The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) will face an uphill battle to deliver an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on the Murray Darling Basin that can actually deliver the reform and the water that is needed in time to save the river.

"The performance of Kevin Rudd's heralded cooperative federalism will be judged on whether it can deliver the water to the Murray by the end of winter to save the Coorong," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"We need the water now – not in 2019."

"The IGA needs to get the foundations right to ensure that States and Territories deliver on their commitments," she said.

"However at the same time it needs to dramatically speed up the response, as the consequences of over-allocation and our driest decade on record have pushed many key environmental icons to the brink."

"This is a big ask for COAG under any conditions, but given that the ground-rules still seem to be leaving the existing system of water sharing plans in place, this may well prove impossible," said Senator Siewert.

"We urgently need to put in place a sustainable water sharing regime that guarantees the river a basic level of maintenance water that will keep the system alive."

"The MDB Ministerial Council is still not adequately dealing with the impacts of adverse climate change or tackling the problems caused by unregulated water interception. We need to be fully accounting for all aspects of water use – including plantations, farm dams and groundwater pumping," said Senator Siewert.

"Meanwhile the latest information on the risks to the river system suggest we could lose and additional 2500GL while we are waiting for existing water plans to run out so we can start getting water back."

"This is truly one of those tough decisions that Kevin Rudd has said his government is determined to take. Let's hope they can deliver the water and the reform that's needed in time," she concluded.