The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has released a statement calling for urgent action on water management issues from Federal and State Governments.
Stating that the timeframes for water management had changed, and that priorities that had been given until 2014 under the National Water Initiative were now urgently required, it listed five immediate national priority actions:

• Buy water for the environment to secure the health of over-allocated river systems from anyone willing to sell.
• Regulate to offset further water losses caused by timber plantations, farm dams, groundwater use and water efficiency.
• Build a National Water Account to find out where our water is, who is using it and what condition it's in.
• Apply the same environmental, market and price disciplines to everyone so that all users pay the full cost of water, including the cost of addressing environmental impacts.
• Accept that desalination, potable reuse, stormwater capture, recycling and urban-rural trade are all legitimate options for our coastal cities and often better options than building new dams and damaging more coatal rivers.