Issue 2, June 2013

Welcome

Welcome to the second edition of the Northern Basin Update. In case you missed the first issue, the Northern Basin Advisory Committee was established by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to provide independent strategic advice on key northern Murray-Darling Basin issues and priorities. The Committee is working with MDBA and other Commonwealth and state agencies to develop and implement a three-year work plan for the northern Basin. More information about the Committee is available at www.mdba.gov.au.

The Committee will prepare a Northern Basin Update after each of its meetings, to provide a summary of meeting outcomes and to provide information about recent and upcoming activities in the northern Basin.

Last Northern Basin Advisory Committee meeting

22-23 May 2013, St George, Queensland

Next meetings

10-11 September 2013, Bourke, NSW

26-27 November 2013, Canberra, ACT

Meeting at St George, May 2013

Message from Mal Peters, Committee Chair

A prime driver of the committee is to understand community concerns and wishes, so we aim to speak with community groups and local governments throughout the northern Basin in the coming months. We are eager to learn from our communities and invite people to contact us or participate in the meetings currently being planned, so that we can build on local knowledge and perspectives.

Regional communities rarely get an opportunity to influence decision making so this is a unique opportunity to influence the work program to
ensure the end result is both healthy rivers and
robust communities.

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St George meeting

The Northern Basin Advisory Committee met in St George on 22-23 May where they had the opportunity to listen to presentations on local issues and to meet with local people.

The Committee supports the inclusion of overland flow licenses in the entitlements targeted for recovery in the Lower Balonne and was pleased to hear from the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities that these licenses have been included in the recent tender.

The meeting focused on further developing actions and projects to be included in the northern Basin work program. This is being done through the Committee’s working groups with input and support from MDBA and other agencies. A summary of progress for each of the working groups is provided below.

To ensure that the work program is meeting the needs of the northern Basin community, the Committee is keen for people to participate in developing a work program that encourages local knowledge and solutions to be drawn on. The resultant ideas will be tested and further developed via meetings currently being planned in the northern Basin between late July and early September, before the work program is publicly released.

Working Group updates

Social and Economic (achieve positive socio-economic impacts)

The working group agreed that its purpose is to gather sufficient data so that we are aware of economic and social implications in achieving environmental targets.

It is suggested that studies done by other organisations should be looked at more closely. There should be clear and simple messages on how the MDBA took these studies into account and their usefulness for informing future work. The work undertaken by Deloitte Access Economics in the Namoi region of the northern Basin is one example of an initial target.

The community meetings being planned for the northern Basin should include discussions on useful indicators for social and economic monitoring
and evaluation.

Environmental Science

(identify the best environmental science to achieve long term sustainability)

The working group supports MDBA’s science review project which will review the scientific basis for the 143 GL northern Basin shared reduction and the 100 GL Condamine-Balonne local reduction. This project acknowledges that there are gaps in knowledge in the northern Basin that need further work to improve the scientific basis of Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL). The status of this project is discussed later in this issue.

The working group is pleased that before recommendations on priorities for further research and investigations are finalised, they will be tested with local people. However, the group wants the work program to set out what scientific investigations will
be carried out for the other catchments in the
northern Basin that are not included in the science review project.

The working group is seeking further research and investigations on alternative strategies to achieve environmental outcomes rather than simply by diversion reductions. The group also raised the issue of how the Committee best provides advice on groundwater issues.

View looking South over Back Lake and Clear Lake, Narran Lake Nature Reserve. Photo: Joshua J Smith

Water Recovery and Use (achieve sensitive water recovery and effective use)

The working group agreed that the ‘toolkit’ available for water recovery should be prioritised as:

(1) works and measures
(2) on farm efficiency projects
(3) buy-back.

A major project for the work program will be how to best use this toolkit to achieve more clearly defined environmental, social and economic outcomes.

The working group has requested that MDBA arrange a briefing from the States on their progress to identify works and measures options. This includes a briefing on Menindee Lakes savings options and how they relate to the northern Basin.

The working group also wants to make sure that ideas put forward for sensitive water recovery are evaluated as part of the work program.

Monitoring and Evaluation (establish reliable monitoring and evaluation methods)

The working group has suggested the adoption of a set of principles that include:

  • monitoring and evaluation includes environmental, social and economic considerations
  • presenting monitoring and evaluation information simply and clearly, using graphics where possible
  • ensuring outcomes are influential within the wider community
  • measuring progress towards where we want
    to be
  • being realistic about what we can and can’t do – simple practical actions.

Confident Communities (ensure communities have confidence in the implementation of the Basin Plan)

The working group has put forward the following objectives:

  • use clear language with communities about the Basin Plan
  • provide opportunities for people to participate in the northern Basin work planning process
  • acknowledge and value people’s contribution to the process.

An example where clear language is required, is explaining how we move from baseline diversion limits (including the Cap) to Sustainable Diversion Limits under the Basin Plan.

The community meetings being planned for the northern Basin will consider Basin Plan issues that are local priorities. These meetings will be an opportunity for communities to contribute to the work program.

Confident Communities working group

Cultural Flows (recognise cultural flows)

The Committee sees the Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations (chaired by Fred Hooper who is also a member of the Committee) as leading the actions required for this outcome. We will provide support for their work when needed.

At the Moree meeting, Fred briefed the Committee on the Cultural Flows project, which has components
that include:

  • describing Indigenous cultural water values and needs across Australia
  • to develop and use methodologies to describe and measure cultural water uses, values and needs of particular Australian Indigenous communities
  • quantify water volumes to meet cultural values and needs and the scientific assessment of
    trial flows
  • develop and implement a monitoring methodology
  • recommend policy, legal and institutional changes that will enable implementation of cultural flows.

Next meeting in Bourke

The agenda for the next meeting in Bourke on 10-11 September will include:

  • An update on State works and measures proposals and how the Committee can influence the process
  • Menindee Lakes savings proposals and how they relate to the northern Basin
  • Computer aided river management (CARM)
  • Prioritygroundwater issues for the northern Basin and how the Committee can
    provide advice.

Northern Basin Science Forum

The Northern Basin Water in Catchments Science Forum was organised by the Cotton Research Development Corporation and was held on 4-5 June in Narrabri.

The objective of the forum was to provide a snapshot of some of the water science in the northern Basin and identify the science gaps and limitations to inform a coordinated and targeted science plan.

The Northern Basin Advisory Committee, in conjunction with the MDBA, participated in the forum. We see the outcomes as one source of input for guiding further water research related to the implementation of the Basin Plan in the northern Basin.

MDBA’s northern Basin science review project

MDBA has commenced a project that involves a review of the work done to date on the environmental basis for some of the northern Basin surface
water SDLs.

The review by a small panel of expert scientists will look at the environmental water requirements for the Barwon –Darling River, the lower Balonne floodplain and Narran Lakes which form the basis for the two largest diversion reductions in the northern Basin—the shared reduction of 143 GL and the Condamine –Balonne local reduction of 100 GL.

The review will identify knowledge gaps and make recommendations for priority research and investigations by 2015. The review team engaged for the project comprises:

  • Project Leader – Jennifer Hale (Consultant)
  • Science leader – Fran Sheldon (Griffith University)
  • Science panel member, wetlands and floodplain ecology – Sam Capon (Griffith University)
  • Science panel member, fish and instream ecology – Stephen Balcombe (Griffith University)

Work to date has involved planning the project with input from States, the Northern Basin Advisory Committee and regional stakeholders. The MDBA and the review team recently held meetings in Bourke, Walgett, St George and Goondiwindi to identify issues that require consideration and understand the best way to engage with stakeholders. The review should be completed by around August.

For more information on the science review project, please contact: Ian Burns, MDBA on 0423 844163 or

email .

White Ibis nests, South Arm, Narran Lake Nature Reserve. Photo: Joshua J Smith

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