LOCAL irrigators have cautiously welcomed a Senate vote to cap water buybacks in the Murray Darling Basin at 1500 gigalitres as a “step in the right direction”.
Benjeroop farmer Lindsay Schultz said while the cap on buybacks did provide some certainty, it was only for the short term.
“Just because this government has capped the buybacks, it doesn’t mean the next government will do the same,” he said.
In a joint statement, Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt and his parliamentary secretary Bob Baldwin said the bill delivered certainty to farmers, while continuing to meet the environmental outcomes of the Basin Plan.
“The 1500 gigalitre (GL) cap on water purchases was a key pre-election commitment and we’ve worked hard with farmers, stakeholders and communities across the Basin to make sure this works for them,” the statement said.
The Murray-Darling Basin plan involves recovering an extra 2750 billion litres of water a year by 2019 to help restore the system’s rivers and wetlands.
About 1165 billion litres of water has been purchased from irrigators so far, leaving 345 billion litres that may be still bought.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (September 16).
