Only four water resource plans out of 20 have been accredited, while Victoria and other states have submitted all plans required.
The details come from the latest assessment of progress on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, called the ‘report card’.
The card has found only minor movement in the past six months, with important elements at risk or unlikely to be achieved by the June 2024 deadline.
Murray-Darling Basin Authority chief executive officer Andrew McConville said progress in some areas was overshadowed by lack of advancement in others.
“The basin plan needs to be fully implemented if it’s to achieve the outcomes we’re seeking for a healthy and sustainable basin for all communities. It is becoming clear what will and won’t be achieved by June next year,” Mr McConville said.
“The dial for some projects under the Sustainable Diversion Limit adjustment mechanism also remains on red.
“Of the 36 supply and constraints projects, 22 are likely to be operable, eight are on the cusp of delivery and six will not be delivered as originally proposed by June 30 2024.
“We’ve seen positive outcomes from good planning and delivery of environmental water across the basin — this is critically important and underpins the very foundation of the basin plan to support the health of rivers, floodplains and wetlands.
“The focus of the past six months has been to support bird breeding events and to improve water quality where floods have resulted in low oxygen levels.”
The report card does not have the progressive total for water recovery across the basin.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald after publication of the report card, claims: “After years of inaction from NSW, Victoria and the former Coalition Federal Government, the Albanese Government made an election commitment to complete the basin plan, but (Federal Water Minister) Plibersek faces opposition from the states at a meeting of water ministers set for February 24”.
In fact, the basin states have met the 2100 gigalitre target required to “bridge the gap”, as the MDBA calls it.
This figure is not in the report card, but in another document on the MDBA website.
VFF president Emma Germano said the MDBA’s report card didn’t look at the impact on jobs, on food production and on communities that have resulted from water buybacks and broader basin plan implementation.
Ms Germano called on the Federal Government to refocus its aims back towards the basin plan’s original goal of achieving positive social, economic and environmental outcomes.
“The most alarming comment in the MDBA’s report card was that ‘most regions support full implementation of the basin plan’. This is simply untrue.
“There is widespread opposition to more Commonwealth water purchases and widespread opposition to reducing the amount of water available for producing food.”
The plan will be formally evaluated in 2025 and reviewed in 2026 by the MDBA.
The basin plan report card is available on the MDBA website at: https://www.mdba.gov.au/publications/mdba-reports/basin-plan-report-card
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