Hurry Save The Murray!

Environmental groups - the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG), the Conservation Council of South Australia and the Wilderness Society - along a number of individuals who have been invited to meet with the Hon. Craig Knowles, Chair, MDBA, in Adelaide, on 6 June, 2011, have prepared an agreed position to guide the meeting.

The invitation to the meeting, received 2 June, stated,  ‘Craig will provide an update on how the proposed Basin Plan is developing and where the current thinking is leading. He is especially keen to receive feedback on this thinking and how it may relate to local issues. There is no fixed agenda – it is an informal gathering’.

In order that the precious 45 minutes allocated to the meeting with the MDBA  be as productive as possible, the undersigned have developed the following document.

Points for Consideration by the Hon. Craig Knowles, Chair, MDBA Meeting: 6 June, 2011: Adelaide, National Wine Centre, Ferguson and Broughton Rooms, 1pm – 1.45pm

Without a healthy river, there are no healthy communities

Concerned Environmental Groups ask:

1. Science: A defensible MDB Plan must be informed by rigorous science. We ask for an independent review of the science supporting the Plan and for that review to be made public.

2. A Defensible Plan: Justice delayed is justice denied. The River and communities cannot wait until 2019. We ask what does delay cost the river and future generations: What can be done to speed up the Plan.

3. End of System Flows: Science supports an end of system flow out the Murray Mouth as necessary to flush the 2 million tonnes of salts, nutrients and pollutants that are carried down the river system from other basin states each year. This figure is estimated to nearly double by 2050. Can the Authority ensure an end of system flow and that salinity targets in Lakes Albert and Alexandrina and the Coorong are an integral part of the Plan?

4. Defensible SDLs: 2800 GL is too low to be scientifically defensible. We ask the MDBA to model all scenarios up to and including 7,600GL (across different climate change scenarios) against the requirements of the Water Act 2007 and for compliance with Australia’s obligations under International Conventions such as Ramsar.

5. Buy-backs versus Woks and Measures: Buy‐backs deliver water more efficiently than engineering solutions. Works and measures will not deliver environmental outcomes below Lock 1. Will the MBDA continue to advocate for buy‐back water to ensure the freshwater flows necessary for this outcome? Will the MDBA be ‘already on the way’ when the Plan is released?

6. Cultural flows differ from environmental flows: We ask that indigenous rights in cultural flows be respected and acknowledged as being integral to the Plan.

7. A Water Audit: We ask for a full water audit of all water, ground and surface, private and public, and accountability of metered water take from all water resources for all states.

8. Ground Water: The Plan needs to ensure conjunctive management of groundwater and other water resources as well as make allowance for climate change. The Plan should address connectivity with neighbouring catchments (e.g. Great Artesian Basin).

9. Sustainable Farming: The mild climate in the lower Murray region is conducive to quality food production. Quality water is imperative to produce that food sustainably. We ask for accountability in ensuring and monitoring water quantity and water quality to the Murray Mouth.

10. Engagement Strategies: The MDBA has been widely criticised for the way it has interacted with communities. How will the MDBA now proceed? What confidence can we have that those who failed to develop proper engagement strategies will now learn to engage? How will the success of engagement strategies be measured?

The ‘Points for Consideration’ are endorsed by

• Professor Diane Bell: Chair, RLCAG Inc; Finniss Catchment Group Member
• Shaun Berg: Lawyer
• Peter Croft: Former Director, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Projects
• Lesley Fischer: Meningie Narrung Lakes Irrigators Association
• Henry Jones: Commercial Fisherman, BCC Member
• Tim Kelly: Conservation Council of South Australia
• Dr. Kerri Muller, Principal, Kerri Muller, NRM
• Peter Owen: Wilderness Society
• Matt Rigney: Ngarrindjeri Elder, Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations, BCC Member
• Kathryn Rothe: Mannum to Wellington Local Action Planning Inc.
• Elizabeth Tregenza: Secretary, RLCAG, Finniss Catchment Group Member
• Julia Winfield: Conservation Council of South Australia