Murray's lower lakes 'still at risk'

(AAP) - The lower lakes of the River Murray will become an environmental, economic and social disaster, key stakeholders say.

Opposition is growing to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreement on Thursday to help save the river system, with concern centred on the lower reaches of the ailing river system.

The Greens, irrigators and local councils say the deal has failed to deliver an
emergency water rescue package vital for the region's future.
State and federal governments on Thursday agreed to hand control of the parched
Murray-Darling Basin to a national body and commit $3.7 billion for water efficiency projects.

Federal Water Minister Penny Wong is defending the plan, despite no immediate
measures to release water upstream, particularly from the Menindee Lakes near Broken Hill.

"There is no silver bullet when it comes to the River Murray," Senator Wong told
reporters in Adelaide.

"The fact is there simply isn't enough water at the moment for us to do everything
that we wish."
But the Alexandrina Council, near the Murray mouth in South Australia, said the COAG
agreement meant nothing if urgent steps were not also taken to save the lower lakes.

"This was a chance for premiers and the prime minister to immediately purchase and
release 250 gigalitres to save the lower Murray," said Alexandrina Mayor Kym McHugh.
"Instead, they stuck to dry arguments and consigned the parched mouth and lower
lakes region to environmental, economic and social disaster.
"The water is available in the Menindee Lakes and in huge private storages upstream.
"All the politicians need to do is find the will and spend the money to save the Murray."

The council's argument was backed by independent Senator Nick Xenophon and River
Murray irrigators in SA, the senator calling on the federal government to use its
constitutional powers to release water.

He said the Commonwealth should override NSW control of the Menindee Lakes to
release up to 300 gigalitres. He planned to introduce a bill to parliament to that
effect in August.

"It's clear that the Commonwealth has a whole raft of powers available to it to
regulate the river system for the good of the nation rather than the good of the
states," he said.

South Australian Murray Irrigators chairman Tim Whetstone said he believed the
Menindee Lakes were holding 550 gigalitres, and 100 gigalitres could be moved to SA
without jeopardising the water needs of Broken Hill or the lower Darling irrigators.

"We have a rare opportunity to use excess water from Menindee before it is lost to
evaporation," he said.
Mr Whetstone welcomed COAG's efforts to provide a long-term plan to save the Murray
but said urgent action was missing.
It was like decorating the Christmas tree without putting presents underneath, he said.

"We need solutions now so the Murray and its communities survive long enough to
benefit from the measures outlined in yesterday's agreement," Mr Whetstone said.

Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said the COAG ministers should be ashamed of the
decisions they made.

"There was more money committed for infrastructure, but no more money committed to
buying water and no moves to speed up the purchase of water," she said.
Senator Siewert accused the Rudd government of following the former Howard
government's line of "simply praying for rain".
"These handfuls of governments, both the state and federal governments, I think in
the future will be known as the governments that ultimately let the river down."

Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said the agreement over the Murray Darling basin
was nothing more than a "plan for a plan" which would allow the Coorong and lower
lakes to die.
"We don't see that there's been any significant move, other than to announce money
that had already been allocated under the Murray Darling Basin plan in the $10
billion package that had been announced by John Howard last year," Mr Nelson told
reporters in Sydney.
"Essentially it was Mr Rudd and the premiers announcing that they had a plan for a
plan."