Australia hammers out salinity deal with states
© 2000 Reuters Limited
November 6, 2000
CANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister John Howard hammered out a deal on Friday with states and territories for a A$1.4 billion plan to tackle salinity and water quality problems, two of the country's most serious environmental issues.
Howard said leaders from Australia's six states and two territories agreed to match A$700 million in Federal funding announced in October to halt the progression of salt intrusion which has devastated large tracts of rural Australia.
Salinity currently affects about two million hectares of dry land in Australia, or five percent of cultivated land, and is considered a major threat to agriculture and water quality.
"This is a fairly historic achievement, and it is a very important first step ... doing something about salinity and water quality is an enormous investment in the future of this country," Howard told a news conference following a meeting with his state and territorial counterparts.
Under the deal, the Federal government will help pay compensation to landowners affected by changes such as land clearing and water rights, which had been expected to have been a state responsibility.
Howard said the total cost of compensation will not be known for two to three years until details of catchment plans are worked out.
The A$1.4 billion in funding will be used to pay for rehabilitation of waterways, re-vegetation and engineering works to combat salt intrusion into farmland.
The plan still falls well short of estimates from the Australian Conservation Foundation and the National Farmers' Federation that up to A$6.5 billion needs to be spent each year for the next decade to repair salinity damage.
The salt problem has been largely blamed on the use of European farming methods in Australia, including clearing and draining of land to create grasslands.
This practice has caused river trenches to sink deeply into the landscape, lowering the fresh water table and dramatically reducing the volume of fresh water in flood plains.