AS irrigators and politicians prepare for one of the biggest meetings in the history of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, two experts have added their perspective on the effectiveness of the plan’s implementation.
Local MP and Shadow Minister for Water and Agriculture Peter Walsh has confirmed he will attend today’s Murray-Darling Basin Plan meeting in Barham.
The former Victorian Water Minister will join Federal crossbench Senators John Madigan, Bob Day, David Leyonhjelm and Dio Wang and MPs Bob Katter and Sharman Stone in listening to local irrigators’ concerns with the plan.
Almost all Barham’s businesses are expected to shut down for the meeting, with around 1000 people expected to attend, according to event organiser and Benjeroop farmer Lindsay Schultz.
The Guardian invited academics to discuss the Basin Plan in the lead up to the meeting, which is being held at cluBarham from 1pm to 3pm today.
Dr Jonathan Sobels, senior research fellow of human geography at the University of South Australia, said the Basin Plan was designed to teach everyone on the river how to share, to correct historical problems with over-allocation and flow disruption.
Without proper environmental flows, Dr Sobels said, other communities downstream have felt social and economic impacts much worse than those experienced in the Riverina.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (July 8).
