 Key elements of the Basin PlanKey elements of the Basin Plan include defining sustainable diversion limits (SDLs), an environmental watering plan, and a water quality and salinity management plan.
Sustainable diversion limitsAt the heart of the Basin Plan will be limits on the quantities of surface water and groundwater that can be taken from the Basin water resources. These are known as ‘sustainable diversion limits’ (SDLs). The SDLs will take into account the best available science, and the ‘precautionary principle’. According to this principle, if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. SDLs will limit the quantity of surface water and groundwater that may be taken from the Basin water resources as a whole. There will also be SDLs to limit the quantity of surface water and groundwater that can be taken from individual water resource plan areas and particular parts of water resource plan areas within the Basin. These areas will be defined in the Basin Plan and will draw upon current state water resource plan areas. There is currently a limit, called ‘the Cap’, on the amount of surface water that can be taken for consumptive use in the Basin. The current Cap on surface-water diversions is set at a level based on historic use, not on what is sustainable. In addition, the existing Cap does not limit the use of groundwater, and groundwater consumption has grown significantly in the context of the introduction of the surface water Cap. While groundwater is already managed in many areas, the Basin Plan provides an opportunity to manage all groundwater proactively, using consistent criteria and in conjunction with surface water, especially in areas where groundwater and surface water are highly connected. As the SDLs come into effect, they will replace the current Cap and resolve its shortcomings. They will set limits on the taking of both groundwater and surface water from the Basin. The SDLs must be set at a level that the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), using the best available scientific knowledge, determines to be environmentally sustainable. This is defined as the level at which water in the Basin can be taken from a water resource without compromising key environmental assets, key ecosystem functions, key environmental outcomes or the productive base of the water resource. Consequently, the SDLs will be based on a series of assessments. For example, decisions must be made about which parts of the environment and ecosystem functions are ‘key’ and at what level of water take they will be ‘compromised’. The Basin Plan will provide for SDLs to vary, in terms of water volume, in different years. This will enable the SDLs in a given year to be influenced by storage levels, expected inflows, groundwater levels and estimates of recharge, interception activities and other factors. In determining SDLs, the variability in water resources across the Basin and the effects of climate change and variability will also be taken into account. Given the stresses on the Basin environment, it is likely that the Basin-wide SDL for both groundwater and surface water will be set at a level below the current level of use. One way in which the Australian Government is already addressing the expected impact of the probable reductions in water available for purposes that will be limited by the SDL, including water available for consumptive use, is through the purchase of existing surface water entitlements for environmental use. This will have the effect of reducing the gap between current diversions and the new SDL, and will help existing water users in their transition to sustainable water use. In addition, the Australian Government, working with the Basin states and industry, is investing significant funding to improve the water-use efficiency of irrigation infrastructure in the Basin. A portion of the water savings generated by this work will also be used by the Commonwealth to minimise the gap between current diversions and the new SDLs. The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder will manage entitlements obtained by the Australian Government through the direct purchase of water entitlements and investment in irrigation infrastructure efficiency. These entitlements will retain their original characteristics. This means, amongst other things, that the Australian Government will continue to pay charges related to holding and using the entitlements. If and when the Basin Plan specifies a reduction in water availability or a change in the reliability of water allocations, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder will be treated the same as all other entitlement holders. The development of SDLs to ensure that key environmental assets and ecosystem functions, key environmental outcomes and the productive base of water resources are not compromised is a complex and challenging task. MDBA, after strategic consultation, will prepare a publicly available issues paper to describe more fully the key issues, the proposed method of developing SDLs, and the provisions of the Basin Plan, and will seek comments on this paper . Environmental watering planA central element of the Basin Plan is an environmental watering plan to restore and sustain the wetlands and other environmental assets of the Basin and to protect biodiversity dependent on the Basin water resources. This plan will safeguard existing environmental water, plan the recovery of additional water, and coordinate the use of environmental water across the Basin. The environmental watering plan will contain, in relation to the Basin:
Environmental water entitlements held by the Australian Government will be managed by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder is a person who, under the Water Act 2007, is given the function of using these entitlements to protect and restore the environmental assets of the Murray–Darling Basin, or assets outside the Basin where water is held for that area. The Australian Government’s water holdings will be acquired by purchasing from willing sellers and from a share of the water savings made through the programs of the national water plan, Water for the Future. These water entitlements, along with planned environmental water provided for under the Basin Plan, will be used to protect and restore environmental assets such as wetlands and streams, including those in the Murray–Darling Basin. The environmental watering plan will be reviewed at least every 5 years. Water quality and salinity management planAnother vital component of the overall Basin Plan is a water quality and salinity management plan which aims to improve water quality and reduce salinity impacts across the Basin. This plan will identify the main causes of poor water quality in the Murray–Darling Basin and will set water quality and salinity objectives and targets for the Basin water resources. For example, a salinity target may specify the level of salinity to be achieved at a particular place on a river for a specified percentage of the time. Other water quality targets may be set for particular locations throughout the Basin in a similar way. These could include targets for water health indicators such as pH (acidity/alkalinity), temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, sediment load, soluble organic carbon, heavy metals, various nutrients and blue-green algae levels. The existing Basin Salinity Management Strategy has a number of objectives and targets relating to salinity management which will be valuable in informing the development of the water quality and salinity management plan. The water quality and salinity management plan will also be developed with regard to the National Water Quality Management Strategy. The targets set in the water quality and salinity management plan will be reviewed every 5 years. Water trading rulesThe Basin Plan is required to include water trading rules, which will ensure a Basin-wide approach to the trading of water rights under the Basin Plan. Water rights and trading requirements are presently determined by the states and by infrastructure operators, and are also influenced by the Murray–Darling Basin Agreement. The Basin Plan aims to improve the overall operational efficiency of trading water rights to promote more effective use of water. The water trading rules will deal with various aspects of the trading of water rights within the Basin. They will deal with a range of matters including:
The rules will interact with the policies and procedures of individual state governments and their licensing authorities, and the trading of irrigation and water delivery rights by infrastructure operators. Water trading rules will be prepared by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) on advice from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Stakeholder consultation will take place through two separate processes. Firstly, a consultation process will be managed by the ACCC before providing advice to MDBA. Secondly, MDBA will consult stakeholders through the broader consultation process laid down by the Water Act for the entire Basin Plan. In addition to the water trading rules, the Water Act provides for two other sets of rules: water market rules and water charge rules, which complement the water trading rules. The water market rules and water charge rules will be made by the Commonwealth Minister, while the ACCC is responsible for advising on and enforcing them. The ACCC develops these rules separately from the preparation of advice on water trading rules under the Basin Plan. Water market rules are narrower in scope than trading rules, and relate to the transformation of irrigation rights into separately held and statutory water access entitlements, which are more easily tradeable. Charge rules relate specifically to any costs or charges associated with water. The Water Act also permits MDBA to provide a Basin-wide water rights information service, containing information on, for example, water access, water delivery, and irrigation rights in the Basin. Social and economic analysis and implicationsThe Basin Plan must describe the social and economic circumstances of Basin communities that depend on Basin water resources The MDBA will develop the plan on the basis of a number of factors including socioeconomic analysis. This will include having regard to social, cultural, Indigenous and other public benefit issues. The MDBA will use the socioeconomic analysis to inform how, where and when water can be delivered to meet environmental requirements. Once the SDLs have been developed for the proposed Basin Plan, MDBA will assess the socioeconomic implications of any reductions in the long term average sustainable diversion limits and provide a report to the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council along with the proposed Basin Plan. Governments will use this information to consider appropriate responses to social and economic impacts of the Basin Plan. Monitoring and evaluationA mandatory component of the Basin Plan is to develop a program for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the plan. This program will set out the principles and framework to be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the Basin Plan in achieving its purpose, objectives and outcomes. The Water Act provides that the program must include reporting requirements for the Commonwealth and Basin states, as well as 5-yearly reviews of water quality and salinity targets and the environmental watering plan. An integral part of the monitoring and evaluation program will be to assess the current condition of Basin water resources and to track progress towards the Basin Plan’s stated objectives and outcomes. The assessment will include an evaluation of ecosystems’ and water resources’ response to management actions, in addition to how well the Basin Plan and water resource plans have been implemented. The program will also be an important component of assessing compliance. The monitoring and evaluation results will provide important feedback for the adaptive management of future versions of the Basin Plan, as well as guiding future research investment. Auditing the Basin Plan’s ImplementationThe National Water Commission will audit the effectiveness of implementation of both the Basin Plan and state water resource plans at least every 5 years. The results of these independent audits must be provided to the Commonwealth Minister and to ministers in Basin states. |
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BASIN PLAN
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