They also claim the authority was “negligent and incompetent” when it flooded the Barmah Milewa Forest four times in three years from 2017-19.
In the second week of a class action trial in the Supreme Court of NSW, the MDBA has also acknowledged that overbank transfers are the least efficient way of sending water downstream and result in the highest losses of about 31-46 per cent.
Banton Group is representing about 28,000 members from NSW and Victoria, who were all severely impacted by MDBA led decisions to flood the Barmah Forest between 2018 and 2020.
These decisions resulted in zero allocation to NSW Murray general security (NSWMGS) and reduced allocations in Victoria.
This dramatically reduced production for multiple seasons, with impacts reverberating into following years.
The class action was filed in May 2019 by nine local plaintiffs and has now been transformed into a class action, with Doyles Farm Produce the lead litigant.
Group members are seeking damages from the MDBA and Commonwealth for their negligence.
Southern Riverina Irrigators chief executive Sophie Baldwin said as the class action continued, environmental watering had been halted across the state.
She said it’s because it was “possible” laws and regulations had been broken when it comes to unlicensed and unmetered extraction of water and inappropriate construction of works to take water.
“SRI and many other representative groups across the southern basin have been pointing out the flaws associated with implementation of this basin plan for many, many years, including MDBA mismanagement of water, which has continually fallen on deaf ears,” she said.
“We have pleaded with the government and departments to halt the plan and take some time to review what is appropriate and, again, this has fallen on deaf ears.
“At the very core of this whole mess is the basin plan, which is based on flawed modelling, and the wider public has been sold a lie when it comes to actual achievable outcomes.”
Ms Baldwin said the basin plan in its original remit was never meant to destroy rural communities because there were protections in place socially, economically and environmentally.
But irrigators say these have been wiped out, along with food producers’ abilities to access affordable irrigation water.
“We are watching our ability to produce staple foods like cereals, rice, dairy, meat and fruit and veggies diminish as each year passes,” Ms Baldwin said.
“Less productive water means more competition and higher temporary prices impacting the next generation of farmers, along with increasing red tape, which is just exhausting.
“Some people might argue the basin plan has no impact on everyday Australians, but in reality its impacts are felt daily.
“Grocery prices will continue to skyrocket and as a nation, we will be increasingly reliant on imports that should be grown here in Australia, creating employment and generating GDP for the country.”
Ms Baldwin said Australia’s water management used to be considered world’s best practice, but now “it’s just a dog’s breakfast”.
“The cracks in the basin plan are becoming more and more apparent each year.
“With the basin plan review coming up next year, we should be learning from these mistakes, not socialising them across a broader footprint and brushing them under the carpet.”
