Hanrahan - good point and furthermore the talk of waste water flowing to the sea is false and misleading. The water that flows to the sea carries nutrient laden sediment that provides the basic feedstock for coastal fisheries. The rivers feed these fisheries which we rely on for food. The tragedy of the Murray Darling Basin can be traced back to tree clearing which led to an increase in run off and water in the rivers, then the rivers were diverted and licences allocated , now we must pay for our foolishness and pursuit of progress as the run off declines and the water just is not there.
