Farmer centric conservation
Lately, water issues have dominated Australian politics as the country faces its worst-ever drought in 100 years. Policymakers are now pinning their hopes on a series of measures, including a national water plan, to save dying river systems. The plan is unique in that it necessitates the active involvement of farmers who are required to put excess water back into river systems and enforce a tradeable water system.
The scheme is to be implemented over 10 years. It envisages the setting up of a new national water commission, which would oversee the use of irrigation water. The plan, which has been approved by the Council of Australian Governments (comprising the federal prime minister and state premiers), is being opposed by some regional authorities and environmentalists.
Australia, the driest inhabited continent, also has the world's highest per capita water use. At the core of the plan is a strategy to save the nation's longest river system, the Murray-Darling. This river system is the lifeblood of Australia's important farmlands that export foodgrains worth us $21 billion. A reduction in the water flow in the Murray and Darling rivers, which stretch across 3,500 kilometres, has in recent years seen sections of the system dry up.
Upstream cotton farms at the head of the system use vast amounts of water for irrigation, reducing the flow to downstream farms. The new agreement, which has been welcomed by the National Federation of Farmers