14 Results

Climate change and the Murray-Darling Basin plan are two of the most divisive environmental issues in Australia. They are also two of the most important. But what does the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) plan to do about climate change in its Murray-Darling Basin plan?

As 20 weeks of consultations on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan draft end — and just 12 hours remain for public submissions — it’s worth examining just how effective the latest lot of public meetings by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority have proved to be.

After 20 years of water reform and 12 months of good rainfall, irrigators have never been better placed to deal with the adjustments necessary to restore the Murray-Darling to health.

John Hunwick, environmental educator and activist, writes: I have no special expertise on the condition of the Murray-Darling Basin. My lifelong interest has been in understanding ecology and how that understanding becomes part of the community’s understanding of how our environment works. Inevitably, living in South Australia I have been made aware of every “advance” made [...]

Craig Knowles, chair of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, writes: Last week, we kicked off our first public meetings after the release of the draft basin plan. I say this because we have been consulting with communities, individuals and representative groups since February. The formal part of the public consultation started in St. George, Queensland and [...]

Murray Murmurings is back! During last year’s public consultations of the guide to the draft of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, Crikey’s environment blog Rooted published a series of articles from different interested parties — farmers, lobby groups, environmentalists. Now the draft plan’s been finally released (head here for an overview of it), we’re doing it [...]

After a turbulent year, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority today released the draft of the $10 billion Murray-Darling Basin Plan which is aimed at restoring the health of Australia’s most important river system. And it seems neither irrigators nor scientists are happy with the latest inclination of the Plan.

The Windsor Inquiry into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan handed down its results last week, calling for greater community engagement in creating the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. But the government has already dismissed one key aspect of the inquiry and researchers are questioning the inquiry’s anti-buyback and pro-community engagement stance as the best way to establish a [...]

The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists declaring it won’t be involved in a “fundamentally flawed process” after new modelling dramatically decreased the minimum level of water to be returned to the river.

It’s rough waters for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan right now, with news that the federal and state water ministers have pushed the Plan back to early 2012. The meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council — federal Water Minister Tony Burke met with the Victorian, NSW, ACT and SA water ministers in Albury on Friday, [...]