Northern Australia Irrigation Futures

Providing new knowledge, tools, and processes to support debate
and decision making regarding irrigation in northern Australia

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Overview

Northern Australia landscapes, rivers and strongly monsoonal weather patterns have resulted in unique and diverse ecological systems that need special care to retain their integrity. Because tropical rivers discharge some 70 per cent of Australia’s available fresh water there are pressures from various quarters to extract some of the water for agricultural use, largely for irrigation. There is also recognition however that huge mistakes were made in the past in southern Australia where many key irrigation systems are now degraded or degrading, and no one wants to see that repeated in northern Australia.

Various studies are therefore underway to improve understanding of river and catchment attributes and risks associated with development in northern Australia so that debate and decision making regarding the future of northern Australia and any agricultural developments are based on the best knowledge available. Decisions to develop or not develop are equally valid, but need to be based on a solid understanding of the risks and longer term implications for tropical catchments.

Issues that need to be addressed when considering irrigation within a whole-of-systems and catchment context include the source and availability of water, variability in supply, the types of soils and landscapes, key features of the surface and groundwater systems and conjunctive use, environmental flow requirements, and likely on- and off-site impacts of implementing a particular irrigation system and management structure. Off farm issues of river and estuary ecology, including minimising impact on other sectors such as fisheries and tourism also need to be addressed. These issues will all play a role in deciding whether to irrigate, and if so, what irrigation should look like, where it should be located, and what investments need to be made during establishment and operation to align with federal, state and regional goals as well as various policy and ecologically sustainable development requirements. Investments in any new irrigation and modification of existing irrigation schemes must ensure that the benefits of irrigation outweigh long term social and environmental costs, so that we do not end up with large repair needs as currently faced by many irrigated areas in southern Australia.

Helping understand the risks of irrigating in northern Australia requires that we capture the key biophysical features of the northern tropical systems in a sustainability framework that can be used as a tool to guide debate and decision making regarding irrigation, and if irrigation is to proceed, how it should be designed and managed to ensure it meets sustainability goals. The Northern Australia Irrigation Futures (NAIF) Project is but one of a number of activities currently addressing these needs.