Murray-Darling Basin's outlook is grim unless it rains, authority's report warns

Focus for year ahead will be on 'providing drought refuges and avoiding irreversible loss of species'

The outlook for the environment in the Murray-Darling Basin, particularly in the north, is extremely challenging and there will be almost no scope for environmental flows for the remainder of the 2018-19 year unless it rains, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has warned.

It says the focus will be "on providing drought refuges and avoiding irreversible loss of species".