Environment: Murray-Darling issues miss the mainstream

I lived in Adelaide until my mid 20s and, on moving to the eastern states, found myself having to fend off jibes about the quality of Adelaide's water supply. Initially, my response was to remark that Adelaide's water quality reflected what the eastern states put into the water that flowed down the Murray, the major source of Adelaide's water. More recently, I've come to realise that the major factor is not what people in the eastern states put in, but what they take out by way of diversions for domestic and agricultural uses.