mmg.com.au

The NSW Government realises the dangers in the draft Murray Darling Basin Plan and supports local communities.

That is the impression Riverina and Murray Regional Organisation of Councils (RAMROC) chairman Terry Hogan took away from a meeting with several government ministers and officials in Finley on Thursday.

NSW Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson, Deputy Government Whip Rick Colless, Parliamentary Secretary for Natural Resources Troy Grant, Member for Murray-Darling John Williams and NSW Water Commissioner David Harriss attended a stakeholder meeting on the draft plan with about 30 people at the Finley RS Club.

Cr Hogan, who is also Jerilderie Shire Mayor, was upbeat after the meeting.

‘‘(NSW Government ministers) were certainly very positive about supporting our communities and realising the enormous damage that the 2750 gigalitres can and will do to our communities if the current draft plan is enacted,’’ he said.

‘‘I was very much heartened by the commissioner, David Harriss, and what he had to say.

‘‘They’re very much on the same wavelength as we are as a community; (they) have the same overall concerns that we have been echoing for a long time.’’

Cr Hogan said local concerns were ‘‘many and varied’’, and included the lack of an environmental watering plan and third party impacts such as flooding.

‘‘When the Murray Darling Basin Authority lets an environmental flow, for instance, go down our rivers and we get a very serious storm and rainfall event on top of that - the local flooding will be horrendous.’’

However, Cr Hogan said the (NSW) government made no promises to oppose or change the plan.

‘‘They’re still waiting for the communities across NSW to have input,’’ he said.

The NSW ministers visited Blighty farmer Malcolm Holm’s property following the Finley meeting.

The state visit coincided with Federal Water Minister Tony Burke’s regional tour on Wednesday and Thursday.

Southern Riverina Irrigators’ chairman Ted Hatty attended the tour of Mr Holm’s property with the ministers. He also joined Mr Burke at a Deniliquin farm on Thursday.

Mr Hatty said the NSW Government was ‘‘very concerned’’ about the draft plan.

He also said a main message of the day was that the basin plan needed justification.

‘‘The Federal Government have no justification for the large amount of water they certainly plan to procure, ’’ he said.

‘‘They have no idea what they’re planning to do with the water they have and they really haven’t worked out what impacts (could occur).’’

Mr Hatty said constraints in delivering the environmental water were also raised with Ms Hodgkinson.

‘‘The state is very aware of the delivery constraints in the river system, ’’ Mr Hatty said.

The draft basin plan proposes diverting 2750 gigalitres of productive water to the environment, with local stakeholders warning of severe negative social and economic impacts if this occurs.

The NSW Government is conducting consultation on the draft plan as it forms its own submission for the MDBA.

Ms Hodgkinson’s visit was part of a week-long tour of the Murray-Darling region.

‘‘The lack of Commonwealth Government community consultation on the proposed plan is just unfair, which is why this tour has been a priority for me, ’’ Ms Hodgkinson said.

The NSW Government is expected to make a submission to the MDBA by the April 16 deadline.