Sustainable Diversion Limits Issues Paper - Overview

Background information

A central element of the Basin Plan is to set environmentally sustainable limits on the amount of water that can be taken from the Basin’s water resources. These are known as sustainable diversion limits (SDLs). SDLs will limit the amount of surface water and groundwater that can be taken from the Basin and will replace the current cap system.

The Proposed Basin Plan is scheduled to be released for a minimum 16 week public comment period in mid-2010.  Following this consultation, the final Basin Plan is due to be completed in 2011. 

Ahead of the formal consultation period, the MDBA released for public comment the Development of sustainable diversion limits for the Murray-Darling Basin issues paper which sets out our proposed process for developing SDLs and explains how they may be expressed in the Basin Plan.

You can download the sustainable diversion limits issues paper here.

We invited comments on the issues paper from 12 November to 18 December 2009.  We welcomed any comments on this paper, but raised five specific questions for readers to consider:

• Which water resource plan areas should be used?
• Which forms of ‘take’ should be limited by the SDLs?
• How should SDL provisions be determined in a way that optimises economic, social and environmental outcomes?
• How should surface water-groundwater connectivity be dealt with?
• How should SDLs be set and expressed?

In addition, the paper was discussed at two forums organised by the authority in Canberra in December 2009 (the Peak Bodies Forum and the Government and Science Forum), and one with Indigenous communities in the northern Basin also in December 2009.

Submissions

We received a total of 153 submissions from various stakeholders.  These included:

• Australian, state and local government agencies;
• organisations representing agriculture, horticulture, irrigation, the environment, science and research; and
• individuals.

We have published all non-confidential submissions on our website and they can be accessed by clicking here.

Summary of submissions

Attached is a summary of the issues raised in response to the five questions asked in the SDLs issues paper. Many submissions also raised other issues to do with developing the Basin Plan, more generally. These other issues are also summarised. Full details of matters raised in the submissions can be found in the original submissions themselves. The summary also includes information about how we are responding to stakeholders’ views concerning the Basin Plan. We have not attempted to respond in detail to the issues raised in the submission as this is the subject of ongoing work in developing the proposed Basin Plan. We have commissioned a detailed technical review of all submissions to ensure that key elements and information from the submissions are fully considered and taken into account in the proposed Basin Plan.

We appreciate the input received through submissions and recognises the considerable time and effort that went to in providing so many substantive comments. We have heard clearly from stakeholders their issues and concerns, and their input will be taken into account in developing the proposed Basin Plan.