FOI disclosure log

Meeting agendas and minutes of the Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Assessment Committee (SDLAAC), March 2013 until November 2017 inclusive.

The request excludes personal information and duplicate documents.

75 documents were identified in total:

74 documents released in full with irrelevant information deleted from 69 of these 74 documents under section 22 of the FOI Act; and

1. A copy of the minutes of any meeting(s) at which the Authority decided to make the recommendation(s) to the Minister to accredit the Fractured Rock WRP (see Water Act 2007 (Cth) ss 194, 196).
2. If the Authority decided to make the recommendation(s) to the Minister to accredit the Fractured Rock WRP without a meeting, a copy of the record(s) of all decisions required to be made in accordance with Water Act 2007 (Cth) s 197 (see Water Act 2007 (Cth) ss 197, 198).

This request excludes:

3. personal information (as defined for the purposes of s 47F of the FOI Act) except insofar it is necessary to release personal information in order for it to be apparent on the face of the documents that/when individual members of the Authority are contributing to a decision making process; and
4. any information which is publicly available.

Note: References to the "Authority" in this Application are to be understood by reference to s 177 of the Water Act 2007 (Cth)

1 document was identified in total:

All documents that were before the Authority (including, where relevant, any delegate(s) of the Authority) including without limitation any proposed decision brief (or similar document) and any attachments to it, for consideration when making the recommendation to the Minister to accredit the [NSW Murray-Darling Basin Fractured Rock] WRP, pursuant to section 63 of the Water Act.

This request excludes:

1. personal information (as defined for the purposes of s47F of the FOI Act);
2. any information which is publicly available; and
3. Attachments A to EE in Schedule C (NSW Murray-Darling Basin Fractured Rock Consultation Report) and any direct extract from those documents.

13 documents were identified in total:
10 documents released in full with irrelevant information deleted from 1 of these 10 documents under section 22 of the FOI Act;
1 document released in part due to the application of the following exemption: section 42 (legal professional privilege) of the FOI Act and with irrelevant information deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act; and

1. In relation to all proposed water resource plans for the NSW Border Rivers Alluvium water resource plan area, including the following:

1. draft NSW Border Rivers Alluvium Water Resource Plan submitted April 2020 and withdrawn May 2021;
2. draft NSW Border Rivers Alluvium Water Resource Plan resubmitted February 2022;

all:

3. correspondence (including but not limited to: emails and letters (including attachments or enclosures));

4. file notes of telephone attendances and meetings; and

5. meeting minutes,

6. briefing materials,

produced or received since 1 May 2021, that:

7. refer to or comprise pre‐submission checks and informal feedback between the Authority and the NSW Government (including the Authority’s Board and its executive and non‐executive employees, and Ministers and executive and non‐executive employees of the NSW Government) in the “assist” and “assess” stage of the accreditation process; and

2. In relation to all 20 draft NSW WRPs, all documents which set out the grounds on which the Authority determined that it should recommend that the Minister not accredit a proposed WRP (Notice of Grounds), pursuant to s63(4)(a) of the Water Act other than:

1. Notice of Ground dated 4 November 2020 for the proposed Lachlan (Surface Water) Water Resource Plan;
2. Notice of Grounds dated 12 February 2021 for the proposed Namoi Alluvium (Groundwater) Water Resource Plan;
3. Notice of Grounds dated 17 March 2021 for the proposed Namoi (Surface Water) Water Resource Plan;
4. Notice of Grounds dated 25 March 2021 for the proposed Murrumbidgee (Surface Water) Water Resource Plan;
5. Notice of Grounds dated 23 April 2021 for the proposed Gwydir Alluvium (Groundwater) Water Resource Plan;
6. Notice of Grounds dated 6 May 2021 for the proposed Murray and Lower Darling Water Resource Plan;
7. Notice of Grounds dated 6 May 2021 for the proposed NSW Border Rivers (Surface Water) Water Resource Plan; and
8. Notice of Grounds dated 6 May 2021 for the proposed NSW Border Rivers (Alluvium) Water Resource Plan.

3. In paragraph 2, 20 draft NSW WRPs only refers to the versions of proposed water resource plans originally submitted by NSW under s 63 of the Water Act and withdrawn by NSW in 2020 and 2021.
This request excludes:

1. personal information (as defined for the purposes of s47F of the FOI Act);

2. any information which is publicly available ; and

3. All attachments to Schedule C (Consultation Report) to each of the Water Resource Plans set out in paragraph 1(a)‐(f) of this request and any direct extract from those documents or any information that the MDBA understands comprises sensitive, secret or sacred cultural information as identified through consultation.

77 documents were identified in total:

76 documents released in full with irrelevant information deleted from 69 of these 76 documents under section 22 of the FOI Act; and

1 document released in part due to the application of the following conditional exemption: section 47B of the FOI Act (Commonwealth-state relations) and with irrelevant information deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act.

In relation to the proposed NSW Border Rivers Alluvium WRPs, all:

1. correspondence (including but not limited to: emails and letters (including attachments or enclosures);
2. file notes of telephone attendances and meetings;
3. meeting minutes; and
4. briefing materials,

produced or received since the proposed NSW Border Rivers Alluvium WRP was re-submitted in February 2022,

5. that were sent to, or received from, relevant First Nations representatives:
   1. in relation to the Authority's consultation about whether the proposed NSW Border Rivers Alluvium WRPs were consistent with the requirements regarding Indigenous values and uses in Chapter 10, Part 14 of the Basin Plan, and chapter 10, Part 9 (specifically, identification of risks to Indigenous values and uses); or
   2. which related to the need for any additional advice.

In this paragraph:

1. proposed NSW Border Rivers Alluvium WRPs are a reference to all proposed water resource plans for the NSW Border Rivers Alluvium water resource plan area that were/was re-submitted to the Authority, in February 2022.
2. Relevant First Nations representatives includes, but is not limited to, the Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations (NBAN), Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (Bigambul), i2i Development Global Pty Ltd and all representatives who were identified as being consulted by NSW in the NSW Border Rivers Alluvium Water Resource Plan Consultation Report dated July 2019.
3. additional advice is a reference to:
   1. advice referred to in paragraph 32 of the Water Resource Plan Assessment Report – Proposed NSW Border Rivers Alluvium Water Resource Plan (August 2022), and
   2. other advice sought or received by the MDBA, in relation to the proposed NSW Border Rivers Alluvium WRPs from Relevant First Nations representatives about Indigenous values and uses which aren't already caught by paragraph c.i. above.

This request excludes:

1. personal information (as defined for the purposes of s47F of the FOI Act);
2. any information which is publicly available; and
3. Attachments A to F in Schedule C (Consultation Report) to the NSW Border Rivers Alluvium Water Resource Plan and any direct extract from those documents or any information that the MDBA understands comprises sensitive, secret or sacred cultural information as identified through consultation.

15 documents were identified in total:

15 documents released in full with irrelevant information deleted from 13 documents of these 15 documents under section 22 of the FOI Act.

Any briefing notes and minutes between 1 January 2019 and 31 August 2020 relating to the Wyangala Dam expansion.

6 documents released in full (with irrelevant information deleted from 3 of the 6 documents).

73 documents released in full (noting 53 of these documents have had irrelevant information deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act where appropriate/practicable);

2 documents (Documents 29 and 30) released in part with exempt information deleted under sections 47H (incomplete research) and 47G (business information) of the FOI Act – both of these documents also have irrelevant information redacted under section 22 of the FOI Act; and

2 documents (Documents 20 and 24) exempt in full under section 47H (incomplete research).

All correspondence, including attachments, received from:

• NSW Irrigators Council
• National Irrigators Council
• Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association
• Namoi Water
• Macquarie River Food and Fibre
• Border Rivers Food & Fibre
• Barwon Darling Water

between 1 April and 31 July 2020.
In this request I do not seek:

1. Personal information except for the name of the sender and/or recipient, or officers above EL2; and

17 documents released in full (with irrelevant information deleted from 9 of the 17 documents).

Meeting/briefing papers to/of the Basin Officials Committee, the River Murray Operations Committee and/or the Capacity Policy Working Group dated this financial year (i.e. from 1 July 2019 to 30 March 2020, being the date of this FOI request) on the risks that increases in permanent plantings or plantations pose to the management of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the sustainability of water resources allocated from the Murray-Darling Basin having regard to capacity constraints.*

*Excluding:

• drafts;
• duplicate documents; and
• personal information of non-SES staff.

29 documents released in full (with irrelevant information deleted from 17 documents of these 29 documents)*; and

1 document (Document 12) released in part due to the application of the conditional exemption under s 47B of the FOI Act (Commonwealth-State relations) to some of the information in that document (which has been deleted to provide you access to the rest of the document).

All correspondence between the MDBA and NSW water that relates to $0 value transaction issues identified in this audit Water Trade Price Reporting*

*Noting:

1. NSW water includes both WaterNSW and NSW Department of Planning, Industry & Environment.
2. The timeframe to search for documents is from the beginning of the audit project until the FOI date, being: 01/05/2018 - 09/03/2020.
3. $0 value transaction issues refer to both the specific recommendations/information outlined in the audit and $0 value transaction issues outlined in part 2 of the Audit;
4. This request does not seek:
   1. personal information about non-Executive employees from Commonwealth agencies, State agencies and employees of private businesses; and
   2. names/identifying details of entities and individuals involved in specific trades (e.g. business names, Water Access Licence numbers etc.).

68 documents released in full (with irrelevant information deleted from 54 documents).

External correspondence (excluding attachments, but including filenames/document titles of attachments) between Senior Executive Staff (SES) of the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and any staff of the following:

a. The Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources' Office;
b. Cotton Australia;
c. National Irrigators' Council; or
d. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC),
that relate directly to:
e. ABC's Four Corners program 'Pumped: Who's benefitting from the billions spent on the Murray-Darling?' sent or received from 24 July 2017 (the date the program aired) to 7 September 2018;
f. ABC's Background Briefing 'Best laid plans: The Murray Darling Basin in crisis'(Parts 1, 2 and 3) from 27 April 2018 (the date the Part 1 was podcast) to 7 September 2018.

2. Final documents or correspondence submitted or sent by the MDBA as formal complaints to the ABC regarding any ABC program or report between 24 July 2017 and 7 September 2018.

Include only the final email in any complete email chain, so as to include at least one copy of each email within scope.

Exclude duplicate documents or documents which are publicly available.

Exclude any draft materials.

Exclude signatures, phone numbers and names of staff below SES.

Full access granted to 1 document.

Partial access granted to 8 documents.

Refuse access to 3 documents.

I request all modelling reports relating to Unimplemented Policy Measures and / or Pre-Requisite Policy Measures between 1 November 2013 and 30 June 2014. 

Please exclude any material that has been made previously available and identify where that information has been made available. 

Please exclude the names of any staff below Executive Level 2, and all signatures. Please exclude duplicates and include only the last complete email chain in each.

Full access granted to 6 documents.

Partial access granted to 14 documents.

Documents relating to costs paid by the MDBA per annum to an external marketing company to run the MDBA Facebook page.

No documents found.

I request all correspondence including all attachments sent between 7 November to 23 November 2016 where that correspondence refers to, had attached or was sent along with the draft or final Northern Basin Review report, and where that correspondence was sent to or received from:

• The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office
• The Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resource’s Office
• Any staff of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
• The contractor engaged to assist with the Northern Basin Review

Please exclude any material that has been made previously available and identify where that information has been made available.

Please exclude the names of any staff below Executive Level 2, and all signatures.

Please exclude duplicates and include only the last complete email chain in each.

Partial access granted to 7 document. Full access granted to 3 documents.

I refer to Question on Notice 165 of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, Additional estimates, March 2018 (here).

I request the documents that were attached to correspondence listed in this Question on Notice there named Attachments 3 and 4.

Please exclude the names of any staff below Executive Level 2, and all signatures.

Please exclude duplicates and include only the last complete email chain in each.

Partial access granted to 1 document. Full access granted to 5 documents.

1. All emails sent in response to the email that is Document 33 (including all complete email chains sent by anyone in which that email was included);
2. Any other subsequent emails that related to the reports mentioned in Document 33, namely
   • FOI 90: Technical Report – Ecological Needs of Low Flows in the Barwon-Darling
   • Technical Report – Observed Flows in the Barwon-Darling A Hydrologic Investigation Include all attachments. Include only the final email in any email complete email chain, so as to include at least one copy of each email within scope.

Exclude duplicate documents or anything where the agency can indicate where it is publicly available.

Exclude signatures and phone numbers, and names of staff below EL2.

Full access granted to 4 documents.

Partial access granted to 38 documents.

Refuse access to 9 documents.

Under the FOI Act I would like to request the NBR Report sent by email to Rory Treweeke from Russell James on 16 November 2016.

Partial access granted to 1 document.

Under the FOI Act I request all documents created from 1 November 2016 to 22 March 2018 that are

a. reports, memos or briefings containing:

1. any analysis of observed (or actual or gauged) flows in the Northern Murray-Darling Basin and/or the Lower Darling;
2. any comparison of modelled flows to observed (or actual, or gauged) flows in the Northern Murray-Darling Basin and/or the Lower Darling;

Full access granted to 34 documents.

Partial access granted to 28 documents.

Under the FOI Act I request

a. Final hydrological modelling scenario outputs produced for "BP-2800" (MDBA (2012) Hydrologic modelling to inform the proposed Basin Plan: Methods and results), specifically daily volume by gauge for:

• Border Rivers,
• Gwydir,
• Namoi-Peel,
• Macquarie-Castlereagh and Bogan,
• Barwon-Darling,
• Paroo and Warrego.

Full access granted to 1 document.

Under the FOI Act I request

a. all documents created between 1 January 2011 to 1 December 2016 that that include or refer to

1. The accreditation of the Barwon-Darling Cap Model;

Full access granted to 7 documents.

Under the FOI Act I request documents created between January 2015 and 23 March 2018 that are:

a. the following:

• "Pre-Requisite Policy Measures Assessment Guidelines"
• All draft or final versions of any "Pre-Requisite Policy Measures Implementation Plan" for New South Wales and the River Murray;
• Any MDBA assessment of Pre-Requisite Policy Measures Implementation Plans for New South Wales and the River Murray;
• Any independent review of any MDBA assessment of Pre-Requisite Policy Measures Implementation Plans;
• Any final reports or briefings outlining results for the delivery of environmental water Multi-site environmental watering trials (also known as Large scale watering events, or Environmental watering activities) – excluding documents that refer only to the use of that water or ecological results without referring to the results of environmental water delivery;

b. all comments about the above documents (in part 1 of this request) provided to the MDBA by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) or the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office (CEWO), and any documents referring to CEWH or CEWO responses;

Partial access granted to 112 documents.

Full access granted to 96 documents.

Partial access granted to 189 documents (s47F – personal privacy and s47B – Commonwealth-State relations).

Refuse access to 1 document (s47B – Commonwealth-State relations).

1. all versions of the Northern Basin Review Report, including where marked as draft or for consultation or under embargo or embargoed, that were created or sent by the MDBA in November 2016, and sent to people or agencies outside of the MDBA; and
2. any correspondence in November 2016 which had attached, was sent along with, or contains a link to any draft version of the Northern Basin Review Report, whether sent externally or not.

Full access granted to 3 documents.

Partial access granted to 34 documents (s47F – personal privacy).

1. All documents in relation to the introduction of the proposed amendment to the continuous accounting model (CAM) in the Border Rivers Water Management Area (as described in the provided information sheet -TRIM Ref D18/1987);
2. Documents, dated on or after 1 January 2016 in relation to any proposed amendment to:
   1. The Water Plan (Border Rivers) 2003;
   2. The Border Rivers Resource Operations Plan (in particular, section 250);
   3. The Resource Operations Licences which are subject to the Water Plan (Border Rivers) 2013 and the Border Rivers Resource Operations Plan; and
   4. The operations Manuals held pursuant to the Resource Operations Licences mentioned above;
3. Any modelling (hydrological or otherwise) in relation to the proposed amendment to the CAM in the Border Rivers Water Management Area (as described in the information sheet);
4. Any reports correspondence (including emails), notes or other documents in relation to hydrological or other modelling mentioned in item 3 above;
5. All documents in relation to the measurement of water flows in the Weir and Barwon river system (specifically in relation to the Newinga breakout and the Upper Newinga Breakout of Barwon water into the Weir River and vice versa, upstream of Worral Creek and downstream of measuring points in the Weir river) dated on or after January 1 1993;
6. Any submissions in relation to the Border Rivers Water Plan or Water Resource Plan to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority for Assessment pursuant to section 63 of the Water Act 2007 (Cth);
7. All documents in relation to the assessment of submissions made by, or on behalf of;
   1. Reardon Operations PTY LTD, Reardon Farms P/Ship, Reardon Farms Pty Ltd, JKM Partnership Pty Ltd, More Mud Pty Ltd, Kotaki Pty Ltd;
   2. Border Rivers Food and fibre; and/or
   3. Mr Owen Droop of OD Hydrology;
8. All documents in relation to data from the Jericho river gauge in the lower weir river, the Talwood gauge in the Lower weir river and the Kanowna gauge on the Barwon river;
9. All documents in relation to case 0605J and Node 096 (Newinga system files versus Newinga rating); and
10. All documents regarding modelling done by Rod Dew or other Hydrologists in the named areas and timeframe.

11 documents released in full.

31 documents released in part.

11 documents released in full.

9 documents released in part.

Minutes and papers, reports and correspondence of the Advisory Group for Hume to Yarrawonga Waterway Management (AGHYWM) meetings in 2016. In particular the meeting held in Howlong NSW around April 2016.

12 documents released in full.

5 documents released in part.

Information, images or locations pertaining to the aircraft wrecks in and around Lake Victoria that the MDBA may hold.

Documents held by the Authority in relation to the copy of the final, or current draft(s) of the, Sustainable Rivers Audit report (as referred to on the Authority's website at http://mdba.gov.au/programs/sustainable-rivers-audit.

Documents held by the Authority in relation to:

1. Executive-level reports or analysis conducted by or for the Authority, or received by the Authority, on the capacity of South Australian water users to achieve further water savings by the following means:
   1. More efficient irrigation infrastructure;
   2. More efficient water delivery infrastructure (eg enclosing open channels as pipelines);
   3. NOT elimination of evaporation in naturally occurring lakes, billabongs, wetlands or river or creek channels.
2. Outcomes of the same analysis conducted concerning New South Wales and Victoria respectively; 
3. Estimates or actual amounts that the Authority is aware of that have been paid by the Federal Government since 1 January 2008 to each State for the type of savings described in point 1 above.

1 document released in full.

1 document released in part.

Documents held by the Authority in relation to Schedule E Protocol of the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement – Access, Exit and Termination Fees:

1. Who it is binding to.
2. Who was meant to monitor, report and enforce the agreement.
3. Who was involved in the drafting of the agreement.
4. Minutes of all the meetings involved with the drafting and finalising of the agreement.
5. All documents to support/ show how the document was formulated.    
6. Any other documents to support whether Infrastructure operators have to abide by the agreement.

20 documents released in full.

104 documents released in part.

Documents held by the Authority in relation to written or emailed correspondence between the Victorian Government and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority between 01/01/2012 and 04/06/2012 concerning the modelling that the Victorian Government has done in relation to the development of the Basin Plan.

17 documents were released in part.

Documents held by the Authority in relation to:

1. Letters sent or received after the publication of the Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan, between the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and any government of a Basin State (including Ministers thereof) regarding revising groundwater sustainable diversion limits contained in the Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan;
2. Any correspondence sent or received between 1st October 2010 and 14th May 2012, between the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and any mining company, representative of a mining company or mining industry association regarding groundwater sustainable diversion limits; and
3. Any correspondence sent by the current Chair of the Murray Darling Basin Authority to staff, Authority members or the Basin Community Committee regarding surface water sustainable diversion limits; and
4. Any letters sent after the publication of the Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan by previous Chairs of the Murray Darling Basin Authority to staff, Authority members or the Basin Community Committee regarding surface water sustainable diversion limits; and
5. Advice sent in April 2012 from the Basin Community Committee (or the Chair thereof) to the Authority (or the Chair thereof), regarding the Proposed Basin Plan.

10 documents released in full.

12 documents released in part.

1 document released in full.

1 document released in part.

Documents held by the Authority in relation to correspondence, since 28 January 2011, between the Authority Chair and/or Chief Executive and State/Territory Premiers/Ministers.

Document held by the Authority in relation to the copy of "Myth and the Murray – Management Of The Lower Lakes", as referred to in the answer to Question on Notice 152 asked through the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications October 2011 Supplementary Budget Estimates in the Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities portfolio.

Access to reports on all unpublished/unreleased socio-economic modelling on the impact of the Basin Plan and all briefing notes for Minister Burke and the Secretary of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Populations and Communities on inadequacies in existing modelling and the requirements of future modelling. (Revised scope).

All memoranda or briefings provided to or by the Minister and/or the Minister's office regarding the timing of the release of any draft Basin Plan or Guide to any draft, proposed or other Plan.

All memoranda or briefings provided to or by the Minister and/or the Minister's office regarding the timing of the release of any draft Basin Plan or Guide to any draft, proposed or other Plan.

All memoranda or briefings provided to or by the Minister and/or the Minister's office regarding the weighting given to environmental, social and economic considerations in development of the Basin Plan.

The Guide to the Basin Plan and/or the legal advice obtained by the Authority (and/or its officers) in respect of deferring the release of the Basin Plan and/or the Guide to the Basin Plan as a result of writs being issued for a Federal Election.

Documents relating to the 2009 tender MDB26-MDB Information Infrastructure Project: Stage 1" and recently proposed 'pre-procurement evaluation' relating to this project.