CANBERRA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has reached a deal with the Opposition that locks in the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's current agreement, but which critics say prioritises irrigators over the environment.
The future of the water catchment area, which produces more than 16 billion U.S. dollars worth of food and fiber every year, had been up in the air as the Greens Party lobbied against the government's changes.
But under the new agreement, less water will be returned to the environment in order to balance the need to protect jobs in irrigation-dependent communities along the Murray and Darling rivers.
Under the proposed plan, farmers will receive an infrastructure subsidy to upgrade their water systems which is aimed at reducing the amount of water that is wasted due to leaking pipes - known as a return flow.
The Greens said this return flow was important as half of the water which was pumped from the river actually found its way back to the environment, allowing for it to remain self-sufficient.
"Instead of delivering more water for the Murray, Labor has teamed up with the government to reduce the amount of water returned to the environment," a Greens spokesman said.
The Murray-Darling basin covers 14 percent of Australia's total surface area and is made up of the country's two largest rivers.
David Littleproud, Australia's agriculture minister, said on Tuesday the deal was important for farmers and residents in surrounding areas.
"It gives them the certainty of their livelihoods, it gives them the opportunity to get on with their lives without government being in it," Littleproud told reporters.
"The Murray-Darling Basin Plan will be delivered after we struck a deal with Labor. This will give 2 million Australians living in the Basin certainty which they have not had for six years, giving them confidence to invest in their communities and businesses."
Labor's water spokesman, Tony Burke, said it was important for the current plan to go ahead and measures have been created to ensure the basin itself does not suffer.
"Critically this agreement means that the 450 gigaliters of water which was put into doubt by former water minister Barnaby Joyce is now back on the table and the process to acquire it will now commence," Burke said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Labor has also been determined to make sure that decisions about the volumes required to restore the system to health are determined by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and do not instead become subjected to the daily amendment of the political process."
