River basin planning for Ganga : Lessons from Murray-Darling Basin Authority

A report by Amita on the round table meeting held at India International Centre, New Delhi on the topic of river basin planning for Ganga on February 1, 2012.
2 Feb 2012
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This interactive session with NGOs working on water and river issues was held in continuation of the “Living rivers, dying rivers” series at the request of AusAid. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Ramaswamy R. Iyer, Honorary Professor, Centre for Policy Research and an author of books and articles on water while the lead speaker Dr. Don Blackmore, former Chief Executive, Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Australia dealt with the lessons from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

Dr. Blackmore began his talk with some quick facts about the Murray–Darling Basin which is the catchment for the Murray and Darling rivers and their many tributaries. Extending from north of Roma in Queensland to Goolwa in South Australia, it includes three–quarters of New South Wales and half of Victoria. In total there are 23 river valleys in the basin, covering over 1 million square kilometres, or 14 per cent of Australia. Australia is the driest inhabited continent with the highest per capita water use. Large areas of the northern part of the Murray–Darling Basin were suffering from eight years of rainfall deficits and storage levels are still low at most places.

MD Basin

Murray Darling Basin

Source: www. abc.net.au

Dr Blackmore traced the history of the Murray river which in the 1860s became a major means of transport between South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. The first diversion of the Murray's water for irrigation led to conflict with those concerned with using the river for navigation in the 1880s. In 1917 the River Murray Commission was established by governments of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales (NSW). In the 1960s concerns about rising salinity led to the role of the Commission extending to water quality and water management responsibilities. In 1985 concerns about salinity and land degradation led to further intense negotiations between States and the signing of a substantial amendment to the Murray River Agreement, to which the Commonwealth Government was also signatory. 

In 1990 a new Murray Darling Basin Agreement was signed by Victoria, South Australia, NSW and the Commonwealth governments. Subsequently, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory also signed this. In 2008 December, powers and functions of the Murray Darling Basin Commission were transferred to the newly formed Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) with the principal aim of having the basin's water resources managed in the national interest. For the first time, a single agency became responsible for planning integrated management of the water resources of the Murray-Darling Basin. The Authority is made up of six members who are supported by an office of around 300 staff. The Ministerial Council and the Basin Officials Committee play important roles in providing advice and making high level decisions relating to the functions of the MDBA.

The top three water issues in Australia are – diminishing water security, over-allocation of resources and environmental degradation. Dr Blackmore put emphasis on the need for communities to have much better information to base their judgments on. The driving philosophy of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is that you cannot manage what you cannot describe and measure. River model through a computer simulation that enables reliable and repeatable testing of the system is essential to understand the behavior of the river. MDBA uses the “Integrated Modeling System (IMS)” for rural and urban water management.

The reform agenda of MDBA according to Dr Blackmore was founded on four aspects: policy, institutional, instruments and tools. He dealt with the draft basin plan, including the broader context in which the plan has been developed; the key elements of the plan and how these have been developed; key policies related to how the plan will be implemented, including the adaptive management process, and opportunities for localism. Dr Blackmore discussed the concept of Cap that has been implemented in the basin as an essential first step towards achieving healthy rivers and sustainable water use. While the Cap restrains further increase in water diversions, it does not constrain new developments provided the water for them is obtained by using water more efficiently or by purchasing water from existing developments.

Water title and land title have been separated in the basin. The water titles had historically been given to the people for social reasons and Dr. Blackmore confirmed that he has been trying to knock down this policy for the last thirty years. The Basin Authority has instituted a completely open trading system with no bars except for environmental protection. This has dramatically improved productivity and performance. Dr. Blackmore talked about the requirements for water markets: clear specification of entitlements, comprehensive registration systems linked to water accounts, mechanisms to transfer between different entitlements and trading rules. Markets require “products” traded to be identifiable and enforceable. Registers provide this and buyers know what they are buying. The effective reconciliation of registers as accounts is necessary and this calls for good water accounting practices.

Dr Blackmore presented the MDBA’s approach to the development of the water quality and salinity management plan as a component of the basin plan as required by the Water Act 2007. Incidences of algal blooms and, at times, higher in-river salinity levels, are indicators of poor water quality - an ongoing threat to the basin’s water resources. Impacts can be local and can also intensify as water flows down through the system.

The main roles and responsibilities of the Authority was discussed as also how it manages the water resources of the Murray-Darling Basin, in conjunction with the Basin States through a number of programs. The Water Trade Program to coordinate and refine the rules for trading water interstate was also dealt with. The national framework was stated whereby the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is an integral element of the federal government’s program - Water for the Future which has four priorities: tackling climate change, supporting healthy rivers, using water wisely and securing the water supplies. Dr Blackmore ended the speech with the statement that “the ultimate challenge is to make our rivers and lakes the “report card” of our civilization”.

The discussion that ensued covered the following issues related to both Ganga as well as the Murray-Darling Basin -

  • There is a need to have a careful look at World Bank’s new set of guidelines on dam building. The major issue with Ganges is that mindless dam building is destroying it.
  • While the Government of India has given Ganga the status of a national river and has constituted the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), the Authority has not been vested with considerable powers.
  • Concern was raised as to what happens to drinking water rights and whether it is prioritized over other uses.
  • In the absence of reliable data for the river Ganges, the modeling exercise will not hold much import.
  • What is the role of judiciary in water management in water management in the case of Murray Darling Basin?
  • How is a river defined to be sufficiently healthy in Australia?
  • What is the role of the community in the management of resources in Australia?
  • What are the criteria for allocating entitlements and how were they formalized through legal instruments?
  • In Australia all allocation plans and policy decisions are based on model runs be it the issue of salinity or of fixing caps.
The discussion ended with a note of caution from the activists that the conditions in India are considerably different and that the lessons from the Murray-Darling Basin may not provide a comprehensive solution to all our water problems. 

Dr Don Blackmore has over 40 years' experience in water and natural resources management and was the Chief Executive, Murray-Darling Basin Commission for 15 years, until 2004.  More recently he has worked on the Nile, Indus, Mekong and Ganges Rivers. He was a Commissioner on the World Commission on Dams, and is currently Chair of the Advisory Council for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO-Australia) programme, Water for a Healthy Country. 

 

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