- Contents
- Chapter One Developing the Basin Plan
- Chapter Two Protecting and enhancing
water resources - Chapter Three Delivering water efficiently
and equitably - Chapter Four Using best-practice
financial, management and
governance systems - Financial statements
- Appendixes
- Murray-Darling Basin Commission:
final report - Glossary and Index
Murray-Darling Basin Commission: Final report
Appendix BB
Community Advisory Committee: final report, July-December 2008
Final term of the committee
The drought has had a devastating impact on the Murray-Darling Basin - on local communities, families, businesses and the environment. The Community Advisory Committee has had an important role in presenting these issues to Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council through providing high-quality, timely advice.
In its final term, the fourth Community Advisory Committee enjoyed a busy six months from July to December 2008. The committee met formally on two occasions, hosted four forums and conducted a final meeting at the offices of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) to discuss final advice items to the Ministerial Council. Meetings and forums were held in regional locations across the Basin to assist the committee in gaining a better perspective of the issues affecting Basin communities.
Members of the committee also participated as observers in a wide range of MDBC committees and working groups to support community engagement activities. Their role in these groups was to provide a community perspective and to develop an understanding of MDBC activities, to influence the development of natural resource management strategies, and to assist in the development of advice.
Chairman and Deputy Chair
The Chairman attended all MDBC high-level committee meetings with the exception of the River Murray Water Committee meetings, which the Deputy Chair attended.
Both the Chairman and Deputy Chair attended Murray-Darling Basin Commission and Ministerial Council meetings to present Community Advisory Committee advice.
Presentations to the committee
To assist Community Advisory Committee members in providing advice to Ministerial Council, the committee received a range of informative and strategic presentations from MDBC staff and from staff of government departments. Topics included:
- water buy-back and structural adjustment
- the Basin Plan
- an update on MDBC programs including Sustainable Rivers Audit, and Climate Change
- the CSIRO Sustainable Yields Project
- the Variability Research and Investment Plan
- Council of Australian Governments (COAG) water reform.
Community engagement: Coorong and Lower Lakes forums
At the Ministerial Council meeting in May 2008, the Community Advisory Committee was commissioned to facilitate two community forums on the Coorong and Lower Lakes. The committee worked with the South Australian Government and MDBC to coordinate the forums, the first of which was held in Murray Bridge on 25 July 2008 to obtain feedback from communities near the Coorong and Lower Lakes area. The second was held in Moama on 31 July 2008, and sought a broader view from communities upstream.
The aim of the forums was to:
- provide information from the South Australian Government and MDBC on the state of the Coorong and Lower Lakes, water availability and climate outlook
- provide information on the immediate and short-term management approaches
- receive community views on possible measures and options for the longer term management approaches
- obtain community views on expectations of future consultation.
Presentations were given by South Australian Government, CSIRO and MDBC representatives.
A third forum in the form of an information session was held in Murray Bridge on 12 December 2008 to report back on Ministerial Council outcomes regarding the real-time management strategy to avoid acidification for the Lower Lakes. The session was attended by 38 community representatives, who saw it as an important part of the consultation process.
Participants felt strongly that the introduction of seawater into the Lower Lakes was not an acceptable option, and suggested that alternative solutions, such as bioremediation activities, be investigated and undertaken as soon as possible. They expressed a willingness to participate in such activities. One of the recommendations from the session was that a consultative group be formed to work closely with South Australian agencies to help shape the outcome and be part of the solution.
Community Advisory Committee working groups
Three Community Advisory Committee working groups were formed to scrutinise Basin issues in more detail. These working groups met separately at each committee meeting and reported back to the committee.
The activities of the working groups are summarised below.
Healthy Basin working group
The Healthy Basin working group saw great success in the implementation of the Towards a Healthy Basin program in April 2007.
The purpose of the Healthy Basin Forum was to gather views from the northern and central Basin communities on what needs to be done to achieve a sustainable, healthy, working river system for the northern part of the Basin. Three forums were held - in Sydney, Goondiwindi (Queensland) and Bourke (New South Wales).
The forums consisted of a series of short presentations followed by group sessions. They looked at the issues from a community, industry, environment and management (land, water and catchment) perspective. A series of communiqués and reports were written after the forums, summarising discussion and key outcomes.
Participants and ministers alike provided positive feedback on these forums.
Community Engagement working group
The Community Engagement working group provided information to the Community Advisory Committee on potential initiatives to gauge reactions of the community and to increase the understanding of Murray-Darling Basin initiatives and the Community Advisory Committee. Key recommendations outlined by the group included:
- promote the committees' activities
- increase community awareness of MDBC programs
- hold regular meetings with local organisations and community members
- identify the specific needs of Indigenous people.
Menindee Lakes working group
The Menindee Lakes working group was formed to provide the Community Advisory Committee with information on the management of the lakes system and to provide a community voice in relation to the lakes.
A tour of the region was conducted in January 2008 to gain a better understanding of the community issues related to improving the utilisation of water coming through the Menindee Lakes system. A report submitted to the Community Advisory Committee for consideration conveyed the community's message that there was an immediate need for change in the operation of the Menindee Lakes system.
Communications
A Community Advisory Committee extranet was rebuilt to improve communication between members. The extranet was designed as a resource for committee members to access information not publicly available, such as agenda papers and internal discussion. It was set up to transfer easily to the Basin Community Committee (see page xvii) as needed.