Across 1,100 hectares of farmland near Griffith in south western New South Wales, Joe Dal Broi grows wheat and cotton. And soon he'll be planting a new crop of broad beans.
"They're a very good crop to grow," he said. "We get about anywhere between 60 and 90 kilos of nitrogen back into the soil which enhances our cotton crop the following year."
To ensure a maximum haul, Joe relies on several water sources, including irrigation from local rivers. But he says the Murray Darling Basin Plan has seen many farms fall short of their potential.
"The way the system's run at the moment, no certainty, no planning," he said.
"We can't rely on irrigation water. We have to buy in temporary water, we have to have carry over in our dams. All it's done is just made a mess of farming."
The multi-billion dollar plan to ration water by reducing irrigation for agriculture from Australia's largest river system was signed into law in November 2012. It's proved controversial, with a Senate inquiry weighing up its effect on farmers, river communities and the environment.
The Murray Darling Basin Authority, which administers the scheme, said concerns about reduced irrigation for agriculture are being addressed.
"The Australian government is spending a lot of money modernising irrigation infrastructure, installing drippers and those sorts of things on farms," said David Galeano, the MDBA's General Manager of Policy and Planning.
"The idea there is it's made a lot of farmers more water efficient."
Business interests vs environmental recovery
Recent environmental reports have shown improvements in some parts of the Basin. And scientists like Charles Sturt University Professor Jonathon Howard said they're being largely ignored by communities.
"We're getting forest regrowth, we're getting extension of bird-breeding events, which is an indication that fish species are coming back," he said. "We're getting a much more resilient and diverse ecosystem as a result of that."
But Paul Pierotti from the Griffith Business Chamber said he's more concerned about the effects on towns and industries.
"With the negativity in the community and a more recessed economy and a downturn in productivity, we're seeing a lot less homes being built and worse still we've seen housing property prices decrease around 20 per cent and commercial property by up to 50 per cent," he said.
Related reading
Farmer, tourism groups to fight backpacker tax
The Murray Darling Basin Authority said it's still too early to determine the plan's overall impact in the area.
"Definitely there's some overwhelming positive signs in towns like Griffith," Mr Galeano said. "Some new food processing, some new infrastructure being implemented.
"Having said that there's a lot of changes going on in regional communities... and the job for the next couple of years is to try and figure out what those changes might be because of the Basin Plan versus all those other things going on in regional communities."
A report detailing many of the changes is due in the Senate on March 17.
Share
