By ERWIN CHLANDA
Fortune Agribusiness is again the controversial winner in the Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan 2024-2027 announced by Environment Minister Kate Worden yesterday – a day before her government entered caretaker mode ahead of the election this month.
The government’s decisions about the use of groundwater from the 24,500 square kilometre basin 350 km north of Alice Springs have vehemently been opposed by the Arid Land Environment Centre.
It lost a court case but the decision is being appealed by the Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation.
CEO Adrian Tomlinson says the case highlighted that plans are non-binding: “We need an urgent amendment to the Territory’s water laws to ensure water allocation plans are binding.”
He says while the new plan has marginally reduced the allocation to businesses like Fortune but they have a freer hand in how to take the water.
Two-thirds of the resource is set aside for industrial use, to 92% of which the Chinese backed company, at Singleton Station, now seems set to have the rights for the next three years.
This is about 1.4 times Darwin’s annual water supply, says Mr Tomlinson.
The remaining one-third is used for smaller existing agricultural ventures and for the Aboriginal Water Reserve which can be used or traded.
Mr Tomlinson says the licence, which is still subject to environmental impact assessment, “needs to be stopped.
“It will result in the widespread destruction of groundwater dependent trees, soaks and wetlands which depend on shallow groundwater.
“Sacred sites are at risk and salinity impacts the long-term viability of the water.”
PHOTO: Groundwater dependent tress are at risk. Image courtesy Arid Lands Environment Centre.
More madness from the NT Government and grandstanding prior to an election.
The value of the Singleton water is in its ability to generate profit through trading, not what it can produce as has happened elsewhere in Australia.
Example: A friend with 100 acres of citrus, avocados and vines in Sunrasia in 2008 had to buy additional water even though he had 130% of his requirement as permanent water.
It cost him $132,000 and water went to $1350 per ml and the NSW water pirates told him that they were short so they put limits on his usage even though he had permanent rights to that water.
He relates precedents overseas of Saton Sea in the US, the dead and Caspian Seas, and the Aural Sea east of the Caspian.
I acted on water matters for the Australian Democrats in SA before moving here and we had many animated discussions on salinity.
Unfortunately the water evaporates but the salts do not as any swampy owner will tell you and the salinity basins at Waikerie, Sunrasia and Noora show.
Now Massive quantities of water are being diverted from eco projects to almonds along much of the Murray and being financed from Canada with purchased water as described above.
I hope they are not as mercenary as the Chinese.
It’s sad that if food production is really the objective, which I doubt, the owners are not looking at other arid areas in the world – Israel for one – to use the water efficiently.
Look at “Camelicious” in Dubai and see what they are doing with scarce and expensive water.
What not to do is to follow the US with private ownership of underground water and quickly exhaust the supply through greed.