Water buybacks are again dividing communities across the MurrayDarling basin with new legislation currently before the senate.

The federal government has proposed buying back more water from irrigators to help protect the environment.

But some say that would lead to job losses on farms and the further decline of regional towns, particularly in southwest Queensland.

With less than a year left on the basin plan, hundreds of gigalitres of environmental water are still yet to be recovered.

And as a drought looms river communities are nervously watching on.

National rural affairs reporter Nathan Morris visited some of these communities for this story.

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