The Dubbo Field Naturalists and Conservation Society and Macquarie River Food and Fibre (MRFF) have helped generate a flood of submissions on proposed changes to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
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More than 2300 submissions were received by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) from organisations and individuals.
Published submissions can be found at www.mdba.gov.au/basin-plan-roll-out/basin-plan-amendments.
Organisations that made submissions include the Bourke Community Mob, the Macquarie Marshes Environmental Landholders Association, the Narromine Economic Development Group, the Wilcannia Community Tourism Association, Coonamble Shire Council and Orana Regional Organisation of Councils.
An average of 177 submissions were received weekly by the MDBA across 13 weeks of consultation ending Friday.
In the northern basin the MDBA is proposing to reduce the water recovery target from 390 gigalites (GL) to 320 gigalitres.
The Macquarie-Castlereagh catchment area’s current target of 65 Gl would fall to 55 GL.
MRFF, representing irrigators in the valley, has been among the more vocal stakeholders during the consultation period, launching the Macquarie Matters campaign and welcoming the MDBA’s recognition of “over-recovery” in the valley.
For reasons including the 80 per cent of water in the Macquarie River set aside for the environment, it is calling for a target of 20 GL as originally proposed in Guide to the Basin Plan documentation.
It maintains that “inadequate consideration” has been given to the social and economic impacts of water recovery to rural communities.
The Dubbo Field Naturalists and Conservation Society’s submission reports that “there is no justification for removal of water from the environment” given depleted native fish populations in the river, “ongoing concerns” about the state of the Macquarie Marshes and survey information on waterbirds.
The Macquarie Marshes Enviromental Landholders Association’s submission aims to “clarify the importance of maintaining programs such as the buy-back for both environmental and economic purposes”.
“The current and future value of the beef cattle industry in the Macquarie Marshes is vital to the survival (of) Marsh landholders and our local communities as well as having an important role in wider regional economies,” it concludes.
MDBA chief executive Phillip Glyde has acknowledged “strong public interest” in the basin plan amendment process.
“The submissions covered a range of views, from those who felt strongly that the current water recovery settings should be retained or enhanced, through to those who advocated for no more water recovery,” he said.
“We are assessing the submissions we’ve received to see if there is any new information presented, or if the submissions demonstrate a need to change the proposal we put forward.
“The next steps, after submissions have been considered, involve consulting with the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council and considering their feedback before a final recommendation is provided to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources for his consideration.”
