NSW flood plain harvesting rules won’t protect environment, government advisers warn

Critics of the NSW government’s proposed flood plain harvesting plan want rules to ensure water needs for areas like Menindee Lakes and Ramsar wetland sites are met first. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The Perrottet government has been warned by its own advisers that proposed flood plain harvesting rules will not adequately protect the environment or the needs of downstream communities in the Murray Darling Basin.

Documents obtained through parliament by independent MLC Justin Field show the government received advice that proposed targets meant to ensure river health were too low.