The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists is an independent group of Australian scientists concerned with advancing solutions to secure the long term health of Australia’s land, water and biodiversity.
Since coming together in 2002, the Wentworth Group has been the catalyst for a series of groundbreaking land and water reforms across Australia, and strongly disagrees with the way the Basin plan is progressing.
“As it stands, the Australian Parliament should reject this plan,” states the Wentworth Group.
“Over the past four years significant progress has been made in the understanding and modelling of the Murray-Darling Basin river systems and the volumes of water required for a healthy working river system. Progress has also been made in understanding the social and economic costs resulting from changes in the use of water in the basin.”
According to the Wentworth Group this good work has not been capitalised on by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in the development of the draft plan resulting in a plan that inadequate.
“The Murray-Darling Basin Authority ignores much of the good work and has instead produced a draft plan that manipulates science in an attempt to engineer a pre-determined political outcome.”
The report goes on to say that the Commonwealth Government should stop the process, and instruct the Authority to withdraw the draft plan. There is also the comment that the proposal for a 2015 review should be abandoned and instead the necessary time should be taken to include the science and social science now.
The report also strongly suggests the government should suspend the current infrastructure grants and water buyback programs, and establish a genuine reform that is aimed at delivering water reform.
“It is far better to delay this plan now, rather than introduce a flawed plan to parliament that will lead to the worst possible outcome which is ongoing uncertainty for communities,” states the report.
According to the Wentworth Group, without the release of any new independently reviewed scientific information, the Guide to the Basin Plan released by the Authority in 2010 still represents the best publicly available science to establish what is needed to restore the Basin to good health. The Group believes the plan does not deal with the fundamental bio-physical needs of the system, and also argues the case for inclusion of the economic impacts of the Basin people.
The scientists believe Australia has achieved great reforms in the past. “Surely it is not beyond the capability of this country, with all our wealth and knowledge, to produce a plan that restores the health of our inland river systems and does this in a way that still maintains a productive economy in the Basin.”
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