The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and the Australian Government are now in the final stages of completing the Basin Plan, with submissions having closed in mid-April. Unfortunately, politics, parochialism and prejudice risk the adoption of a plan that is critical to the future health of this nationally significant river system. Over 60 scientists have signed a submission criticising the Draft Plan for only meeting some of the targets, saying it is not clear why all targets should not be met . They, quite rightly, questioned groundwater extractions underwriting surface water use, and climate change scenarios not being included. But their call for better definitions of the links between hydrology and ecology seems disingenuous, as many of those links are ill defined and are likely to be for decades. The South Australian Government also says the Plan is not providing sufficient water for the environment. Conversely, the New South Wales and Victorian Governments in their submissions.
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