Wentworth report on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan condemned by Senator

A GROUP of eminent scientists say the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is set to fail — but an SA Senator has hit back, calling their report “mischievous”.

The Murray mouth would need dredging most years, according to a new report on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

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A REPORT claiming the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is set to fail is “mischievous”, Assistant Water Minister Anne Ruston says.

The South Australian Senator said the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, which released the report on Monday, were “just trying to stir a possum”.

The group argues that to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan “in full and on time”, serious changes are needed. They say water recovery has “stalled” and will no longer meet targets.

“Even when the 3200 (gigalitre per year) or equivalent outcomes is delivered in full, it will not be possible to achieve the Basin Plan target of maintaining an open Murray mouth in 95 per cent of years without continued dredging of the mouth, except during flood events,” the report says.

It outlines necessary actions including more transparency, better preparations for a future with less water, ensuring enough water gets to the Lower Lakes, the Coorong and the Murray Mouth to flush out salt, and guaranteeing that the full 3200GL of water is returned to the system.

“Rivers need water and ‘complementary measures’ such as carp herpes virus, are not a substitute for real water,” the report argues, referring to a plan to improve outcomes by killing the fish with herpes.

Senator Ruston said everyone involved was working together to deliver the necessary water without damaging irrigators and Murray Darling towns.

“I think (the report) is mischievous, in the sense that all jurisdictions are working so hard to get this plan landed with the best possible outcome for everyone,” she said.

In their report, the scientists say most water recovery was done even before the Plan was implemented, and the recovery effort has now “slowed to a trickle”, while also becoming more expensive to do.

“Without substantial changes, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan will fail,” the report concludes.

“Thirteen billion dollars of taxpayers’ money will be spent, communities will be hurt, industries will face ongoing uncertainty, and the river systems will continue to degrade.”

Some argue 3200GL is the least amount needed to keep the river system healthy. While that 3200 is a target, 450GL of it is considered “optional” by the Federal Government and there are provisions to reduce the target by another 650GL.

The National Farmers’ Federation said the scientist group needed a “dose of reality” and that the report was “full of inaccuracies and half-truths”.

“The Basin Plan has always had provisions for governments to adjust the target for water recovery if they could find better ways of doing things to achieve the same intended outcomes,” Vice President Les Gordon said, accusing them of “throwing hand grenades of mistruths”.