THE Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is calling for an independent umpire to scrutinise the new Murray-Darling Basin Plan with a single question in mind: does the plan keep the river healthy?
"The environmental flow volumes the plan talks about fail (both) the regions and the national interest," said ACF spokesman Paul Sinclair.
"We have a shared interest in getting a good assessment of the benefits and costs of returning more water to the river system, which the (Murray-Darling Basin) Authority hasn't done."
"We're keen on (Water Minister) Tony Burke establishing an independent assessment of the work done by the Authority, to test a simple question: does the plan deliver on its requirement to to ensure a healthy Murray-Darling river system?"
While CSIRO has undertaken a review of the latest plan, the ACF argued this question wasn't in CSIRO's terms of reference.
"We should be trying to find a result that gives us a healthy river system on which to build healthy communities," said Mr Sinclair.
"Tony Burke needs to listen to other voices in the community, particularly in South Australia, where they have the most to lose from this plan."
"He needs to present a plan next year that provides us with a good chance of flushing two million tonnes of salt from the Murray mouth.
"No-one wins from having that salt accumulating in the landscape.
"We need an independent authority to say 'this is what the river systems needs'. Then people can form their own judgements about what is fair or not fair."
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