Environment groups have described the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan as a monumental failure for the rivers and the communities which depend on them.
Environment groups have scored the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan against 10 key tests which the Plan should meet to ensure the long-term health of rivers and communities (see below).
"The draft Basin Plan released today is a tragic failure for the rivers, wetlands, towns and communities of the Murray-Darling Basin," said Jonathan La Nauze, Murray-Darling campaigner with Friends of the Earth.
"The Plan has failed to meet any of the 10 key tests that we have identified as necessary to return the system to health. We thoroughly reject the draft Basin Plan in its current form - the Murray Darling Basin Authority has run up the white flag and given up on the river," he said.
"National water reform in this country is going off the rails and drastic action will be required now by the Federal Government to get it back on track," said Chris Daley, campaigner with The Wilderness Society Sydney.
"Here on the driest inhabited continent on earth the outcome of this reform will be pivotal to the future of the nation. Our long-term well-being depends on getting this right" he said.
"This will be a very expensive failure for the Australian taxpayer - $8.9 billion has been allocated to return the rivers to health and it will be a scandalous waste of money if that is not achieved," said Ian Douglas, Fair Water Use Australia.
"The most successful and cost-effective measure to return environmental flows to date has been voluntary water buybacks but these are now going to be put on ice according to announcements made by the Federal Environment Minister last week," he said.
"This Plan fails the environment - it will not stop salt building up and destroying the Coorong and Lower Lakes, it will not prevent the deaths of our iconic River Red Gum forests, it will not restore waterbirds or native fish populations," said Pepe Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
"The Plan also fails our communities - it will not provide good quality drinking water, it will not secure food production by floodplain graziers, it puts fishing and tourism industries at risk, and it will not ensure that Indigenous communities can continue cultural practices," he said.
Joint Media Release: Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Inland Rivers Network, Friends of the Earth
Central West Environment Council, Fair Water Use Australia, National Parks Association of NSW and
The Wilderness Society Sydney.
