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Draft Basin Plan fails to protect Murray-Darling
November 28, 2011
The draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan fails the river, regional communities and the national interest, because it doesn’t do enough to secure the future health of the Basin’s rivers, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.
“Anything less threatens the future of the river and the communities that rely on it.
“This draft plan fails the river, regional communities and our national interest, because it doesn’t do enough to flush the salt out through the Murray Mouth, revive dying wetlands and keep the country’s lifeblood – the Murray-Darling – flowing.
“There’s no future, and there are no jobs, on a dead river.
“Rivers die from the bottom up. South Australian communities will be hardest hit if the government fails to deliver an effective plan.
“The Basin Plan must serve the national interest — not just the interests of big irrigation industries and their lobby groups and financial backers.
“Water Minister Tony Burke should send this plan back to the Authority and instruct it to prepare one that will return enough water to give the Murray a good chance of returning to health and will detail how this can be achieved over the next decade.
“Minister Burke should instruct the Authority to assess the benefits of providing higher volumes of water – in the order of 4000–5000 gigalitres – to the river system.”
