ON FARM
Call for changes to
PROTECT FARMLAND by Neroli Roocke
Sugarcane growers in the most northern area of the Burdekin are calling for a review of the way irrigation water is managed and billed, fearing the current regime will create a rising groundwater problem. “While other areas of the Burdekin are trying to manage a rising groundwater issue, we want to prevent one,” Steve Pilla, a CANEGROWERS Burdekin director said. The area he’s talking about is the Giru Benefit Area (GBA), and particularly the farms on the inland side of the highway. “Up until the 1990s, all the water for this area came from natural yields – rainfall flows through the Haughton River and the creeks fed by runoff from the nearby mountains into the natural aquifer,” he explained. “When the Burdekin Dam was built, that natural water supply started being supplemented through the drain network into the Haughton River and by pump assist into that northern creek system. “When I was a kid, the Haughton River and the creeks would dry up some years which affected crop growth so the supplemented supply meant we had secure water.” But Mr Pilla now fears the current management approach of keeping the water system constantly topped up is starting to put productive cane fields at risk while also limiting the amount of natural yield that is captured because it flows over the top of the weirs. “Up until a few years ago, the pricing structure in the GBA took account of natural yields plus the supplement from Sunwater, meaning we paid 51% of the cost of the water that we pumped from the river, creeks and aquifer making extraction from bores economic,” he said. “But we now have a water system that’s constantly full and face a price path which would take us to the same pricing structure as channel customers with no consideration for the natural flows. “We could have rising groundwater issues in the future because growers will seek a cost saving by pumping more straight from open water, like rivers and creeks, and only use the bores when absolutely needed due to the high electricity costs.” CANEGROWERS Burdekin is sounding the alarm and will be seeking meetings with Sunwater and the Department of Natural Resources. continues page 18
Pictured: Steve Pilla wants to protect his farmland from rising groundwater.
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