Labor, Federal Government sign deal to save Murray-Darling Basin Plan, ensure water flow to SA

A LAST-MINUTE deal between Labor and the Federal Government has saved the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and is set to ensure water flows down to the Coorong and Murray Mouth.

A LAST-MINUTE deal between Labor and the Federal Government has saved the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Under the agreement, the Government has promised to deliver a much-needed flow of water to South Australia to save the Coorong, the Lower Lakes, and hopefully keep the Murray Mouth open most of the time.

On Monday morning the Murray-Darling Basin Authority warned the Plan itself was at risk of failure as the Senate was set to vote on whether to overturn a key change.

If that happened, New South Wales was threatening to abandon the $13 billion Plan altogether, leading to fears it would collapse or need a Federal takeover.

But the deal revealed Monday night means the change — which means letting farmers take an extra 605GL out of the system as long as the same environmental outcomes can be achieved through a range of projects — will stand.

The River Murray at Clayton, with the Clayton regulator visible.

The Greens had moved a motion to knock it over as stories of water rorts and theft allegations spread, along with concerns that the 36 projects would not actually deliver the outcomes.

Labor says under its deal there would be new checks and balances to ensure they would. If the projects don’t deliver, the Government will have to ensure the water comes from elsewhere.

In an email sent to interested parties, Opposition water spokesman Tony Burke writes that the whole plan was in jeopardy when former Water Minister Barnaby Joyce backed away from providing the 450GL, which will mainly benefit SA.

He wrote that he still had questions on the delivery of the Plan.

“But if we kill the Plan, we are right back where we started and that would be the worst outcome for our rivers,” he wrote.

The decision means the 450GL will be delivered “and the days of the states turning a blind eye to water theft are over”, he wrote, adding there will be a new level of transparency allowing scientists to analyse the data on water recovery.

A satellite image showing the northern reach of the River Murray in South Australia, from 2007.

Earlier Monday the Murray-Darling Basin Authority wrote that the amendment was “actually quite uncontroversial”, because it was always recognised that water alone was not enough to save the system — new works and water management changes were also critical.

In a release, the Authority management wrote that the projects created under the 605GL deal would help get water to the right place at the right time, to repair wetlands and billabongs.

And if by 2024 the environmental outcomes are not there, the legislation ensures any shortfall will be recovered.

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