Dealing with salinity in Wheatbelt Valleys - Department of Water

with Salinity in Wheatbelt Valleys Conference
Dealing
Prospects and Practical Options
Processes,
2. Convenors brief Drainage Committee. Task Force, Avon WG and agency CEO’s (ie use existing structures,
committees to achieve actions that contribute to the vision on the outcomes of the conference.
• Political Bipartisanship.
This process is much bigger than any government bipartisanship will help convince most that it is worthwhile let Judy
talk to Hendy.
• “One-Stop Shop”
Let’s have a “Salinity Action Commission” – A’ la Murray-Darling Basin Commission.
Perhaps state Salinity Council. Perhaps “Salinity Taskforce”. But someone has to take responsibility for coordination
and commitment of funds.
The “One-Stop-Shop” could call for or coopt members from workshop.
• Legislative/Statute to implement a Salinity Cap/Biodiversity Cap/Water Table Cap.
Be prepared to get the “City” to fund the innovations. In the business to kick-start alternatives.
To request the Drainage Committee and Salinity Task Force to:
• Consider the vision statement developed by the Valley Floors Workshop.
• Develop and operational plan (objectives, strategies, responsibilities, monitoring of performance criteria) for –
biodiversity, management of Valley Floors, hydrology.
State Salinity Council, in partnership with relevant agencies, sponsor and fund a programme of research and
extension activities to provide landholders and other stakeholders with technical and financial information and options
to high water use options and alternative land use systems.
Fix the drainage problem and set an appropriate regulatory environment for engineering solutions.
• Make landholders responsible for their actions.
• Prohibit further land clearing and adverse off-site effects of land management.
• Ban cats.
A practical step to achieve the shared vision is to ensure that existing NRM State committees eg State Salinity
Council progress the options expressed at the Merredin conference.
The membership of the committee needs to be expanded to cover all state level groups involved in NRM.
Present to the Government with the vision.
Pressure Government to work on a bipartisan approach for super long-term commitment to implementing the vision.
It is obvious that everyone is concerned about drainage.
I feel if a “standard protocol” for our deep drains/groundwater pumping etc was decided upon and that all government
agencies agreed and accepted these, all people in the community could get along with more forward thinking.
Once these issues of excess water are decided upon, new and profitable industries will (or can) be created,
biodiversity can be controlled and looked after, and farmers and the wider communities will be sustainable, and
maybe we “might” even bring back more people to our regional centres.
We must promote new industries in our “Wheatbelt” and look after the ones we already have.
Take it back to small groups in our communities and interpret it from what it means to them.
Use the process we used in our own communities to develop our own visions from our own groups – this is the level
where a shared vision is most important.