The River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group, shadow water security minister Mitch Williams, Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham and Independent MLC David Winderlich all questioned how much water SA will actually get.

Floodwaters in the Darling River, which joins the Murray near Wentworth in NSW, are to fill Menindee Lakes east of Broken Hill before flows are released downstream. But NSW has also announced increased allocations to its irrigators, worsening fears that promises of extra water to SA are more a political gesture than a genuine remedy for the plight of the lower Murray.

The river below Blanchetown is now so salty it’s approaching the upper limit for safe drinking, and some parts of the once-fresh Lower Lakes are above that limit.

According to a statement issued jointly by SA Premier Mike Rann and NSW Premier Kristina Keneally on Tuesday, SA will get a “reasonable” amount, but the definition of “reasonable” was not spelt out.

Independent Legislative Councillor David Winderlich and the independent candidate for Chaffey, David Peake, have called on Mr Rann to release details of any floodwater agreement with NSW to allay their suspicions the water will have to be paid back.

“In 2008 SA had to give billions of litres back to the eastern states at a time when the Murray and the Lower Lakes were struggling,” Mr Winderlich said.

“I welcome environmental water for the Lower Lakes but we need to know if there are any strings attached.”

Water Industry Alliance chief executive Joe Flynn yesterday ridiculed Ms Keneally’s assertion that 640 gigalitres of water must be held in Menindee Lakes to service the Broken Hill area.

“Broken Hill needs a maximum 10 gigalitres. It is absurd that the NSW Government will hide behind 100-year-old contract agreements and hold this water to merely watch it evaporate,” he said.

“The health of the river system should be of primary concern and second even to the needs of irrigators.”

Murray-Darling Basin Authority chair Mike Taylor affirmed that the authority is legally obliged to place the health of the river system above all other considerations.

The environmental and public water rights group Fair Water Use yesterday applauded that news, but warned that Commonwealth legislation might be needed to give the authority more power to “truly act as the guardian of the Murray- Darling”.

Beneath the surface, though, water industries and traders, irrigators and domestic users are as worried about rising water prices as they are about its availability. Just as oil prices rise during high demand or low supply, water along the Murray is now being extracted faster than it’s being replenished, forcing up the cost.

“In a privatised setting, secure water supplies are only guaranteed to those able to foot the bill, with the public and the environment historically bearing the brunt of any shortfall,” Fair Water Use national co-ordinator Ian Douglas told The Independent Weekly yesterday.

“Water to be delivered by Australia’s multi-billion-dollar desalination plants comes at a price: up to five times that of conventional supplies, and at significant cost to the environment.

“The total price of the three water factories in NSW, Victoria and SA currently stands at around $7.8 billion, ignoring annual operational charges totalling many millions of dollars which will also be borne by consumers.”

Some advocates, including Mr Flynn, say pricing structures themselves have to change.

“For most SA homes, the majority of a water bill is calculated based on land value,” he said.

“The National Water Commission reports that fixed sewerage charges make up almost 60 per cent or $423 of the typical SA residential bill.

This is the case even though sewerage only makes up about 40 per cent, or $156, of the typical residential operating costs.

“Government needs to restructure water prices so the less you use, the less you pay and take away the fixed water charges based on land value.

“What this means is that a homeowner who lives on a property worth $500,000, and who is actively water smart, is still left paying $610 in fixed sewerage charges, regardless of how much water they use.

“This kind of pricing structure does not reward people with a lower bill for saving water or recycling their grey water,” he said.

In 1994, the SA Government agreed to abolish this water pricing system.

While that was more than 15 years ago, SA hasn’t complied with the 1994 COAG agreement.