THE SOUTH Australian Government will push for the State's past water efficiencies to be recognised in the proposed Murray Darling Basin Plan, echoing sentiment voiced by irrigators at recent MDB Authority community consultation meetings.
The commitment was made by Water Minister Paul Caica and Agriculture Minister Michael O'Brien at a community feedback session hosted by the State Government at Murray Bridge on Monday night.
Mr Caica said the meeting allowed the public to voice their opinions on the guide to the proposed basin plan before a formal State Government submission was made by November 30.
"Feedback gained at these meetings will help inform the State Government's response to the MDBA on the proposed basin plan," he said.
The State Government has also established a reference group through the Goyder Institute and the Department of Water to analyse the science behind the plan, which will be included in its submission.
The meeting included a presentation about the key environmental, social and economic outcomes the State Government was seeking from the development of the final basin plan. This included the recognition of SA's water efficiency initiatives over the past 40 years.
* Listen to Water Minister Paul Caica speak on how the government may offset the effects of population growth and increased urban sprawl on the State's limited water resources.
"SA has invested heavily in water efficiencies over many years and we took the early action of capping our water use," Mr Caica said.
"We believe these initiatives must be taken into account if we are to have a fair and equitable approach to achieving the long-term health of the river system.
"However we can't just sit back and tell the authority to do it, proposals have to be put forward as to how it can be acknowledged and how that can be implemented in the decision-making processes of the MDBA."
Department of Water MDB policy and reform director Mandy Rossetto said while sustainable diversion limits were necessary, they had to be applied where over-allocation was greatest and be offset through either buybacks or infrastructure upgrades.
"However there is less potential for greater efficiency through investments in infrastructure upgrades in SA," she said.
Mr O'Brien agreed, saying the government would suggest the $200 million in Federal funding allocated to infrastructure upgrades in SA be used for other initiatives, such as buybacks, because there was limited opportunities to upgrade further in the State.
* Listen to Agriculture Minister Michael O'Brien speak on how the State Government will push for SA's past water efficiency to be recognised in the proposed Murray Darling Basin Plan.
"There is very little wriggle room to improve water use efficiency in SA, which makes it difficult to achieve SDLs targets," he said. "SA should not be penalised for nearly 40 years of developing our State into the most efficient water users in Australia."
The meeting was one of three held this week, the second in Renmark yesterday, while another is being held at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide tonight from 7pm until 9.15pm.
* Full report in Stock Journal, November 18 issue.
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