Promise check: 450GL of water for South Australia under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Promise check: 450GL of water for South Australia under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan

At the 2022 election, Labor promised 450GL of water for South Australia under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Here's how that promise is tracking.

Bird eye view of river (Image by ABC News: Carl Saville)

Management of the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin has been one of the most politically vexed environmental policies since federation.

In 2012, the federal, Queensland, NSW, Victorian, South Australian and ACT governments agreed to establish the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

"At its heart, the Basin Plan sets the amount of water that can be taken from the Basin each year, while leaving enough for our rivers, lakes and wetlands and the plants and animals that depend on them," says the authority set up to manage the plan.

South Australia has been pushing for the full implementation of the plan, including "recovery of 450 gigalitres of water for the environment through projects that reduce water losses through irrigation, commercial use and public water supply infrastructure".

At a media conference in Adelaide during the election campaign, then opposition leader Anthony Albanese said Labor supported South Australia's position.

"An Albanese Labor government will make sure that the 450 gigalitres is delivered and we'll have policies in place to deliver on the full Murray-Darling Basin Plan," he said.

Professor of Economics at the University of South Australia and water policy expert Lin Crase told the promise tracker the Basin Plan was devised to return water to the environment to offset the impacts of water diversions to dams, irrigation and other uses.

Under the plan, this would in part be achieved via "voluntary buy-back schemes where only those willing to sell would offer their water to the Commonwealth," he said.

In addition to water buybacks, the plan called for a further 450 gigalitres of "environmental water" to be returned to the basin's river system through "water saving projects" funded by the Commonwealth and managed by the states and territories, Professor Crase added.

Under the Basin Plan, this target should be achieved by June 30, 2024.

According to the Parliamentary Library, the additional environmental water flow was a compromise negotiated by the federal government to satisfy the South Australian government, which argued for higher allocations of water in the system than their upstream NSW and Victorian counterparts.

During the press conference, Mr Albanese said South Australia had been "promised" the 450 gigalitres and the state's agreement to the plan was contingent on its delivery.

"If you don't have those environmental flows, the system will die. That is why it is so important for South Australia that we deliver on the 450 gigalitres, and that is precisely what federal Labor will do," he said.

The Department of Climate Change, Energy Environment and Water reports on the progress of targets set under the basin.

As of July 31, 2022, just 2 gigalitres of the 450 gigalitre target of environmental water had been achieved.

In a March 2020 review of funding for the environmental water allocation required under the legislation, an independent panel said it was "not realistic" that the deadline would be met.

"The volume of water recovered through efficiency measures programs and transferred to the Commonwealth at 30 June 2024 will be well short of 450 gigalitres," the report reads.

Assessing the promise

This promise will be considered delivered if the annual 450 gigalitre target of environmental water under the Murray Darling Basin agreement is met by June 30, 2024.

Here's how the promise is tracking:

19 May 2023

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19 May 2023

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