Central to the Rudd Government's plan to get the Murray-Darling Basin back on a sustainable footing is a strong and vibrant future for irrigation communities.

But the worst drought in Australia's recorded history is making life really tough in the Murray-Darling Basin.

This drought and the emerging impacts of climate change are having a far more significant impact on Basin communities than the Federal Government's water buyback.

To put this drought into context, the average amount of water flowing into the River Murray system annually for each of the last three years was just one-fifth of the long-term average.

The Daily Telegraph recognised this crisis more than a year ago when it urged: "Hurry up and spend the billions of dollars set aside to buy back water from irrigators to restore environmental flows."

Right across the Murray Darling Basin, we know the drought is badly hurting farmers. For rice growers around Deniliquin, the drought has resulted in water allocations of zero, zero, and nine per cent respectively over these last three years.

While we always hope for rain, forecasts of another El Nino don't bode well.

What's even more concerning is new advice from the CSIRO that points to a clear link between the current drought and climate change.

Further, decades of mismanagement have seen too much water taken out of the Murray-Darling system.

No government can make it rain, but the Rudd Government is enacting a three-point plan to put the future of the Murray-Darling Basin back onto a sustainable footing.

We have taken over Basin-wide planning and for the first time will place a scientifically-based limit on water use in the Basin.

There's no doubt this new, lower limit on water use will mean change for irrigation communities. But if we don't start this process of change now, it will be much tougher and more abrupt in the future.

We are also investing in irrigation infrastructure to help our farmers and regional communities and to protect food security.

In NSW alone, the Federal Government has so far committed more than $1.7 billion to help make irrigation infrastructure more efficient.

Finally, we are buying back water from willing sellers to help restore health to our rivers and iconic wetlands like the Macquarie Marshes in inland New South Wales.

Importantly, the Government's purchase program provides irrigators with more options to manage their way through this current drought.

By selling water, farmers are better placed to retire debt, invest in farm upgrades, diversify their operations, or exit irrigation with dignity.

In the past financial year, farmers voted with their feet in response to the Federal Government's water purchase program: tenders were fully subscribed.

The Rudd Government is taking practical action on the huge challenges in the Murray-Darling Basin while also helping secure a strong and vibrant future for irrigators and their communities.