Progress made on Murray-Darling takeover - Australia/Environment
Siobhain Ryan & Rick Wallace; 8/3/08
The Murray-Darling states will be allowed to retain their powers to set yearly water allocations within their borders, removing a key stumbling block to Victoria’s acceptance of the $10 billion federal takeover of the system. At the first meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council since the Rudd Government took power, the commonwealth gave ground on the issue, while the states agreed to hand over other powers, clearing the way for the commission managing the basin to be wound up. Federal Water Minister Penny Wong lauded the meeting’s decisions as “real outcomes” that would move Australia towards a more co-operative approach to managing the basin.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23339095-5013404,00.html
Murray rescue plan feared too late
Andrew McGarry;8/3/08
The lower reaches of the great Murray River have been reduced to: a barren, wind-blown dustbowl that threatens to poison an internationally renowned wetlands area and possibly the river system itself. The impending ecological disaster has forced government intervention, with the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, meeting in Sydney yesterday, agreeing to a $6 million proposal to pump water from Lake Alexandrina to Lake Albert at the mouth of the Murray River to prevent soil acidification. Normal waterflow from Lake Alexandrina to Lake Albert is being restricted by silt build-up and there are fears more lake-bed exposure could boost acid levels.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23339097-5013404,00.html