MDBA ADMITS “PEVERSE OUTCOMES” FOR NORTH EAST
20-October-2010
MDBA ADMITS “PEVERSE OUTCOMES” FOR NORTH EAST
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
As the Government continues to duck questions about the local impacts of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, the CEO of the MDBA has made the startling admission that the proposal for the Ovens catchment is a “perverse outcome”.
“The admission by Mr Freeman that the North East faces ‘perverse outcomes’ proves that the Government must go back to the drawing board,” Said Sophie Mirabella MP – Federal Member for Indi.
The claims by Mr Freeman – CEO of the MDBA, came during a Senate Estimates hearing in Parliament yesterday when the Authority was questioned extensively about the impacts of the guide plan on the Ovens River system and surrounding North East catchments.
“Some of the admissions by the Authority are quite frightening. Not only was there acknowledgement that Ovens irrigators could lose up to 71% of their irrigation entitlement, but there was also an assertion that town supply could be restricted and areas like Wangaratta and Myrtleford could be forced to drink recycled water.
When asked to clarify, Mr Freeman noted that some community water systems “need to be reviewed because of the potential for alternative sources in those townships, through reuse”.
Mrs Mirabella has questioned which townships would be subjected to recycled water.
“Are all townships going to be subjected to drinking recycled water? Are all townships across the basin going to have their supply restricted, or are these ideas just being considered for the North East?
“Ovens irrigators are facing devastating cuts of up to 71%, towns along the Ovens system from Myrtleford to Wangaratta could have their town supply restricted and all of this, just to return a measly 10GL to the Basin.
“The more we reveal about the impacts of this plan, the worse it gets. It’s a dog of a plan,” Mrs Mirabella concluded.
*ends*