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Healthier Irrigation for a Healthier Country“Irrigators aren't a well-liked sub-group of the human race,” NSW MP Adrian Piccoli says to the crowded room. Though the room is crowded with people working in the irrigation arena, you may be surprised to know that many heads nodded along to this statement. “People are happy to have their lettuces fresh and cheap on the shelf at their local Woolies,” he continues, “but they don't want to hear that it comes at a price.” The assembled crowd has gathered for a workshop to address this price – the one that irrigation pays on the environment, and the ways that CSIRO is helping to reduce this cost for a sustainable future for that industry. Market Based Instruments (MBI's) for managing salinity and waterlogging in irrigation areas: The Science and the Economics, is the name of the workshop that has brought irrigators, and staff from CSIRO, ABARE, DAFF and NSW government agencies along to the Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University, where CSE's Stuart Whitten introduces the concept of MBI's and how they might be used to help irrigators. This workshop showcased CSIRO's innovative irrigation and groundwater management work together to make rational and informed land and water management decisions. Understanding and packaging hydrology and cropping system interactions using the SWAGMAN Farm model is a key building block to introducing market based instruments. Workshops like this provide an opportunity to integrate growers production interests with long term environmental futures of irrigation systems. It has provided a forum for multilevel stakeholder engagement for the transparent role of science in policy making for sustainable natural resource management. CLW's John Ward later addresses those working in policy development about new and innovative approaches in their field, particularly in the area of experimental economics. CLW's Shahbaz Khan discusses some of the recently published reports out of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, including: Whole-of-Catchment Water and Salt Balance: Identifying Potential Water Savings and Management Options in the Murrumbidgee Catchment and Off- and On-Farm Savings of Irrigation Water: Murrumbidgee Valley Water Efficiency Feasibility Project, released 7 July 2005. The assembled irrigators are familiar with these publications, and seem keen to implement a number of the recommendations they make. “Irrigators aren't backwards in implementing new technology or new methods,” says Coleambally Irrigation CEO Murray Smith, “If you can demonstrate to them that something will save them water, and save them money, then they will do it straight away.” Read the presentation
notes from the Workshop More
on CSIRO's Water for a Healthy Country Flagship >> Newsletter/Feedback Forms now fixedThaks to all those that notified us of the problems with these
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