After a number of delays, the Murray Darling Basin Authority is expected to release their Draft Plan for the Basin on the 28th of November 2011.
Conservation Council SA Chief Executive Tim Kelly said, "Restoring and protecting the Murray-Darling Basin system to be managed sustainably for current and future generations as well as the environment is an absolute necessity. We must ensure that Plan aligns with the best available science".
Professor Diane Bell, Chair of the Water Committee at Conservation Council SA, "Our position has been clear and consistent. We are seeking a Plan that is based on sound, peer-reviewed science and we are yet to see the science on which the MDBA has relied in settling on a figure of 2800 GL. We have been calling on the MDBA to model for 4000 GL, a figure for which we do have peer-reviewed science and in which we can have some confidence. But even the 4000 GL figure entails a degree of risk for the health of the river system and thus all who rely on the Basin."On the 17th of November CCSA, along with other members of the Lifeblood Alliance, a diverse groups of NGOs advocating for a healthy river as the basis of healthy communities, were briefed in Canberra by members of MDBA.
This meeting of one of a series of briefings to peak groups being conducted as part of the "consultation" in the lead up to the release of the Draft and in fulfilment of the statement from the Chair of the Authority, Craig Knowles, that there will be no "surprises."
Craig Knowles has been clear that the Draft Plan is the beginning of a journey and in his Youtube presentation and in various briefings and interviews has focused on
2800 GL as the figure the MDBA has been modelling.
Professor Bell said, "The concern of those who live at "the bottom of the system" is that there needs to be sufficient water to flush the 2 million tonnes of salt that accumulate each year from the Basin out through the Murray Mouth"
"An open Murray Mouth is an indicator of the health of the whole system. If the Plan can deliver health to Lake Alexandrina, Lake Albert, the Murray Mouth and the Coorong, it will have delivered health to upstream communities also.
"If the MDBA is confident that the 2800 GL is a proper starting point, then we would urge them to accept the proposal that there be an Independent Review the science on which the MDBA has relied.
"We are not satisfied that the impact of climate change has been adequately modelled.
"We are seeking clarity of the nature of the "constraints" being applied to the modelling.
"In terms of "surprises" we are dismayed that in the month of the release of the Draft Plan, we have learned of the massive increase in allocation of groundwater.
"We have been consistent and clear in our call for a Plan that will restore our River to health and will provide a sound basis for our communities into the future"
Release Ends
For further information on the Blueprint for a Sustainable Future go to:
http://www.conservationsa.org.au/blueprint.html
For additional media information or to arrange an interview please contact
Professor Diane Bell on 0427 554 194 or Noriko Wynn, Policy and Communications Officer on 0411 028 930
