Water, land and biodiversity management: some social research perspectives

Professor Allan Curtis and Ms Gillian Earl

Overview

The social dimension• Water reform• Changing structure of

rural Victoria• A duty of care for

biodiversity conservation• Challenging the asset-

based approach to NRM

GROWTH IN ARTIFICIAL WATER STORAGE IN THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN

Source Murray-Darling Basin Commission (2008) Annual Report 2007-08 Figure 2.1http://www.mdbc.gov.au/subs/annual_reports/AR_2007-08/objective2_s2_1.htm

The contemporary context

In a severe drought with record low inflows to the Murray

Murray River is highly stressed and on average, the median river flow at the Murray mouth is only 27% natural outflow

Three-fold reduction in medium-sized flood events

Key environmental assets are degrading quickly: red gum forests; Coorong; wetlands along the Murray

Calls from environmental groups and scientists to make further cuts to water allocations for irrigated agriculture

Climate change means it is unlikely that previous patterns are a reliable indicator of future water availability

Dead red gum floodplain forests and salinised and acidified creek,

Bottle Bend NSW, April 2007. ©Murray Wetlands

Working Group

MACQUARIE MARSHES ca 1960

DRYING MARSH AREAS 1990s

Water reform: how did it come to this?

Poor government and failure of governance of water industry• Government’s not prepared to adopt a “rational” approach

to structural adjustment• poor governance of water industry

– need agreement of all states to achieve reform– CAP (1995) ignored issue of sleepers/ dozers and irrigation expanded

20%– No capacity to enforce breaches of the CAP– failure to put an effective “fire wall” between suppliers and purchasers

of irrigation water– failure to invest in irrigation supply systems

Drought and climate change the last straw

Water reform: moving forward

• Purchase of water entitlements makes sense, but must have a functioning market (unbundling incomplete in Vic)

• Infrastructure upgrades make sense and will cushion impacts of adjustment, but must ensure problems not repeated

• Acknowledge that urban water use is legitimate and that there have been inter-valley transfers in the past, but circumstances have changed and we:

– probably need to take Adelaide “off the river”– diverting water from the Murray to Melbourne should be our last resort

• Confront the myth that we will “run out of food” in Australia

• Avoid temptation to view groundwater as a separate resource

• Consider opportunities to negotiate closure of irrigation districts

Changing social context in rural areas

Era of rapid change in almost all regions• Large turnover in property ownership• Influx of new owners and non-farmers• Most new owners come from outside district• Many absentee owners

Why do we have these trends • Kids less interested in farming and life in rural areas and attracted

by opportunities for work, education and social life in cities• Aged farmers approaching retirement• Cost-price squeeze pushing amalgamation of properties• Subdivision a way of unlocking asset values• Cashed up retirees wanting to live in rural areas• Internet allowing people to work from home• Freeways and better roads• Speculation in rural land• Lax planning rules

New and longer-term owners

TopicCorangamite 2006

New property owners (19%)

Longer-term property owners

(81%)

Farmer as occupation 23% 61%

Median area managed 44 ha 160 ha

Median hours farm work 16 hr/week 40 hr/week

Median days paid off-farm work/year

200 days/year 0 days/year

Make an on-property profit

35% 68%

Member of Landcare 24% 37%

Principal place of residence

61% 81%

Median Age 47 years 57 years

“New people came and things changed”

• Rate base expanded• New knowledge, skills and

networks• New enterprises• Greater cultural diversity

Development of rural land in Indigo Shire

One new house on a rural property each week for the past five years

Landscape values under threat?

Public safety compromised

People living in fire prone areas

Water harvesting

Infrastructure costs increased

Cultural heritage at risk?

What should we do?

Establish and maintain a discrete urban-rural interface

Invest in revitalising rural and regional centres as attractive, safe places to live

In high value cultural landscapes, step in and purchase subdivisional rights

Stand up to vested interests (farmers as well)

Engage new owners in agriculture

Duty of care for biodiversityon private land

Why do we need one?

• Biodiversity is still declining• Existing statutory legislation and regulation gives

incomplete coverage to biodiversity

Common law duty of care

• Applies to people or property• Requires reasonable care to

be undertaken• Requires foreseeable harm

to be avoided• Does not generally apply to

biodiversity or the environment

Some known constraints

• Legal definitions • Linguistic ambiguity• Social acceptability

Linguistic ambiguity

Duty of Care

• Moral basis • Community standard • Externally imposed• Obligatory• Enshrined in law• Articulated, codified• Specific• Here and now

Stewardship

• Moral basis• Individual standard• Internal, personal• Voluntary• Not enshrined in law• May show in behaviour• Worldly• Forever

Social acceptability

Wimmera & Corangamite regions

• Duty of care as a social norm (54% agree)• Duty of care as a legally defined instrument (36% agree)• Farmers stand out as an important segment of the

community less supportive of duty of care

The assets-based approach to NRM

Identify priority assets for investment of public funds to achieve NRM outcomes

Assumed to be: more strategic

provide more accountabilitymore positive way to engage landholders

Includes emphasis on direct purchase of outcomes by a focus on onground work

Challenging the assets-based approach

Risk of managing assets independently of systems that supports them and life

Provides excuse for limiting public expenditure on NRM (only need to invest in some assets)

Disempowers/ excludes those without priority assets

No evidence direct investment builds long-term commitment

Evidence that investment in social and human capital leads to action and long-term commitment