The Murray Darling Basin Authority has released its proposed Basin Plan, which outlines the future for water and environmental assets in the area.
The release of the draft begins a 20-week consultation process allowing communities provide feedback.
The Basin Plan states how much water is needed to ensure healthy rivers within the Murray-Darling Basin, how much water needs to be returned to the Basin to achieve this, and how much water can be sustainably withdrawn by towns, cities and food and fibre producers.
Residents in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT are all directly affected by the Basin Plan. Residents in the other states and territory will be affected indirectly as consumers.
More information is available at http://www.mdba.gov.au/draft-basin-plan
You can read the draft legislation here.
And a plain English guide is available here.
