Fair Water Use is surprised and disappointed by comments from Andrew Gregson, CEO of the NSW Irrigators Council, which disparage the ability of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to design a “sensible” Basin Plan.

Mr Gregson appears out of step with the increasing section of the irrigation community which acknowledges that what benefits the health of the Murray-Darling river system also benefits those seeking to make responsible long term use of its water.

 It is the previous actions of irresponsible State Governments, not the environmental lobby, that have placed undue pressure on Murray-Darling irrigators.

Respected research shows that, if consumptive use consistently reduces outflows from the mouth of a “working” river by more than one third below average pre-development volumes, there will be a progressive degradation in river health.

It is precisely this crisis of over-allocation that the Basin Plan must resolve. If Murray flows are as projected, 2010 will be the first year since 2002 that the river actually reaches the sea in the absence of dredging.

Fair Water Use urges Mr Gregson to rethink his comments, as a timid and ineffective Basin Plan, far from assisting his members, will only prolong the very anxiety and tension that he wishes resolved.