A plan that oversees the management of land and water in the region was preparing for more market volatility and damaging climate extremes, according to the committee drafting it.
Chair of the Shepparton Irrigation Region People Planning and Integration Committee (SIRPPIC) Kelvin Bruce said the renewed plan would include built-in flexibility to accommodate increasing volatility.
“We are confronted with natural disasters, falling prices, skyrocketing costs, labour shortages and there’s barely a minute a catch our breath,” Mr Bruce said.
“It’s clear that as distinct from the last plan, which covered the decades between 1990 and 2020, we need to help prepare the region so it can absorb those shocks.”
Mr Bruce said in the renewed Shepparton Irrigation Region Land and Water Management Plan there would be a greater emphasis on climate change, First Nations involvement and community resilience.
“In years gone by we had more time to adjust to change and prepare for the outcome of that change. There’s no lag time anymore.
“Just in the last few years we’ve had bushfire, drought, floods, global pandemic and the list goes on.”
Carl Walters from the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority said the updated plan would be significantly different from the 1990-2020 version.
“I see our role changing from responding to crises to providing information so that industries and communities can feel more prepared.
“For example, right now there is a crisis in the Middle East and we need to think about what that means for our region.
“Fuel prices may go up even further and we need to consider what impact that has on industry and the community more widely.”
He said the Shepparton Irrigation Region was at the mercy of fluctuations of a global market.
“We need to make sure there’s enough reserves in our system to cope with the constant shocks so that we have some control of our future.”
The plan is due for public consultation early next year.
Sustainable Landscapes Manager Carl Walters
SIRPPIC Chair Kelvin Bruce