Plibersek to extend Murray Darling Basin Plan deadline

The deadline to deliver the Murray Darling Basin Plan will be extended, but a new date has not been set.

The deadline to deliver the Murray Darling Basin Plan will be extended, but a new date has not been set. Pictured: water minister Tanya Plibersek. Picture: Glenn Campbell

The deadline to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan will be extended, after Water Minister Tanya Plibersek received advice on Tuesday it could not be delivered on time.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Plibersek said she had received advice “There is no pathway to deliver the plan on time. In fact, Australia is likely to fall around 750 GL short of the legislated targets.”

The Murray Darling Basin Plan was signed 10 years ago by the Australian Government, and the governments of NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, as a commitment to return 2075 gigalitres of water to Australia’s largest river system by June 2024.

Ms Plibersek did not set a new deadline for when the plan would be delivered, but said she was committed to delivering it “in full” and would “continue to work with Basin ministers to seek agreement on a new phase to extend the deadlines”.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority delivered a report to the government on Tuesday advising delivery of the plan “will not be possible by 30 June 2024 under the current settings”.

MDBA chair Sir Angus Houston reiterated previous advice that 16 key Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism projects were “unlikely to be operable by 30 June 2024”, resulting in a “shortfall in water recovery of between 190 and 315 gigalitres”.

He also highlighted that “very little progress has been made in achieving the 450 GL/y efficiency target”.

The Authority has repeatedly called on NSW to deliver water resource plans — agreements on how much water can be taken from the basin system — but only five out of 20 have been accredited.

A coalition of environment groups, including Environment Victoria, and the NSW, Queensland and South Australian conservation councils, issued a statement on Tuesday warning “delaying the Basin Plan would risk terrible damage to the environment during the next drought”.