Decision-making process: The Cap initiative

Introduction

The Murray-Darling Basin Initiative is one of the biggest integrated river basin management organisations in the world (refer to Chapter One). It spans the five jurisdictions of Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia and operates through integrating community and government interests in order to reach arrangements for water use across all of these areas. These arrangements aim to ensure there is equity in water use across the basin, increase the efficiency of water use in all areas, and improve the quality of water throughout the entire system.

What is 'the Cap'?

The Cap system for water use in the Murray-Darling Basin (the MDB) was introduced in 1995. It came as a result of an audit of water use in the MDB, which was conducted in 1993 by the Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council. The findings of this audit revealed that if water diversion rates continued to rise as they had over previous years, the problems faced by the over-stretched river system would be greatly exacerbated in the future. One of these problems would include a worsening of the drinking water crisis in Adelaide.

The Cap places a limit on the amount of water that can be diverted from the Murray-Darling river system for agricultural, industrial or domestic purposes within the MDB. Under the system, areas within the MDB are divided into Cap valleys and each State or Territory is responsible for implementing the Cap within its own jurisdiction. The Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) is then responsible for assessing each State or Territory's compliance with the system each year.

What is the purpose of the Cap?

The Cap essentially aims to strike a balance between environmental quality and water consumption needs within the MDB. Excessive water diversion from the rivers was the reason it was essential to introduce Caps, as the substantially-reduced water flow was having an adverse effect on both the quantity and quality of water for all users of the Murray-Darling, particularly those in the southern parts. Between the 1950s and the 1990s, diversion levels in the MDB tripled and it has been estimated that the amount of water flowing through the Murray-Darling is now only about 27 per cent of that which it was prior to development in the MDB. See image 1

The Cap was not intended to be a restriction on development within the MDB. The only condition in this regard was that new developments would need to obtain their water by more sustainable means than simple diversion from the river. One way in which this could be done was by purchasing water from other users, by way of a water transfers, also known as water trading.

As is often the case with issues of environmental concern, the geographical process responsible for a problem may have occurred, or may be taking place, at some distance from where the resulting physical impact is experienced. Among the multitude of other environmental issues affecting the MDB, this is certainly true in the case of Adelaide's drinking water supply. While the Cap strategy was not solely targeted at improving water quality in Adelaide, it has and will continue to have a very positive effect on this. See image 3

Managing the Cap

Initially, in June 1995, only interim (temporary) Caps were introduced. The following year it was decided that these restrictions would become permanent for NSW, Vic and SA as of July 1997. Considering that Qld and the ACT together only accounted for about 7 per cent of water diversions, Cap levels for those jurisdictions were not finalised at that stage.

The Independent Audit Group (IAG) was established by the MDBC to conduct these annual audits in each Cap valley. Its role is to assess whether any breaches are occurring and present the findings of their audits in an Annual Report on Cap Implementation. In addition to this report on compliance with the Cap system, the MDBC also produces a more comprehensive Annual Report which takes into consideration additional factors such as climatic conditions, accuracy of water use, ground water availability and water trading, all of which can affect users' ability to adhere to the Cap. This is called the Water Audit and Monitoring Report.

Community input into the Cap

One of the bodies which make up the Murray-Darling Basin Initiative is the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) (refer to Chapter 1). The role of the CAC is to act as a vehicle through which the community is able to voice its concerns. In 2004 it was decided that the structure of the committee would be altered, so as to increase the equity of the initiative between various communities. From that point on, the board has consisted of the following 21 members: three members from each State (apart from the ACT which would be represented by one member only); five experts in five distinct, but relevant, fields (these being local government, environment, farming, irrigation and urban issues); and two Indigenous members.