THE Murray-Darling Basin plan has not made enough progress on water recovery and proposed legislation to extend its timeframe doesn’t go far enough.<\/p>\n
That’s the assessment from the Productivity Commission, which has called for more government accountability in its first interim review of the plan in five years.<\/p>\n
“Very little progress has been made on water recovery, or on supply and constraints-easing measures,” associate commissioner Chris Guest said.<\/p>\n
The report said the Government must step up its water recovery efforts including staged voluntary buybacks.<\/p>\n
A Senate committee on Tuesday began examining legislation to amend the basin plan and will report back by 8 November.<\/p>\n
The hearing was told the Government must move quickly to buy back water.<\/p>\n
“I’ve no doubt we need to focus on the direct recovery and the direct purchase of water as a priority,” Peter Owen from the Wilderness Society told the hearing.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got to reduce the amount of water we’re taking out of this river… if we are moving into a drier period now, alarm bells should be ringing.”<\/p>\n
But the buybacks are fiercely opposed by some farmers concerned about water for food production.<\/p>\n
“It’s the towns that lose the jobs, that lose the families,” head of the NSW Irrigators’ Council, Claire Miller told the hearing.<\/p>\n
The Murray-Darling plan outlines the amount of water that can be taken from the basin each year, while allowing for an environmentally sustainable amount to remain.<\/p>\n
The original proposal aimed to return 450 gigalitres of additional water to the environment by next June but new laws would push back the deadline to December 2027.<\/p>\n
Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek in August unveiled the new plan with all basin states except for Victoria.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government needs to renew its efforts to save the plan, the report found.<\/p>\n
Responding to the commission’s interim report, Ms Plibersek said the plan was off track after a decade of coalition sabotage.<\/p>\n
“More than 80 per cent of the water recovered under the plan so far has been under federal Labor governments,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Plibersek also said the new laws would rescue the plan by allowing “more time, more options, more funding and more accountability”.<\/p>\n
But Opposition water spokeswoman Perin Davey said the Government has had its priorities wrong in the “dogged pursuit” of an extra 450 gigalitres.<\/p>\n
“Chasing the 450 gigalitres before understanding what water recovery is required under the baseline targets is putting the cart before the horse,” Mr Davey said.<\/p>\n
“There is a reason why the basin plan was written as is… as long as it does not cause social and economic harm.”<\/p>\n
The commission’s 254-page report found progress had stalled because of weak governance in a changing water market while the costs of some water projects had risen substantially.<\/p>\n
The interim report said “resetting the balance” of the basin has slowed since 2018 and would not be completed by the original deadline.<\/p>\n
The commissioners want consideration of a Government-owned corporate entity to undertake water recovery and implement some supply projects.<\/p>\n
It found the Menindee Lakes and other key projects are not viable, with “no real consequences” for those basin states not delivering on supply.<\/p>\n
The Federal water minister should report annually to parliament on their progress, commissioner Joanne Chong said.<\/p>\n
While the proposed legislation will allow more time, new supply measures and voluntary water purchases, a significant recovery shortfall is still likely, the commission found.<\/p>\n
It said previous warnings had not led to change.<\/p>\n
The commission also recommends strengthening roles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the basin plan and noted minimal progress on the Aboriginal Water Entitlements Program.<\/p>\n