River Murray Rescue

Mike Rann: South Australians have always fought hard for the Murray but now the challenges are enormous: the worst drought ever and decades of overuse in other states are crippling our river.

Climate change means we can't take regular rainfall for granted so we must relieve the pressure on the Murray while still guaranteeing Adelaide's water supply.

That's why we're building a desalination plant at Port Stanvac to deliver about one quarter of our water needs.

That's 50 billion litres that won't have to come from the Murray from 2011.

The $1.4 billion project will be carbon neutral and sensitive to the Gulf.