Speaking at a NSW Farm Writers lunch gathering in Sydney on Friday, Professor Miller said the much-delayed release of the draft guide to the plan had been badly handled by the Federal Government.

“The publication of what was a much-delayed draft guide to the Murray Darling Basin Plan should have been hailed as a historic moment in Australia,” Professor Miller said.

He said it should have been a time when the MDBA handed down recommendations that would lead to a federally-driven basin-wide strategy to secure long-term environmental sustainability for the environment and for irrigated agriculture.

It should have offered the prospect of long term sustainable livelihoods for Basin communities, “albeit a future with less water”, he said.

“Instead, the Guide, and the credibility of the Authority, really hangs in the balance.

“It’s in danger of being put in the too-hard basket, or worse, delivering some kind of compromise package that satisfies no one, leaves the environment at risk and therefore leaves farmers and growers at risk as well.”

Professor Miller, of the School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University, South Australia, spent six months undertaking research on behalf of the MDBA to gain an understanding of the economic and social impact of the water allocation cuts being proposed.

He was a co-author of the Wentworth Groups' controversial paper published in June 2010 analysing the options for achieving a sustainable diversion limit (SDL) in the Murray-Darling Basin.