The plan for the Murray Darling basin was leaked to media outlets this week (pun intended). It was reported that irrigators could face cuts of 27 - 37% in water allocations as part of a Government buyback intended to increase environmental flows and water supply to the lower Murray.

It's no surprise that the Government is wanting to move on repurchase of water rights now. Supply is at its highest level for 10 years and the price of irrigation water has dropped dramatically. They will get a lot more value for taxpayers money than when they entered the market a couple of years ago.

So now add the Government to city water demand and horticulturalists bidding the price of water back above the cost / value equation for export milk production. (Xcheque Blog, 17 Sep 2010 "The changing nature of Australian milk production - part 1")