NSW secretly exploring long-dismissed plan to turn coastal rivers inland

Exclusive: Proposal an expensive gift to irrigators at the expense of coastal communities and the environment, conservationist says

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New South Wales has been secretly exploring a highly controversial plan to turn the state's coastal rivers inland to provide more water for irrigators and towns in the west of the state.

The proposal, put forward by WaterNSW, echoes the plan for turning rivers inland first mooted by John Bradfield, the engineer who designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, in 1938. He was unable to convince government of its merits before he died in 1943.