During the second half of the 19th Century, a number of factors including an expanding population and severe droughts led to a heightened interest in the potential of irrigation in Australia. There was a growing population to feed and clothe, with extreme variations in climate. Irrigation allowed water to be stored in public dams during the wetter periods and then distributed during the drier times, thus providing some level of guarantee for farmers and communities. Governments became heavily involved in irrigation projects involving large storage reservoirs and extensive water distribution systems. For many years the extension of irrigated land was seen to be of national importance.
In the first half of the 20th Century, irrigation schemes also accommodated the settlement of returned soldiers from the First and Second World Wars, financed by both the Commonwealth and the States. Farmers were encouraged to invest in developing farms to utilise irrigation water for a range of crops. Irrigation also allowed crop production in inland areas that were often more suited to higher value, higher quality agricultural products.
While cotton was brought out on the First Fleet, the cotton industry commenced in Australia in the 1800s being largely confined to rain-fed production in Queensland. The American Civil War with its potential threat to Britain’s cotton supplies temporarily boosted the Australian industry but it was not until the early 1960s that the modern industry we know today was born.
The construction of dams in northern and central inland New South Wales in the 1960s and 70s saw the development of irrigated cotton in both NSW and Queensland. Industry growth was slow at first, but accelerated through the 1980s, with governments encouraging the uptake of water licences and the subsequent expensive development of land and infrastructure for irrigation.
In the early 1990s, concerns grew amongst governments, water users and the broader community that Australia’s water resources were under increasing pressure. State governments began to adjust their water resource policies and management arrangements to take into account issues such as the environmental health of rivers and water quality. At the same time, irrigators were facing reduced security of supply as competing demands for water increased.
A number of steps have been taken since that time to alleviate pressure on Australia’s river systems. These include the Murray-Darling Basin Cap to limit growth in water use, environmental flow rules, Water Sharing Plans in NSW, Regional Operations Plans in Queensland, the National Water Initiative, National Water Commission and most recently the National Plan for Water Security. Many of these policies saw irrigators take significant cuts to their water entitlements.
Amidst calls for further reductions in allocations for irrigators and the compulsory acquisition of water licences to adjust over-allocated systems, there is still much work to be done to provide equitable solutions that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the natural environment and regional communities.
Sources: NSW Irrigators Council, Cotton Australia, Water use efficiency in the cotton industry paper (Auscott)
