No water will be allocated to irrigators in the Murray-Darling basin for the coming year unless there is substantial rain in the next six weeks, Prime Minister John Howard said today.
Mr Howard today described the situation as "unprecedentedly dangerous", following a report of state and federal officials that examined water availability in the Murray-Darling system.
"Unless there are very substantial inflows - and for that read heavy rain leading to runoff into the catchment areas - prior to mid-May 2007, there will be insufficient water available to allow any allocation at the commencement of the 2007-08 water year for irrigation, the environment or for any purposes other than critical urban supplies," he said.
"If it doesn't rain in sufficient volume over the next six to eight weeks, there will be no water allocations for irrigation purposes in the basin."
Urban supplies not at risk
Mr Howard stressed urban water supplies were not at risk.
It would also be possible for some farmers, particularly those with riverside properties, to draw water for their own personal need but not for their stock, Mr Howard said.
He said all the farmers were receiving support under the government's Exceptional Circumstances (EC) drought assistance program.
"I will be urgently examining what additional assistance might be appropriate at a Commonwealth level,'' he said.
Mr Howard said he was consulting states on releasing the report which contains some commercial-in-confidence material.
"This underlines the critical situation that we face if there is no significant rainfall over the next few weeks,'' he said.
"Even if there is significant rainfall, and that of course is very much in the lap of the gods ... it may not be possible until late July or well into August to determine whether that rainfall has been adequate, sufficient enough to allow some allocations to be made for irrigation purposes.''
Critical for irrigation businesses
Mr Howard warned the irrigation industries would be in a critical condition unless there was substantial rainfall.
"You are simply not going to have enough water, consistent with the obligation to supply critical human needs to town communities along the river system, you are not going to have enough water to provide any allocation for agriculture,'' Mr Howard said.
"The impact that this is going to have on industry, on the horticultural industry and crops like grapes and stone fruits and other primary industries that rely on irrigation including the dairy industry, is very critical indeed.''
Mr Howard said it was too early to start trying to calculate the impact a continuation of the drought would have on economic growth.
"We know already that the drought has taken up to three-quarters to one per cent of our growth. The longer it goes on the harder the impact,'' Mr Howard said.
"These are just stark facts. I'm not gilding the lilly. I wish I had another story. I would like to be talking optimistically about the drought, rather than relaying this kind of story.''
Mr Howard said there would be no irrigation for grapes and stone fruit crops if the drought continued and that there was no guarantee of carryover water.
