 The Living Murray First Step: frequently asked questionsWhat did The Living Murray First Step set out to do? What has the First Step achieved? Why was the focus of the First Step the recovery of 500 GL of environmental water? What is a ‘water recovery measure’? Who is recovering water for The Living Murray? Where is water being recovered? What types of water are being recovered? What is ‘The Living Murray portfolio’? How is the recovered water being secured? How is water recovery measured? (What is a ‘long-term Cap equivalent’ volume?) Will there be 500 GL of water available every year? What ‘checks and balances’ are used to make sure the water is actually recovered? How much water has been recovered so far? Why don’t the numbers seem to add up? What will be the likely make-up of The Living Murray portfolio? How does The Living Murray fit with other water recovery programs? Will all of the 500 GL be available for use on the environment? How will The Living Murray water portfolio be used to water the icon sites? Who manages The Living Murray environmental water and how are they accountable for using this water? What is the environmental health of the icon sites? What’s the next step for The Living Murray? Where can I get more information? What is The Living Murray?The Living Murray is one of Australia’s most significant river restoration programs. It aims to improve the health at six icon sites along the Murray River. These sites are:
The Living Murray has been implemented with five streams of activity or sub-programs:
What did The Living Murray First Step set out to do?The Living Murray First Step aimed to improve river health by:
The Living Murray was initiated in response to recognition by all Basin states that there needed to be an increase in the volume of water assigned to the environment of the Murray system. The Living Murray is not a drought response initiative, but rather aims to improve the health of six icon sites over the long term. What has the First Step achieved?The Living Murray has made significant progress since 2004, including:
Why was the focus of the First Step the recovery of 500 GL of environmental water?In 2003, the Australian, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and Australian Capital Territory Governments agreed to recover 500 GL LTCE (long-term Cap equivalent) to benefit the environmental health of the six icon sites and assist in addressing water over-allocation in the Murray–Darling Basin. This decision followed an assessment in 2002 by a Scientific Reference Panel (SRP) of potential environmental flow provisions for the River Murray. These provisions were based on a reduction of the Cap on surface water diversions by various volumes from 350 GL to over 1,500 GL. The SRP concluded that:
The SRP also concluded that 1,500 GL, combined with improved structural, operational and water quality management, could deliver a ‘healthy, working river’. Following this assessment, governments agreed to recover the 500 GL LTCE as a ‘first step’ towards securing the long-term ecological health of six icon sites, and that they should concurrently invest in infrastructure to make the best of the water available to the environment and achieve other ecological outcomes, including fish passage. These undertakings were formalised in 2004 by the signing of an intergovernmental agreement that outlined the investment and water recovery targets of each party and provided a 5-year timeframe to recover the water. What is a ‘water recovery measure’?A ‘water recovery measure’ is the term used, within The Living Murray, to describe a project or package of projects that could be, or that are being, implemented to recover water. The water recovered by these water recovery measures is then used for environmental watering. How is water ‘recovered’?The term ‘recovered’ is used to describe an entitlement to access water that is made permanently available for use under The Living Murray Environmental Watering Plan.
Infrastructure measures recover water through reducing the loss of water in some way. This can include improving on-farm delivery systems and water use, improving delivery channel efficiencies, or reducing the loss from rivers and wetlands. Such projects aim to reduce the volume of water lost through evaporation, leakage or seepage. Market-based measures typically involve the purchase of water entitlements. Any water allocated to these entitlements can then be used for environmental watering. This term is also used more broadly to cover any transfer of water entitlement, for a cost, for use under The Living Murray Environmental Water Plan. Water entitlements can also be donated for use under The Living Murray Environmental Watering Plan. Regulatory measures involve the recovery of water through the implementation of changes to the method in which water is allocated or by which water is shared between the various water users. The proportions of the final volumes of water to be recovered through regulatory, infrastructure and market-based measures are estimated to be:
Who is recovering water for The Living Murray?The Living Murray is a joint initiative between the Australian, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and Australian Capital Territory governments. At the beginning of The Living Murray, targets were set for the volume of water to be recovered from within each state and territory. Anyone can propose and implement a water recovery measure. While most water recovery measures have been developed and implemented by state government agencies, a number have been proposed and implemented by other groups, such as industry associations (e.g. the Ricegrowers’ Association) and private corporations. Where is water being recovered?Water recovered for The Living Murray must be able to be used at the six icon sites; therefore water is being recovered from within the catchments of the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Lower Darling, Goulburn, Campaspe and Loddon rivers. What types of water are being recovered?A wide range of different types of water are being recovered for The Living Murray. The type of water being recovered is generally reflected by the type of measure being implemented to recover the water (see ‘How is water recovered?’). The different types of water that will be recovered include:
Some of the water that is recovered in the form of standard irrigation water entitlements will have conditions placed upon the entitlement specifically designating that it is only to be used in accordance with The Living Murray Environmental Watering Plan. Each of the different types of water being recovered has a different reliability of access. Those types of water that are of a high reliability, such as a Victorian High Reliability Water Share, are expected to receive a full allocation more often than lower reliability water entitlements, such as Victorian Low Reliability Water Shares. What is ‘The Living Murray portfolio’?The term ‘The Living Murray Water portfolio’ is used to describe the group of water entitlements that have been recovered and are held for use by The Living Murray. A broad range of water recovery measures are being implemented which will recover a broad range of different types of water entitlements. How is the recovered water being secured?The water recovered for The Living Murray is being secured in a number of ways. A large proportion of The Living Murray portfolio will be secured as standard water entitlements, like those accessed by other water users (e.g. NSW High Security Water Access Licences), but some of the water is being secured as specific environmental water entitlements. How is water recovery measured? (What is a ‘long-term Cap equivalent’ volume?)The volume of water that will be recovered by a water recovery measure is calculated as a ‘long-term Cap equivalent’ volume. The long-term Cap equivalent is a type of average. It takes into account the different characteristics of water entitlements in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, and their reliability. For instance, to recover a long-term Cap equivalent volume of 1,000 ML in the NSW Murray region, you could purchase either a 1,053 ML High Security Water Access Licence or a 1,237 ML General Security Water Access Licence. This measure of water recovery creates a common unit of measure, thus allowing equitable comparison of a broad range of water recovery measures.
The long-term Cap equivalent volume equates approximately to the theoretical long-term average increase in the flows in the Murray River resulting from the implementation of the water recovery measure:
Will there be 500 GL of water available every year?The water that has been recovered for The Living Murray will be subject to annual allocations in the same way that irrigation water is. Therefore, there will not be exactly 500 GL of water available to The Living Murray every year. Once all water recovery measures are complete, The Living Murray will have a portfolio of water entitlements, consisting of different volumes of a broad range of types of water entitlements. Annual allocations to the portfolio entitlements will be made in line with normal processes in each state. As a result, The Living Murray will have available a different volume of water each year. It is expected that in dry years The Living Murray may have significantly less than 500 GL available for use, whereas in wet years The Living Murray may have significantly more than 500 GL available for use. At present it is expected that there will be around 1,000 GL of water entitlements recovered for The Living Murray, all of which could be available in very wet years. The actual amount of water available for use each year varies, depending on climate conditions and the way in which each state allocates water. These same factors affect all owners of water entitlements. What ‘checks and balances’ are used to make sure the water is actually recovered?The Living Murray has accounted for the different reliabilities of water entitlements by translating all water recovery measures back to their long-term Cap equivalent volume of recovery. Projects are then approved and monitored using a system of three registers. The first stage of approval for a water recovery measure is the Developmental Register. This register is intended to be the initial list of those water recovery measures deemed feasible as a The Living Murray water recovery measure. Note that no projects are currently listed on the Developmental Register, as those listed earlier in the water recovery period have progressed onto the Eligible Measures or Environmental Water registers. The second stage of approval for a water recovery measure is the Eligible Measures Register. This register is intended to include those water recovery measures either ready to be implemented or that are being implemented for The Living Murray. The final stage of approval for a water recovery measure, and the point at which the water entitlement is made formally available to The Living Murray, is the Environmental Water Register. All final listings on the Environmental Water Register are approved by the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council, and applications are subject to an independent review before being considered. A simplified process to list any completed components of a larger water recovery measure onto the Environmental Water Register has been introduced to allow recovered water entitlements to be used in advance of completing all components of a water recovery measure. This process is known as ‘interim listing’. The processes used to list a water recovery measure on each of the three registers are set out in figures 2, 3 and 5 of The Living Murray Business Plan 2007. How much water has been recovered so far?Significant progress has been made in recovering the 500 GL of water for The Living Murray. Please refer to Water recovery progress report November 2011 for regular updates on the current volume of water that has been recovered for The Living Murray. At 4 November 2011, there were 479.97 GL long-term cap equivalent (LTCE) of water entitlements available for use. Water recovery measures to recover a further 7.1 GL LTCE are being completed and will be made available for allocation and use over the coming months. Recovered water becomes available for use by The Living Murray once it is listed on the Environmental Water Register. The process to approve such a listing takes some months to complete as each water recovery measure undergoes an independent review and must then be recommended to the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council for final approval. Why don’t the numbers seem to add up?When considering the water recovery information for the first time, it might seem that the numbers don’t add up. There are several explanations for this. The LTCE or long-term Cap equivalent number does not equal the sum of any entitlements recovered under the measures. This is because the entitlements gained are all converted to LTCE for accounting under The Living Murray as this figure takes account of the long-term reliability of allocation under different entitlements and therefore produces a common unit of measure. To illustrate the difference, the 486.78 GL LTCE on the Environmental Water Register is currently made up of approximately 986.78 GL of entitlements, but some of those entitlements are low reliability and would be available only under average/wet conditions. They are thus ‘worth’ comparatively much less as an LTCE volume. The information in the Water Recovery Progress Report seems to differ from previous announcements by some states who have reported they have met their targets. This is because they would have met all major milestones for their projects and can satisfactorily say that the water is secured. After a project is complete investors must all sign a completion notice, the project is independently reviewed and the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council has to approve it. Until this is done, the Environmental Water Register will not reflect the recovered water as entitlements available for use. What will be the likely make-up of The Living Murray portfolio?The Living Murray portfolio will include a broad range of types of water entitlements, including high, medium and low security regulated water entitlements, along with some unregulated water entitlements. A range of low, medium and high security water offers the best balance in providing guaranteed water in low-rainfall years and the largest volume of water possible in high-rainfall years. More information on the licensed entitlements that will comprise the portfolio is contained in the summary of water recovery measures. How does The Living Murray fit with other water recovery programs?A range of current government initiatives will recover water for the environment. The water recovery component of The Living Murray is supported by an inter-jurisdictional group, which includes representatives from the Australian, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and Australian Capital Territory Governments (and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority). Some of the other programs recovering water for the environment include:
Will all of the 500 GL be available for use on the environment?All water entitlements recovered for The Living Murray will be used to maintain the health of the six icon sites, including the River Murray Channel. How will The Living Murray water portfolio be used to water the icon sites?Delivery of water available under The Living Murray water portfolio will be guided by The Living Murray Environmental Watering Plan and, possibly in the future, as part of the Basin Environmental Watering Plan. The general aim is to replicate natural watering cycles at the sites. This is likely to mean that large-scale watering events are delivered to sites at approximately 3- to 5-year intervals and sites would receive low to moderate amounts in the intervening years. It is most likely that the volumes of water available in any year would be largely used on only 1–2 sites, with different sites watered in the subsequent couple of years. This approach and the establishment of works to efficiently deliver water will mean that very large-scale watering of sites will be possible, creating far greater ecological benefits than was first anticipated with 500 GL. The linked graph shows possible watering of sites, drawing on The Living Murray portfolio, based on modelled flows in the Murray over the previous century. It also shows that the volume available to The Living Murray will vary each year rather than be a constant 500 GL each year. Actual watering in the future will require a number of further policy decisions about how water can be used and accounted for, so the graph is indicative only. In comparison to the future watering potential, very modest volumes of water have been available for use over the past 4 years. This is because of two reasons: the vast majority of TLM entitlements have become available only over the last year, and allocations against entitlements have been very low during much of the past 4 years because of the recent drought. However, even these very small volumes of water have made a large difference in protecting drought refuges at the sites. In addition to water recovered under The Living Murray, the Murray–Darling Basin Authority manages various other environmental entitlements drawing on the water-planning frameworks in place for The Living Murray. This includes water available as River Murray Increased Flows under the Snowy Agreement and the Barmah–Millewa Forest Allocation. The authority also works closely with other holders and managers of environmental water such as the Commonwealth Water Holder, state government agencies, catchment management authorities and regional environmental working groups. This has resulted in a number of collaborative watering events. Who manages The Living Murray environmental water and how are they accountable for using this water?The Murray–Darling Basin Authority and the government partners to The Living Murray manage the recovered environmental water consistent with The Living Murray Environmental Watering Plan which is agreed by the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council. The Murray–Darling Basin Authority convenes the Environmental Watering Group, comprising state partner agencies, MDBA staff and representatives from the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, and the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, to develop an annual watering plan. The plan provides principles for environmental water use based on the conditions of icon sites and forecast water availability. The details of the environmental watering activities throughout the year are then detailed in the Annual Environmental Watering Report which is published on the authority website. The management of The Living Murray environmental water is also independently audited on an annual basis along with other sub-programs of The Living Murray. What is the environmental health of the icon sites?The Living Murray was initiated because of the poor prospects of maintaining the health of areas of the floodplain and river with high ecological value. Five years was seen as a reasonable period of time to recover water for the sites (which led to the 2009 water recovery timeframe). However, in the meantime the Basin and the Murray River have experienced unprecedented and prolonged drought. The health of the icon sites has been severely affected by the recent drought, which is now commonly thought to have been exacerbated by climate change. Events such as the recent drought are part of the natural cycle of the Murray River. However, this recent drought was drier and longer than any on record. The Living Murray initiated a significant recovery of environmental water for use at the icon sites, and small amounts of water have already been applied to icon sites over the last 4 years. Without the small volumes of water available under The Living Murray, these sites would have received considerably less water during these drought conditions. Through targeted environmental watering, The Living Murray program has managed to prevent irreversible damage to important drought refuges in the icon sites. Throughout the First Step, The Living Murray program has presented an accurate picture of the health of the icon sites. It is vitally important that all Australians understand the severity of the drought in the Murray–Darling Basin and its impact on not just the environment, but the communities and industries that rely on the Basin’s environmental health. It is expected that nearly all of the ecological objectives at the sites will be able to be met in the future with the water recovered by The Living Murray, although the sites will be starting from a very low level of health. Despite the long-term, debilitating drought, The Living Murray has achieved some of its ecological objectives at the icon sites, such as improving passage for native fish by building fishways on the Murray under the Sea to Hume program. What’s the next step for The Living Murray?The next steps for The Living Murray are:
Further environmental watering requirements for the Murray River will be developed in the context of the Basin Plan currently being developed by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority. Where can I get more information?The Living Murray Business Plan 2007 Guidelines for water recovery in The Living Murray TLM environmental watering Reports Independent Audit Group reports (2005–06, 2006–07, 2007-08, 2008-09 , 2009-10 ) TLM implementation report (2008-09 , 2009-10 )
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