24/03/2006 - Key players on salinity
drainage are meeting in Midland today with the shared
aim of developing a robust governance system to
support future drainage schemes in Western Australia’s
Wheatbelt.
The workshop brings together the Australian and
Western Australian Governments, the Wheatbelt Catchment
Alliance, the WA Channel Management Group, research
institutions, regional bodies and a host of other
experts.
It will look at developing a framework for roles
and responsibilities; management of rights and risks;
cost-sharing arrangements; and drainage asset management.
Details were outlined by Australian Ministers for
the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell,
and Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Peter McGauran,
along with Western Australian Ministers for Agriculture,
Kim Chance, Environment, Mark McGowan and Water
Resources, John Kobelke.
“Salinity may be the single biggest environmental
and economic challenge faced by farming communities
across the nation,” Senator Campbell said.
“It’s one of the reasons why the Australian and
State Governments set up the jointly-funded $1.4
billion National Action Plan for Salinity and Water
Quality in 2000.
“It’s also an issue close to my heart on a personal
and a professional level. I saw first-hand the devastation
salinity can cause when I was growing up on a farm
in the Wheatbelt, and again during visits to the
area last year.
“I’m acutely aware of the desire to move forward
with on-ground, practical activities including drainage.
But we’ve got to get it right at the planning stage
if we want real, long-term results for the environment
and for farm businesses.
“During the meeting today we’ll be covering topics
like governance and legislative arrangements, maintenance
and the economic, environmental and social considerations,”
he said.
Mr Chance said Wheatbelt valleys were at risk of
salinity, and that effective governance was a vital
part of guiding future drainage investment by land
managers.
“It’s really important to get sensible regulations
in place to guide landholders, local governments
and regional bodies when they’re developing drainage
proposals,” Mr Chance said.
“The aim of this workshop is to look at what governance
issues we need to address for people to implement
larger-scale drainage projects.
“This is an issue being examined not only in today’s
workshop, but also as part of another two-year salinity
project announced last year. Together these activities
will ensure we’ve got a solid framework and a good
scientific basis for decision-making.”
Mr Kobelke said drainage in WA’s Wheatbelt was covered
by a variety of State Acts, which could be complex
and involved State agencies, local government and
other stakeholders.
“Already Wheatbelt landowners have constructed more
than 20,000 kilometres of drains and banks and established
a significant number of groundwater pumping and
siphon bore schemes to counter salinity,” Mr Kobelke
said.
“But what farmers and catchment managers urgently
need is a clear-cut regulatory framework to guide
the planning, approvals and implementation of a
large-scale, regional drainage system.”
Mr McGowan said while governance was the main topic
of the workshop, drainage needed to be undertaken
in a way that improved the environment rather than
risk having more problems in the future.
“We need to think about how future activities might
affect places like wetlands, saline lakes and nature
reserves, which provide habitat for birds and animals,”
Mr McGowan said.
Today’s workshop is part of the joint Australian-State
$2.8 million ‘Wheatbelt Drainage Evaluation – Framework
for Implementation’ project announced in April 2005.
