The federal government has dramatically stepped up efforts to save the dying lakes at the mouth of Australia's biggest river system, agreeing to buy up water-hoarding properties and send the water downstream.
Federal cabinet today agreed to a suite of new measures in a last-gasp bid to save the Murray Darling's lower lakes from turning into acid or being flooded with seawater.
The government would try to buy out "appropriately located irrigation properties", Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said as he announced the new package in Adelaide.
The government will also try to buy out the water rights of entire irrigation communities in the drought ravaged basin.
It has fast-tracked spending on buying back water rights.
And it will commission an independent audit of the basin's water storages to make sure the numbers are correct.
But the cabinet, which met today in Adelaide, has conceded that the new measures might not be enough to save the lower lakes.
Cabinet has decided that if experts say it is necessary to flood the lower lakes with seawater, the government will consider the option.
The Murray-Darling stretches through Queensland, NSW and Victoria before coming out at South Australia's lower lakes.
The basin is so dry that the lower lakes, which are freshwater, are turning acidic.
There are two ways to save them: sending more freshwater downstream, or letting in the seawater, which would significantly change the lakes' ecology.
Mr Rudd said he was trying to save the lower lakes, but warned it might not be possible.
"I don't want to say there is a magic solution here ... I am not going to provide false promises, I am not going to provide false guarantees about there being some simple solution," he said.
"I am trying to turn around a situation which has evolved over many, many years ... and we are dealing with the real consequences of climate change."
Today's announcements signal a change in direction by the federal government.
It had previously focused on a $3.1 billion buyback of individual irrigators' water rights.
Water Minister Penny Wong recently said there was not enough water in upstream water storages to save the lower lakes.
But now the government will try to buy properties outright - particularly in the northern reaches of the basin - and also buy out the rights of entire irrigation communities.
It has picked up the pace of water buybacks, and caved in to demands for verification of the Murray Darling Basin Commission's numbers on water storages.
"There's been some challenge to the accuracy of the Murray-Darling Commission numbers," Mr Rudd said.
"We will commission one of the independent accounting houses of the world to separately and independently audit the accuracy of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission's numbers."
Greens water spokeswoman Rachel Siewert said today's changes were missing one vital reform: the government should consider compulsorily buying out irrigators' water rights and allocations.
Senator Siewert said the focus should be on buying water that actually exists, as opposed to water rights which are buying zero allocations in dry times.
Coalition water spokesman John Cobb said today's measures would not alleviate the crisis, and instead would decimate struggling communities.
Mr Cobb said the water buybacks would take too long to finalise, plus it would take a lot more water than the government could buy to restore decent flows.
