AFA vice-president, Mark Etheridge, "Kalyanka", Wilcannia, told the gathering of floodplain graziers, river managers and scientists the large floods in the Warrego River during 2007 had been diverted and held for use on the grazing and irrigation property, Clyde Agriculture owned "Toorale".

According to Mr Etheridge, there are five licensed dams and one licensed billabong storage on "Toorale".

"Toorale’s licence permits them to capture virtually all of the flow in the Warrego once the water reaches the Darling River and there is a minor flow at Louth, downstream on the Darling."

Sue Jones, AFA committee member, called on governments to take more seriously their commitment to the RAMSAR Convention.

This international agreement states that all signatories will protect and enhance wetlands listed under the RAMSAR Convention.

"Although sections of the Macquarie Marshes are listed as RAMSAR sites, these unique environmental assets are not being protected," Ms Jones said.

"Because there is no independent international audit system to ensure Ramsar sites are properly managed, governments simply hide behind the acclaim of having a wetland listed as a Ramsar site, despite poor management.

"The only way to ensure that water is returned to our rivers is to secure future flows through buyback schemes such as "Riverbank".

Riverbank allows the water purchased to be returned to rivers, floodplains and wetlands.