Floods no relief for drought

A wet Australian summer, with floods in the tropical north and drenching rains down the east coast, has done little to ease drought conditions in Australia's food bowl along the Murray River, officials said yesterday.

Despite the damp summer, inflows into the Murray and Darling rivers remain near record lows, making it unlikely irrigators will receive any increase in water allocations next season, Murray-Darling Basin chief executive Wendy Craik said.

"For the northern part of the Murray-Darling basin, it's meant good rain and flooding. It's set them up well for the coming year," Craik told reporters at a drought update yesterday.