Not a drop to spare: NSW Government needs to take a second look at water allocations - 19 September 2008

Greens MP and water spokesperson Ian Cohen wants the New South Wales Department of Water and Energy to take a second look at providing environmental flows to the Murray Darling Lower Lakes.

“On Monday, new Water Minister Phillip Costa announced significant increased water allocation for high security license holders in the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys. By Thursday, the Minister was telling the Commonwealth Senate Inquiry into South Australia’s Coorong and Lower Lakes region that NSW does not have a drop to spare,” says Mr Cohen.

“I refuse to believe that our State cannot provide a helping hand to our South Australian counterparts. The Minister has to make tough decisions and more equitably balance his duty to NSW with the impending environmental catastrophe and ecosystem collapse in the Lower Lakes region.

“The increased access to water entitlements in the Murray and Murrumbidgee Valleys is a clear indication that inflows have been improved and that water could be made available for environmental flows.”

“Taking into account the irreversible ramifications for the Ramsar-listed Lower Murray Lakes, NSW cannot afford to maintain a business as usual approach to water allocations. The Minister should be going to the ends of the earth to make available environmental flows to the internationally significant Lower Lakes.”

“The NSW Government must evaluate the potential acquisition of water entitlements from the southern Murray system and prioritise further permanent water entitlement purchases from Darling Farms.”

“All governments need to accelerate their response to saving the Lower Lakes. With the benefit of hindsight, had we prioritised key property and water entitlements acquisition during Nathan Rees term in the water portfolio, before the summer rains, we may have avoided the scale of the challenge before us. What legacy will we leave if we fail to act now?”