More water rights in the Murray-Darling Basin will be purchased from farmers and irrigators in a renewed push by the federal government to return 450 gigalitres of water to the environment.
Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the government will purchase an extra 130GL of water — roughly equivalent to 52,000 Olympic swimming pools — through voluntary buybacks in the southern basin.
He made the unexpected announcement at a summit about the basin in Adelaide on Wednesday, telling the crowd, "we're further behind than we should be" in implementing the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
"Water recovery effectively stalled under the previous Coalition government, equating to a decade o
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