Committees and decision making

The governance arrangements for water resources in the Murray–Darling Basin have been developed to meet changing needs of communities, industries and our rivers, lakes and wetlands.

The Murray–Darling Basin is managed through a partnership between the Australian Government and the governments of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (the Basin states).

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) reports to the Australian Government minister responsible for water. Governance comprises the:

• Australian Government minister responsible for water
• Ministerial Council (Basin government water ministers)
• Basin Officials Committee (officials from 6 Basin governments)
• Basin Community Committee (members of the Basin community)
• Advisory Committee of Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences
• Murray–Darling Basin Authority (6 members including the MDBA Chief Executive)

The Authority is supported by MDBA staff located in Adelaide, Canberra, Goondiwindi, Toowoomba, Wodonga and other regions within the Basin.

Managing Basin water resources

There are a number of key government agencies and advisory committees involved in implementing the Basin Plan.

These agencies and committees assist with:

• water resource plans
• compliance
• water markets and trade
• recovering water
• water for the environment
• monitoring and evaluation
• the sustainable diversion limit adjustment process
• River Murray operations and joint programs.

Governance of the Murray–Darling Basin Authority

The current governance arrangements are set out in the Water Act 2007, which establishes a cooperative arrangement for the management of water resources in the Basin. The governance arrangements are summarised in the diagram below.