Declining regulated flows through the Barmah-Millewa section in the Murray-Darling Basin are a ticking time bomb which could result in future water shortfalls for Mallee irrigation communities.

Federal Member for Mallee and Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Anne Webster, is calling on all Basin state governments to work collaboratively with the Federal Government to ensure the risk is safely managed to safeguard water delivery for producers.

“The Barmah choke upstream of Mallee has been an underlying issue for some time for irrigators with the flow capacity of the Murray River having reduced in recent times,” Dr Webster said.

“Having no water available for days or weeks during a heatwave would have a devastating impact on our town and take years to recover from.

“The Coalition raised these concerns with the Murray Darling Basin Authority early in the previous term of government. We continued to drive the issue, funding $3 million for a feasibility study that is investigating ways to take pressure off the Barmah Choke and minimise the risk of shortfalls downstream.

“I’m pleased to see the incoming government has continued to honour this important work and would urge them to ensure it on the agenda of the upcoming Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council meeting.

“This week the MDBA released six possible options to address the choking of the Barmah Choke and I would strongly urge our locals irrigators in Mallee to get across the issue and be aware of the risk of a system shortfall, and the proposed mitigation options being put on the table.

“We now need to assess the feasibility of these proposed approaches and importantly I want to hear from locals as to what the best way forward is.

“I would like to see all Lower Murray irrigators on both sides of the river come together to help find solutions, we can’t afford to see farmers pitted against farmer.

Environmental water holders also have a major role to play and must be part of the solution.

“The recently enforced Goulburn Murray Trade Rule by the Victorian Government has arguably put in place a new set of challenges to get the water to our farmers in the Lower Murray,” Dr Webster said.

“I urge the new Water Minister to consider all options being put forward whether that be infrastructure or policy solutions to as the previous Coalition Minister Keith Pitt did.”

The six options being explored by the MDBA are:

• Stabilising the banks to prevent further incursion of water into the Barmah–Millewa Forest
• Removing sand from key locations
• Changing the timing of water delivery to Lake Victoria–Tar-Ru to be better attuned to environmental watering events
• Using Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District infrastructure to deliver water downstream
• Using Murray Irrigation Limited system to deliver water through the Edward/Kolety–Wakool–Niemur river system
• Releasing water to the Murray River via the Murrumbidgee River through the Snowy Hydro scheme.

The options will be presented to governments in December 2022 for them to decide which options to investigate further or to proceed to a business case and formal community consultation.

More information on the study: https://www.mdba.gov.au/