Working on solutions

Murray Regional Strategy Group was formed in 2018 amid calls for our region to have a more united voice on water issues.

The benefits of this unity that has built up over ensuing years were on show during a delegation to Sydney this month.

I was honoured to join Murray Irrigation and Southern Riverina Irrigators on this delegation for two days of meetings with many of our state’s key decision-makers.

We delivered core messages around the impacts of water reform on our region, and importantly presented solutions that can help provide a more balanced approach to sharing our precious resource to achieve both environmental and productive outcomes.

For more than 18 months MRSG has worked on and advocated for the NSW Murray Adaptive Road Map, which complements and was presented alongside MIL’s Murray Reconnected Floodplains.

The aim of both projects is to put locals in the driver’s seat to deliver environmental water more efficiently where it is needed, improve ecological benefits and give landholders protection from third party flooding impacts.

Over the past nine months MRSG has hosted workshops with senior personnel from organisations including the Murray Darling Basin Authority, Comonwealth Environmental Water Holder and NSW Department of Primary Industries and Environment, where positive discussions aimed at developing solutions to issues with Basin Plan implementation have taken place.

We remain committed to working with all political parties and government representatives to build a future for our communities, and promoting our view that the environment and food production must rise above politics.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Murray Irrigation for its efforts in organising last week’s meetings, and also Member for Albury Justin Clancy who hosted the delegation and showed strong knowledge of water related issues.

Yours etc.

Geoff Moar

Chair, Murray Regional Strategy Group