More than 2,500 ML of water is set to return to the environment from across Griffith and Leeton after the Australian Government green-lighted the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Urban Channel Pipelines proposal.

Nelligen residents are one step closer to having access to reticulated drinking water and sewerage services for the first time, with construction about to commence on new pumping stations and transfer pipelines.

Walgett water quality has improved significantly since the town switched to river water permanently last week – with sodium levels now under 80 milligrams per litre.

The Murray Darling Basin (MDB) is Australia's most important agricultural region and produces one-third of the country's food supply. As with other complex river systems around the world, there are a wide variety of competing uses for a variable and