Amidst the existing threats to her government, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has assured South Australia that River Murray will be protected even as the controversial Murray Darling Basin Plan is set to be finalised before the end of 2012.

In an official stop in Adelaide on Wednesday, Ms Gillard took note that as a South Australian herself, preserving the pristine state of the important river is a foremost concern of her government.

"As someone who grew up in this state I understand the importance of the Murray for South Australians," the Prime Minister was reported by The Advertiser as saying.

Ms Gillard also noted that the SA government has been very vigilant in ensuring that the River Murray will not be compromised in light of the planned development in the area, which she added was meant to spur further economic advancement in the region.

"I want to make sure that in the future SA families can take their kids to the mouth of the Murray and see water flowing," Ms Gillard declared.

She conceded too that the apprehensions felt by many in the region regarding the Murray Darling Basin project was mostly anchored on the federal government's inability to draw up a national plan that would take away much of the pressure from the SA government and communities.

"I understand the frustration that has come over years and years, decades and decades, at the inability of our nation to get a national plan," Ms Gillard said.

Such national blueprint for the River Murray would be the guidance of how all sorts of business must be conducted in the region, which should take away unnecessary pressures off the shoulders of South Australians.

"I certainly want to assure SA of this, I want to see for the future the River Murray being a healthy river, the river communities being vibrant communities and upstream food production," Ms Gillard said.

SA officials, however, has lamented that Ms Gillard pronouncements fell short of backing the interest of the communities living off the River Murray.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill said that apart from his active campaign for the national government to recognise the state's right on River Murray, his administration is seriously considering legal options to assert that stand.

"We are not ruling out any of the rights we might have ... We believe we have rights in relation to the waters that come from the upstream states - a pretty fundamental proposition," Weatherill told The Adelaide Now.