Our Productive Community

The Lower Balonne boasts one of the lowest unemployment levels in Queensland.  Senator Ron Boswell has described the community as ‘one of the clearest examples of practical reconciliation under way anywhere’ with hundreds of indigenous people, the Kamilaroi people, employed on Lower Balonne irrigation properties,  as well as owning a number of local businesses.  The irrigation industry brings them hope, dignity and a future.  But, that future could be lost if the Queensland Government slashes water usage in the region.

Irrigated Agriculture in the Lower Balonne Region

The Condamine-Balonne basin is located at the northern extremity of the Murray Darling Basin.  It is primarily situated in South West Queensland and to a lesser extent in North West New South Wales.  The key industry in this region is dependent upon water as a business input, i.e., irrigated agriculture.

The Balonne region is located in Queensland on the New South Wales border, some 500 kilometres from the east coast of Australia and has an area of 31,119 square kilometres.  Two of the main towns in the region are St George and Dirranbandi.

 The Lower Balonne is that part of the river between the Beardmore Dam at St George and the Qld/NSW border.

The region is semi arid, dominated by a riverine environment, typical of much of inland Australia.  Highly variable river flow regimes drive the ecological processes that provide energy and nutrient needs for the river system to function. 

In recent years, the Dirranbandi and St George communities have seen a gradual increase in economic development, which can be largely attributed to a greater dependency on commodities such as cotton.  The cotton industry also supports a large number of local workers and seasonal workers during chipping and picking.  There are three cotton gins in the district. 

Irrigated farming activities in the Lower Balonne area are valued at in excess of $437 million and contribute approximately $1.01 billion of around $1.27 billion of production in the Balonne region.  They contribute $217 million in direction regional income, reflecting an annual expenditure of around $7million per year.  In fact it’s estimated that irrigated farming accounts for around 74% of the total patronage for general business, social and government institutions in the Balonne regional economy.

The productive capacity, earnings potential and expenditure patterns of irrigated farms are directly related to the water supplies available to them.

During the early 1990’s, irrigated agriculture expanded as local graziers and dryland farmers took advantage of water harvesting licences (irrigation licences), which were being issued by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources.  Successive Queensland governments encouraged the development of irrigated farming in the region by imposing development and usage conditions on water harvesting licences, as reproduced in the table below.  The government gave farmers two years to develop their licences and then they had to demonstrate a beneficial use of the licence and water. 

Source:  DNR Sample Licence

This irrigation development is 100% privately funded by the landholders and does not rely on the government for funds.  This situation is virtually unique to the Lower Balonne, as most other irrigation areas in Australia rely on government constructed dams, channels and related infrastructure.

Water harvesters currently pay an administration charge for the cost of administering the licence, which is charged on the first 500 Ml of water harvested.  Although irrigators do not pay the government for the rest of the water that they harvest, the government’s claim that irrigators pay nothing for the water is a furphy.

Irrigators have invested their own money in developing on-farm water infrastructure.  Private water infrastructure investment in the Lower Balonne is valued at approximately half a billion dollars, so with that consideration, water doesn’t come cheaply.  For water harvesters to pay more than the cost of licence administration would amount to a resource rent and we are unaware of any other sections of the community, which are currently paying a resource rent.

This applies to water users Australia wide.  As Minister Robertson freely admits, consumers do not pay for water (briefing notes released at the Cullen Report launch).  They pay for the infrastructure and the cost of treating and delivering the water to the field or the kitchen sink. 

Government briefing note the Value of Water – ‘while people in cities and towns pay a charge for water, the charge covers only the infrastructure costs of delivering that water, for example, the cost of dams, weirs, pipelines and channels – i.e. they do not pay for the water itself’.

Cotton Production

The Lower Balonne can produce up to 350,000 bales of cotton.  Cotton contributes around half of total agricultural production, and almost 60% of production values.  Although grain, wool, grapes, beans, melons and horticulture make significant contributions to the regional economy, irrigated cotton is the dominant agricultural activity.

Due to our geographic and climatic location, the region consistently produces superior results in terms of yield and quality of fibre. 

Our climate allows the growing of full season varieties with excellent fibre quality and the early harvest ensures a premium in the market place. 

Without irrigation, there would be no cotton, grapes or other horticultural crops grown in the district.  

Cotton and the Environment

Despite the fact that large-scale irrigation in the Lower Balonne is still within the formative stage, we are investing heavily in monitoring and understanding what sustainability within our rivers and on our floodplains really means.  Our standard of farm infrastructure and practice is extremely high.

At the end of 2002, approximately 80% of the cotton area in the St George and Dirranbandi districts is grown on farms which have completed the initial BMP (Best Management Practice) Compliance Audit.  100% of growers in the Dirranbandi district have undertaken the initial compliance audit and are proceeding through the audit program.  Dirranbandi is the only cotton growing area to achieve this success to date. 

Many farms in the Lower Balonne region are now working closely with soil scientists to investigate possible threats of salinity and are using tool such as Electro Magnetic surveys and piezometers. 

Many irrigation properties along the Lower Balonne have implemented progressive, new-technology on-farm water efficiency programs in an attempt to increase irrigation efficiency.  These initiatives are essential if irrigators want to justify their use of water supplies and to maximise the potential to expand sustainably into new areas.