Salinity concern over irrigation plan

Phill Pullinger Environment Tasmania MR

“Environment groups believe that farmers need as much support from government as possible – but we believe that that support should be focused on putting farmers onto a sustainable long-term footing – by helping farmers work within the natural capacity of the land, by working to develop sustainable agricultural techniques, by working on improving water conservation and efficiency of water use, and through some of the great schemes such as the agistment register that the TFGA have been working on,” he continued.

Media Release 29/9/2008

SALINITY CONCERN OVER IRRIGATION PLAN

Conservationists are concerned that if not handled sensitively, a Tasmanian Government irrigation proposal may risk the midlands region being turned into a ‘Mini-Murray’ if irrigation of very dry and high salt areas occurs, as this would be likely to worsen salinity and kill off productive farmland over the longer-term.

“Tasmanian farmers, particularly in the midlands, have been devastated by the worst drought in many years, the effects of which, unfortunately, may worsen over time with the impact of climate change,” said Dr Phill Pullinger, spokesperson for Environment Tasmania,

“Environment groups believe that farmers need as much support from government as possible – but we believe that that support should be focused on putting farmers onto a sustainable long-term footing – by helping farmers work within the natural capacity of the land, by working to develop sustainable agricultural techniques, by working on improving water conservation and efficiency of water use, and through some of the great schemes such as the agistment register that the TFGA have been working on,” he continued.

“We have to make sure that solutions to the current drought crisis are genuine solutions that don’t make the situation worse in the long-term. We are concerned that if there is intensive irrigation of very dry and identified high-salt areas in the midlands – that this could lead to a ‘mini-Murray’ situation where in the longer term, areas of farmland are killed off by salinity. It is really important that potential problems are carefully thought about – and that we focus on the long-term rather than the quick-fix,” he concluded.