An emergency Senate inquiry investigating ways of getting water to the Lower Lakes in South Australia before it is destroyed, has heard of the critically low availability of water right across the Basin.

It has heard that getting water to the Lakes' wetlands is going to be particularly difficult, and irrigators everywhere are going without because there has been such a long period without rain.

But the South Australian Minister for the River Murray, Karlene Maywald, while detailing efforts to save the wetlands and reduce reliance on the river, said in no uncertain terms her Government was not about to cut itself loose from the Murray anytime soon.

In fact, she said the South Australian Government does not believe Adelaide should be completely removed from the Murray Darling Basin.

Why, it must be asked.

Why should farmers, the environment and communities right through the Basin make sacrifices for the sake of the South Australian capital's water security?

As South Australian Liberal Senator, Mary Jo Fisher argues, the CSIRO says a desalination plant to secure Adelaide's long term water supply could be possible within 10 years.

But Ms Maywald said there was significant infrastructure development designed to supply water to Adelaide from the Murray and the city should be able to use that water in high-water years.

She said weaning the city off the Murray would be over-engineering the problem.

Again, I ask, given all the evidence of the lack of water in the system and fears the water shortages are only going to get worse, would it not make sense to plan now to get Adelaide onto an alternate water supply?

The Federal and State Government seem content to cry poor for the river and trigger massive reform for the sake of the environment on one hand, but then give the nod to politically popular projects like the north-south pipelines to Melbourne and keeping Adelaide hooked up to the fledgling river.

Wouldn't it be more politically correct to get the city off the Murray, and free that water up for industry and the environment rather than city parks, washing machines and toilets?