On 27 August 2008, the Senate referred water management in the Coorong and Lower Lakes for inquiry.
The inquiry will examine the volume of water which could be provided into the Murray-Darling system to replenish the Lower Lakes and Coorong, as well as options for sourcing and delivering this water. The implications for the long-term sustainable management of the Murray Darling Basin system and an Emergency Water (Murray-Darling Basin Rescue) Bill 2008 will also be examined by the inquiry. Since his first parliamentary speech in 1996, Senator Heffernan, has argued for the restructure and vertical integration of the Murray-Darling system, seeking to achieve a long-term solution to salinity and degradation issues which now cripple the once vibrant water system.
Senator Heffernan has spent the past week in Adelaide and Canberra sitting-in on the Public hearings of the Inquiry.
For further information regarding the inquiry please visit:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/rrat_ctte/lowerlakes_coorong/index.htm
