340GL Basin Plan shortfall: Murray Darling Basin warning

Federal and state water bureaucrats’ warning of a major Murray Darling Basin Plan shortfall is being ignored by their ministers.

Australia’s top water bureaucrats have told their state and federal ministers to act now, after warning Basin Plan will fall short of its June 2024 target. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Australia’s top state and federal water bureaucrats have warned the Murray Darling Basin Plan will fall short of its delivery target by up to 340 gigalitres, triggering a Commonwealth entitlement buyout and “a reduction in water available for consumptive use”.

The Basin Officials Committee, which is headed up by each states’ and the Commonwealth’s top water bureaucrats, identified seven key water savings and constraints projects that will not be delivered by the plan’s June 30, 2024 delivery target.

Not only are these projects at risk of not being delivered, BOC warns “the consequences of maintaining the status quo and implementing current Basin Plan settings are the cessation of delivery of some supply and constraints measure projects as early as 1 October 2022”.

The documents prepared for BOC’s July meeting state “the Commonwealth may seek to recover further water through purchases of up to the 271GL remaining under the (1500GL) cap on buybacks”, but further “purchases are not supported by all Basin governments due to their impact on Basin communities”.

“If water recovery is not able to be completed by the Commonwealth, the Water Act 2007 requires that states comply with the reduction in SDLs (sustainable diversion limits) by amending water resource plans.

“Under these provisions, any reduction in water users’ reliability of access would expose the Commonwealth to claims for compensation from water users under risk assignment provisions.”

Buying or compensating irrigators to recover 340GL would cost the Commonwealth at least $2.5 billion, based on current southern basin entitlement prices.

The cash-strapped Albanese Government would then have to go out and find another $3 billion to meet its election promise of delivering another 450GL to South Australia.

Yet despite BOC’s warning, basin water ministers are sitting on their hands unable to decide when they should next meet, with dates ranging from October 10-11 to December 5-6.

BOC bureaucrats have outlined four options to deal with what they call the Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism Program Delivery Shortfall Management Strategy, ranging from maintaining the status quo to a more rational extension on project delivery deadlines to a radical review the basin plan.

When asked if she would extend the SDLAM delivery deadline and allow new projects to be tabled and approved, Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek repeated what she has said repeatedly since being elected: “all options for delivery of the Basin Plan remain on the table”.

Opposition water spokeswoman Perin Davey said “with the deadline looming and the work having been done by the states on rescoping and reviewing SDLAM supply projects … I would encourage the Government to extend the deadline to give these and any new projects every opportunity to succeed.“

BOC has put four options on the table for their water ministers to consider:

RETAIN the status quo and face the consequences of the 340GL SDLAM shortfall.

AMEND the Basin Plan settings by extending the June 30, 2024 SDLAM project deadline to 2026, when the Basin Plan is due to be reviewed.

AMEND the SDLs, but assume the SDLAM projects will be delivered at some point beyond June 2024.

REVIEW the basin plan, delaying delivery of its targets, but potentially improving progress towards its environmental outcomes.

National Irrigators Council chairman Jeremy Morton said granting more time for projects to be delivered was “the most logical option”.

“People are really worried about a return to (Commonwealth) buybacks,” Mr Morton said, urging Ms Plibersek to hold a MINCO meeting as soon as possible.

The BOC documents clearly show the options available to the Albanese Government are fast disappearing.

Contracts have not even been signed for many of the seven key SDLAM projects, let alone any work being initiated.

Those projects include: the Menindee Lakes Water Savings Project (including Lower Darling Constraints) the Yanco Creek Offtake and constraints removal (such as landholder agreement to flood their properties) to allow enhanced environmental water delivery along the Murrumbidgee, Goulburn and the Murray Rivers.