Water, Rice, And The Advocacy Challenge

Les Gordon  from ARLP 2 would like to see more of his home base at Wakool, west of Deniliquin.

When Rural Leader caught up with Les, he was at the start of a marathon fortnight that would see him travelling – both flying and driving – at least twice to Canberra and Melbourne and throughout the Riverina and Sunraysia.

He acknowledges putting in anything up to 80,000 km a year on the road and many hours in planes and at airports in his various roles – notably as President of Rice Growers Australia (RGA), the peak body for 1200 growers centred round the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers. He says the fact that he still has a home life is due to an incredibly understanding family.

The irrigation area farmers, he says, are the most efficient rice growers in the world both in terms of their water footprint – measured in meals per megalitre – and output. They grow a temperate rice variety and hold a world record for yield, regularly averaging better than 10.5 tonnes per hectare. Recent drought has hit hard and Les reveals that in 2009 his 1700 ha property, which he works with his father and brother, produced its first rice crop in four years – but only a fraction of its normal area.

He’s also on the Basin Community Committee – a subgroup of the Murray Darling Basin Authority charged with the vexed task of formulating a Basin plan. The recent election forced release of the draft plan to one side with predictably outraged responses from regional irrigators.

Pulling a plan together was one of the requirements of the Commonwealth’s Water Act of 2007 and Les credits his experiences on ARLP Course 2 in the mid 1990s with negotiating the issue and laying the groundwork for his dealings with members of RGA, state and federal governments and bureaucracies.

 He observes how the Act has altered the natural resource management sphere. “Time was, resource management used to be consensus and programs based, but it now has to meet the requirements of the Act. It’s management by regulation and the only people to benefit from that may well be the lawyers - too much red tape”

He says the ARLP instilled in him the importance of understanding the people he deals with. “I play an anticipatory role – particularly as to how people react to decisions, and I think that all experiences are part of the learning process.”

Les and others in the industry revisited the leadership question when the Foundation designed and ran an Environmental Champions Development and Leadership Program for Rice Growers Australia in 2006. Twenty three participants including RGA executive members, growers and representatives from linked sectors, graduated. Les says the industry would benefit were the exercise to be repeated.

Part of the basin plan concerns the establishment of a sustainable diversion limit, which will weigh up the levels of irrigation water against that reserved for the natural environment. “The environment comes first in this equation and to achieve the limit will lead to a cutback in water available for irrigation and, therefore, a reduction in the irrigation footprint.

“We’re looking at an ongoing effort to recover water for the environment and that’s not going to be a popular process.”

Les has held the RGA Presidency for the past three years and says he’s not prepared to yet put a use-by date on the role. He enjoys excellent access at ministerial and senior bureaucrat level and says he believes it’s possible to deliver a vibrant, sustainable approach to irrigation in the region.

“It won’t be cheap though. Some less efficient irrigators may have to leave the industry to shrink the water footprint and there will always be the question of compensation to maintain their equity.

“I believe RGA has the answer to this. All the rhetoric in the world won’t achieve anything without a commitment to action at all levels.”

Les says that with a diverse group of stakeholders, extensive negotiation may not be enough and suggests that an independent body similar to the National Native Title Tribunal may be needed to negotiate a solution and hopefully avoid resorting to arbitration.

Breakout:

The Foundation designed and ran a Development and Leadership Program for Rice Growers Australia in 2006