Healthy Rivers

It’s time to get the Basin Plan back on track

 

We've joined conservation groups in QLD, NSW and Victoria to call on the federal government to revive our rivers by getting the plan back on track.


The Murray-Darling Basin Plan was meant to save our rivers by stopping too much water being taken away. But right from the start, powerful corporate irrigators lobbied to sabotage the plan to keep more water for themselves – and our governments buckled under the pressure.

Now, with just a few years left before the Basin Plan’s major deadlines, we’re nowhere near close to delivering the water our rivers, wetlands, turtles and birdlife need!

It’s not too late to save the Murray-Darling. But we need national leadership – and communities right across the Basin who are ready to speak up.

Will you add your voice, calling on federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek to commit to delivering the Basin Plan in full and on time? 

Alongside our allies in QLD, NSW and Victoria, we’ve launched a new joint vision to revive the rivers of the Murray-Darling so we can all share in the benefits of a living river. But the first step is getting the Basin Plan back on track. We’re calling on Minister Plibersek to:

  • Stand firm on the 2024 deadline in the Basin Plan
  • Commit to returning water quickly and responsibly, using methods we know work like buying water from willing sellers
  • Work out a genuine plan to let river water flow and reach the wetlands and floodplains that need it.

For the first time in nearly a decade, we have a federal government that’s said it’s committed to delivering the water our rivers need. And with recent consecutive La Niña events, wetlands and floodplain ecosystems are having a reprieve from years of drought and deprivation. This is a massive opportunity to revive our rivers to health. Let’s not waste it.

Dear Minister Plibersek,

November 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. 

This plan was meant to save our rivers by stopping too much water being taken away. But two years out from major deadlines in the plan, we’re nowhere near close to delivering the water our rivers, wetlands, turtles and birdlife need. 

We can’t waste another ten years. Taking longer to recover water for the environment increases the risk of fish kills, toxic algal blooms and mass tree deaths. While we are experiencing wet weather in a La Niña period now, the next drought is just around the corner. If we haven’t recovered enough water by then, the outcome could be catastrophic for our rivers and native wildlife.

After years of corruption, mismanagement and delays, we desperately need national leadership to get the Basin Plan back on track. People from right across the Basin in SA, QLD, NSW, and Victoria are asking you to: 

  1. Stand firm on the 2024 deadline in the Basin Plan
  2. Commit to returning water quickly and responsibly, using methods we know work like buying water from willing sellers
  3. Work out a genuine plan to let river water flow and reach the wetlands and floodplains that need it.

Your government has shown it’s prepared to step up to the challenge of delivering the Basin Plan in full and on time. With wetlands and floodplain ecosystems finally having a reprieve from years of drought and deprivation, this is a massive opportunity to revive our rivers to health. 

We’re counting on you not to waste this moment.

 

 

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Contact Conservation SA on (08) 8223 5155, [email protected], or at our offices at the Joinery at 111 Franklin Street, Adelaide.

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