10 point plan to fix the Murray Darling Basin

The Victorian Farmers Federation have a leading role in advocating for an appropriate response to the pending water crisis on behalf of irrigators. To that end, they have prepared a ten point plan on how they see things should change. Simply put, these are:

  1. Simplify the laws
  2. Stop water recovery in the Southern Basin
  3. Stop water buybacks
  4. No water recovery after 2024
  5. Build Lock Zero
  6. Scrap the 450GL
  7. No flooding of private property
  8. Clean up the Northern Basin
  9. A market that works for all irrigators
  10. Re-structure the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA)

While their plan is dedicated to serve the needs of irrigators, it is likely to meet resistance when put to those whose primary interests are the environment and who see the ecosystem of the Murray Darling Basin, including salinity, erosion, blue-green algal blooms, water quality, and invasive species as being equally important. Climate change and resultant possible increases in drought pose a significant risk to the availability of surface water in the Murray Darling Basin for but purposes.