Karlene Maywald: Absurd to think of axing Basin Plan
Threats from the New South Welsh to tear up the Murray Darling Basin Plan is exactly the sort of selfish thinking that put our river systems in crisis in the first place, writes Karlene Maywald.
Opinion
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The Basin Plan is just what is needed to survive beyond the current crisis.
It is absurd that some in NSW are advocating for the plan to be scrapped.
This would create a whole new level of uncertainty for farmers and not one drop of additional water. It is also absurd to suggest that South Australia is the cause of all the woes in NSW.
This is the type of short-term thinking that led to the over-allocation of waters in the first place, with successive state governments allocating more water for consumption than the system could sustain.
There is no doubt farmers need support when drought hits but further over-exploiting the environment on which we all depend seems irrational.
While NSW may have legal advice that says it is able to pull out of the plan, an analysis of the financial and flow-on consequences would hopefully suggest that any sensible government would not do it. If the barrages were removed and Lock Zero built, it would be extremely unlikely that any freshwater would ever make it to the Coorong.
To remain healthy, the Coorong needs both fresh and sea water. We do that now by dredging to keep the mouth open for seawater connectivity to the Coorong, and freshwater surges over the barrages when the tidal conditions are right. Removing the barrages would provide only half of the equation necessary to return the Lower Lakes to their pre-irrigation state. If the barrages are removed without reintroducing significant freshwater flows, the result would be an increase in salinity well above sea level from the salt deposited by the river, evaporation and seawater incursion.
Ms Maywald is a former SA River Murray Minister and one-time chair of the National Water Commission