Release of Murray Darling Basin Draft Plan pleases few

THE release this week of the Murray Darling Basin Authority's Draft Basin Plan signalled the start of a 20-week formal consultation period.

In the wake of the Draft Plan's release came much criticism from all sectors, with conservation groups saying the plan doesn't go far enough to ensure the future environmental health of the Murray Darling system. Irrigators on the whole are far from happy with their water allocations.

Conservation groups are angry that the draft plan recommends the reservation of an extra 2750 gigalitres of water to improve river flows, rather than the 4000 gigalitres they were pushing for. The plan also allows for this figure to go even lower if environmental gains can be shown to be possible with lower water flows.

From 5 to 16 December 2011 there will be public meetings at:

St George (7 December)
Murray Bridge (9 December)
Shepparton (13 December)
Griffith (15 December)
Deniliquin (16 December).

In 2012 there will be meetings in Goondiwindi, Mildura, Renmark and Swan Hill. There will also be smaller meetings in those towns as well as in a range of other places such as Hay, Albury, Wodonga, and Narrabri.

The relevant documents can be accessed at: http://mdba.gov.au.