Implications of water reforms for the national economy

A study conducted as part of a broader project to assess the regional impacts of water reforms in the Goulburn Broken catchments Vic aimed to estimate the real contribution of the irrigation sector to the Australian economy and the economic impacts of recent and future water reforms at the national level. The study used a modified version of an economy-wide general equilibrium modelling framework to quantify the sector's direct contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) and its indirect contribution in terms of economic linkages between the sector and other sectors of the economy. The results demonstrate that irrigation makes a substantial contribution to incomes and standards of living in terms of value adding under both accounting and economic approaches. The report also discusses the impact of water reforms to date, particularly water use efficiency (WUE) reforms and the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) cap, and identifies a range of future reforms that will enhance the irrigation sector's contribution to the national economy.