yet unallocated water to irrigators, taking irrigators up to allocations of 63 per cent. This compares with the 16 per cent allocation at the same time last year and, in fact, exceeds—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Vickie, you are going to learn a bit more if you listen. That will take irrigators' allocations up to 63 per cent. This compares with a 16 per cent allocation at the same time last year and, in fact, exceeds the total allocation for last year, which was 62 per cent, and represents the best allocation since the 2005-06 season. Irrigators have access to 100 per cent of their carryover water, currently calculated to be approximately 170 gigalitres, with that figure possibly needing adjustment once full auditing has been finalised.

While it is true to say that not all irrigators will have access to carryover water, a facility which this government introduced as a special drought measure so as to enable irrigators to effectively save unused water for the year ahead and which still must be accounted for within the 650 gigalitres cap—and I reinforce that point: must still be accounted for within the 650 gigalitre cap—on what irrigators can receive in any one year, it does mean that many irrigators have access to significantly more water than the 63 per cent allocation itself represents. In fact, the current allocation, plus 170 gigalitres carryover, equates to almost 90 per cent of the 650 gigalitre cap.

Furthermore, I also announce today that the government has decided to further amend the allocation decision framework to provide that irrigators will receive all further improvements as advised by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in respect of South Australia's entitlement flow, until the 650 gigalitre cap on what irrigators can receive is reached. I am advised that it is highly likely that that figure will be reached, according to current forecasts.

Due to the rapidly changing situation in the Murray-Darling Basin and the Mount Lofty Ranges, the state government will bring forward its comprehensive review of the allocation decision framework which was originally scheduled for November 2010. Future carryover arrangements will be considered in this comprehensive review—and it is critically important that we do that.

It is also the case that if the amount of water held in storage by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority continues to improve (as is predicted) and South Australia continues to get unregulated flows for the environment, the prospects for irrigators in the 2011-12 season are looking positive, which I am sure will be welcome news for those River Murray communities that have been doing it so tough in recent dry years.

In the same way that this government has taken the tough decisions to share the pain of restrictive water resources between all users during the years of unprecedented drought, we also remain committed to responsibly and sustainably sharing the benefits of what we hope will be an extended period of water availability. While we rejoice in the improved water availability, as a state we must not desist from doing all that we can to protect our most precious resource, whether that be by securing the long-term future of the River Murray through the eagerly awaited Murray-Darling Basin Plan or by increasingly diversifying our water supplies to further secure a sustainable future to which this government is most certainly committed.