THE plan to save the Murray must ensure enough water makes it to the river's mouth, Greens leader Christine Milne says.
Senator Milne and her South Australian colleague Sarah Hanson-Young visited the lower lakes, south of Adelaide, today to speak with local farmers.She said the plan to save the river system needed to deliver enough water to ensure the health of the environment and to ensure farmers and communities could continue to survive.
"It means that people here need to have water that they can use and water that sustains the environment," Senator Milne said.
"Superficially it (the river) all looks like it's so much better than it was in the drought and at one level it is.
"But that isn't fixing the fundamental problems in the system."
The draft plan from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has proposed returning about 2750 gigalitres to the Murray for environmental flows.
The South Australian, NSW and Victorian governments have all opposed the plan, with NSW and Victoria arguing the amount of water is too high and SA saying it is too low.
Senator Milne said scientists had indicated that a minimum of 4000gl was needed to ensure the long-term health of the river.
"That is an evidence-based position and we will be arguing that very strongly with the federal government as this proceeds through the parliament," she said.
"We will be putting a very strong view to the government that we are not prepared to lock in failure.
"We're not prepared, for the sake of the nation, to see the Murray-Darling system die over time because of short-term compromises that fail to sustain the river and fail to sustain the communities that live along it.
"This plan has to sustain the Murray-Darling for decades to come."
