26-08-2002

An on-going study into the full costs of dryland salinity throughout the Murray-Darling Basin has found the cost of saline town water supplies to households, commerce and industry are even higher than previously estimated.

The total current cost to households in 17 of the 26 catchments throughout the Basin is now estimated at $33.02 million per annum - more than twice the cost estimated using earlier landmark studies.

The equivalent cost to commerce and industry is estimated at $35.47 million per annum. Importantly, these costs are in addition to the significant costs to the urban and industrial users in Adelaide and its surrounds, who are located outside the Basin but rely on water pumped from the River Murray.

The latest figures to be released by Australia's National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP) come after detailed surveys of plumbers, plumbing suppliers and water tank suppliers located in numerous rural towns and cities throughout the Murray-Darling Basin, and building on previous work conducted by Gutteridge Haskins and Davey, CSIRO and others.

The new study, 'Cost Functions to assess the cost of saline town water supplies to households, commerce and industry', has been completed for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission through the NDSP by Wilson Land Management Services with assistance from Ivey ATP.

While these cost estimates are useful, the real strength of the work is that it presents new salinity cost functions that can be used by catchment groups and others throughout Australia to help assess:

• how the cost of saline town water supplies in a particular catchment or Region is expected to change over time; and
• the likely public benefits flowing from the introduction of various salinity management strategies.
  

The author of the report, Dr Suzanne Wilson, said the work was undertaken to test the validity of the earlier saline water cost functions, and if necessary, to develop revised cost functions that provide more accurate estimates - particularly for our smaller rural towns and those experiencing high salinity levels.

"The report has clearly demonstrated that saline town water supplies are imposing much higher costs on our urban communities than we had previously thought," she said.

"While detailed economic analyses will be needed in each catchment to assess the implications of this higher cost, changes of this magnitude are likely to have important implications for some salinity management plans currently being developed and implemented throughout the Murray-Darling Basin.

"Although this report presents updated cost functions, a much larger study involving a multi-disciplinary research team and laboratory testing is still needed to develop a definitive set of cost functions. In the interim, however, the revised set of saline water cost functions should significantly improve the accuracy of the suite of tools currently available."

Dr Wilson said during the research project, representatives from the plumbing industry called for further research to determine the definitive costs of salinity from saline water resources, including full laboratory tests of materials commonly used in Australia's plumbing infrastructure.

Some plumbers consulted during the project had reported many of their customers were only getting an average five years out of new hot water systems due to the impacts of saline water, rather than an expected 15-20 years.

Scott Keyworth, the Director of Landscapes and Industries at the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, welcomed the findings of the study

"This report provides important new information for the communities and catchment organisations within the Basin to quantify and manage the costs of salinity," he said. "The work complements additional studies that the MDBC has underway to update the salinity costs to others reliant on water from the Basin, and in particular urban and industrial users in Adelaide."

NDSP National Manager Richard Price said dryland salinity had social, cultural and financial implications for all Australians, given its widespread effects on farming lands, urban areas, water resources, infrastructure and biodiversity.

"If we don't know what the full range of the costs of dryland salinity are, then it is very difficult to avoid them using preventative measures or in identifying the resources required to activate such measures once damage from dryland salinity has been determined," he said.

"The revised methodology will support managers in developing appropriate responses and take into account the strategies required to ameliorate the full impact of dryland salinity."

Mr Price said significant research and development is currently being undertaken in Australia by the NDSP to help develop the most appropriate management decisions and solutions for dryland salinity.

"Dryland salinity is a complex issue with each salinity situation or catchment being different in terms of water flow, soil type, geological structures, ecology and land use," he said.

"There is no single or short-term solution for dryland salinity - solutions will come from a combination of increased and strategic use of perennial plant species, engineering options, new land and water management systems and productive use of saline land and water resources."

To access the 'Cost functions to assess the cost of saline town water supplies to households, commerce and industry' full report, Click here.

Table 1: Annual cost of saline town water supplies to residential households, commerce and industry in selected catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin.

The National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP) is Australia's lead knowledge broker of research, development and extension efforts to combat the risk of dryland salinity to our land and water resources.

For further information please contact:

Please contact Land & Water Australia
Email:land&wateraustralia@lwa.gov.au
Phone: 02 6263 6000