Managing the water of the Border Rivers in Australia: irrigation, Government and the wetland environment

Humans remove considerable amounts of water from rivers in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin. As a result, many wetlands no longer flood for as long or as frequently as they used to. Even though the extent of ecological damage is becoming better understood, the policies which contributed to increased water use are not well known. The Border Rivers Region of Australia provides an opportunity to more closely examine these issues. Water use rose by more than 2,700% between 1969 and 1991, mostly to irrigate cotton crops. Between 1969 and 1984, only about 5% of the water, measured at Goondiwindi on the main river channel of the Macintyre River, was used for irrigation. Water use to irrigate cotton increased to 60–69% of this measure in the period 1992–1995, which included two extremely dry years. This development was driven primarily by Governments through building dams. The ecological and economic costs of such changes were never adequately measured or forecasted. The key question for the future is whether Government should insist on proponents paying these costs or continue to promote and build infrastructure for water resource developments. Whatever the verdict, there must be better recognition of the economic and ecological costs through transparent processes of environmental assessment. This includes the economic benefits of riverine and wetland conservation. In addition, governmental environment protection and conservation agencies should participate more fully in decisions of water resource management if there is to be balance between resource exploitation and protection.