Susan Close, Deputy Premier of South Australia, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water (SA), Media Release, 16 June 2023
For the third consecutive year, South Australian River Murray irrigators will start the 2023-24 financial year with 100 per cent of their water allocation.
The floods have contributed to high River Murray system storages, with the major dams at 90 per cent capacity – 26 per cent above the long-term average for the end of June.
The floods have also provided much welcome benefits for SA’s floodplain and wetland environments from Chowilla in the Riverland, down to the Coorong.
The River Murray Water Allocation Plan was recently revised to improve access to private carryover in dry years. In accordance with the plan, carryover will not be available in 2023‑24 because the projected minimum opening allocation is greater than 50 per cent.
South Australian irrigators use about 424 gigalitres of River Murray water each year, compared to about 200GL used by the remainder of the state. Victorian and NSW irrigators use about 7000 GL between them.
With such significant demand on the River Murray, it is important the river’s health is maintained with sufficient environmental flows, particularly in drier periods. The Malinauskas government is working with the Albanese government to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, including the 450GL promised to South Australia but not yet delivered.
Given the failure of successive Coalition governments to deliver any meaningful water efficiency measures, voluntary buybacks, by far the most efficient and cost effective way to return environmental water to the system, will likely play a role in delivering the 450GL.
For more information, visit the Department for Environment and Water’s website and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority website.
Quotes attributable to Susan Close
This is much needed good news for the state’s irrigators following the devastation caused by the recent flooding.
The Malinauskas government is continuing to support communities affected by floods though our grants programs and other initiatives.
We will also keep fighting for the implementation of the Basin Plan in full including delivery of the additional 450 gigalitres of environmental water agreed to in 2012.
The floods have delivered an ecological reset the length of the river and this is why we need to deliver the environmental flows promised under the Plan so we can take this opportunity to take better care of this incredible resource.
