Crime and Drought in Australia’s Murray River Basin

Crime and Drought in Australia’s Murray River Basin

According to Aborigine lore, the Murray River was created when Ngurunderi the Great Ancestor chased after Ponde the Giant Cod, which carved bends in the river with its tail as he thrashed to escape. When Ngurunderi finally caught the fish, he cut it into pieces and threw them into the river. With each toss a new species was born. “You bony bream, you perch, you callop, you catfish.”

Today, southeastern Australian’s Murray River Basin provides a different kind of bounty. It is the nation’s food bowl, generating fully one-third of Australia's food supply. Nearly all of the country’s rice is grown here. Huge amounts of wheat and other cereal grains, milk, cheese, citrus and stone fruit, wine grapes and vegetables are produced here. Millions of sheep and beef cattle graze here, too.

What there isn’t enough of, though, is water. "The Murray River system has been seen as a machine for 80 years," said an environmental official in the state of Victoria.[i]

No longer. After years of drought and poor management, and with the Murray nearly running dry, the federal government announced in June it will likely turn off the tap this summer. There are simply too many irrigators and not enough water. The region has also suffered from inadequate oversight of water permitting, metering, licensing and irrigation quotas.

For many, the solution to the crisis is theft.

About 60 cases of water theft are currently being investigated in the Goulburn-Murray region of Victoria, Australia’s largest irrigation district. In Bacchus Marsh, an irrigator was fined AU$10,000 (6,300 Euro) for stealing water by tampering with a water meter. A broccoli grower was caught illegally siphoning water from the Barwon River. And a farmer in Gippsland was nabbed illegally pumping water from a dam.[ii]

"We don't want to prosecute our customers,” said an official with Goulburn-Murray Water, warning of jail sentences and big fines for offenders. “So really the advice is don't do it because this is a criminal offense and you'll have a criminal record for the rest of your life.”[iii]

In May, the Deputy Mayor of the northern Victorian city of Shepparton pleaded guilty to stealing irrigation water for his plum trees. Dallas Terlich, who is also a clergyman, inserted a stick into a water wheel to allow water to flow unmetered. "I didn't see the gravity of what I was doing at the time," said Terlich, who was sentenced to one year probation and fined AU$900 (565 Euro). “People will be disappointed in what I've done, I know.”[iv],[v]

To the north, in Brisbane, someone stole 800 litres of water from a youth rugby team. “"Who would stoop so low?" a team official pondered.[vi]

One of the most unusual and widely reported cases occurred near the Victoria-New South Wales border, which the Murray River forms. Just north of the border near the village of Womboota, population 161, is the “Bultarra” farm. The Meares family has been farming and ranching in this desolate area for more than 80 years – mainly producing cereals, wool and lamb meat. The family is especially proud of its Saltbush Lamb, known for being tender and rich in vitamin E.

But following an incident at Bultarra in the spring of 2003, the Meares family found itself in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. For reasons that remain unknown, a farmhand disabled measuring devices to allow irrigation water to flow onto the farm unmetered. The worker removed three of the farm’s dethridge wheels, drum-shaped devices that measure water flowing through irrigation canals.

This went on for about a month, until an inspector from the irrigation company noticed during a night patrol that the dethridge wheels had been removed. The company, Murray Irrigation Ltd., said an estimated 201 million liters of water flowed onto the Meares’ farm without being metered.

Murray Irrigation prosecuted the Meares family in Land and Environment Court, where they were charged with six counts of violating the Water Management Act. The Court found the Meares family guilty of the charges in June 2005, but only after a bizarre twist. Murray Irrigation claimed the Meares family fabricated the farmhand story in order to skirt responsibilty for the misdeeds. In fact, a private investigator hired by Murray Irrigation to find the man was unable to do so. The Court rejected the argument, but still found the family guilty because the farmhand was in their employ at the time.

The Meares family faced a maximum fine of AU$275,000 (175,000 Euro) for each of the six charges, as well as AU$141,000 (91,000 Euro) in court costs. In addition, the family’s irrigation quota was reduced by the amount of unmetered water it received.

But that’s not the end of the story. The family went back to court, seeking leniency based on several factors. They claimed they had suffered extensive negative publicity due to the scandal. They changed their irrigation policies to allow only farm managers to operate the system. They carried out extensive environmental improvements on the property. And they were about AU$4.5 million (2.8 million Euro) in debt. The family said they were in an “appalling” financial condition and were unable to pay the fine.

Based on these extenuating circumstances, the judge agreed in January 2006 to drop the charges, though still requiring the Meares family to pay some of the court costs.[vii],[viii]

This is also not the end of the water theft story in the Murray River Basin. With officials fearing more of the same behavior in the foreseeable future, they are calling for major reforms to the regulatory system. “All extractions must be licensed and measured,” said Peter Cullen of the National Water Commission. “A compliance regime must be established to address the widespread theft of water in irrigation and dryland areas, [which are] stealing water from downstream entitlement holders and the environment.”[ix]

Unfortunately, future environmental conditions do not seem likely to cooperate. If precipitation in the region follows the past century’s pattern, farmers will see even less rain over the next 40 years. Global climate change has been implicated as one cause of the crisis.

Less water means less food. And because less food could result in higher prices for consumers, the federal government is appealing to all players along the food supply chain to resist price gouging.[x]

Prime Minister John Howard wants Australians to appeal to a higher authority. “The situation for the farmers of Australia in the irrigation area of this country is critical,” Howard said in a speech in April. “We should all pray for rain.”[xi]

Mark Worth is a researcher based in Berlin who writes about water and food safety issues for NGOs in Europe and the United States.

[i] Keating, Rebecca. “Living Murray plan ‘drains faith in govts’.” Water, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 22 February 2006.

[ii] Wallace, Rick. “Flood of water thefts as patience evaporates.” The Australian, 4 January 2007.

[iii] “Goulburn Murray Water warns against water theft.” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 19 March 2007.

[iv] “Deputy Mayor stole irrigation water.” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 4 May 2007.

[v] Royall, Ian. “Councillor caught out on water.” Melbourne Herald Sun, 4 May 2007

[vi] Bowden, Richard. “Premier Says He's ‘Not Surprised’ by News of Water Theft From Sports Club.” All Headline News, 12 April 2007.

[vii] Murray Irrigation Limited v ICW Pty Ltd and Meares Nominees Pty Ltd, New South Wales Land and Environment Court, NSWLEC 304, 17 June 2005.

[viii] Murray Irrigation Limited v ICW Pty Limited and Anor., New South Wales Land and Environment Court, NSWLEC 23, 20 January 2006.

[ix] Cullen, Peter. “Facing up to the Water Crisis in the Murray-Darling Basin.” Speech to the Brisbane Institute, Brisbane, 13 March 2007.

[x] National Newslist, AAP General News (Australia), 20 April 2007.

[xi] Donald, Peta. “No rain, no irrigation: Howard.” The World Today, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 19 April 2007.