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Murray Darling Basin Plan
Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council Communique: MDBA
Murray-Darling Basin Water Ministers met on Ngunnawal Country (Canberra) to discuss the next steps to deliver the Basin Plan, delivery of water market reforms, the impacts of climate change on water resources, and opportunities to strengthen First Nations' role in water management and ownership. Most of the Murray–Darling Basin is the wettest it’s been in a long time.
Councils welcome renewed focus on social and economic impacts of the Basin Plan
The Murray River Group of Councils has welcomed an updated report from Frontier Economics and Tim Cummins and Associates which clearly shows the impact of Basin Plan water recovery on communities across Northern Victoria. As water Ministers prepare to meet to discuss the Basin Plan, this timely report puts the focus where it needs to be: on the people who live and work in the Basin.
Water buybacks to further damage Northern Victorian dairy industry: VFF
The Victorian Farmers Federation’s United Dairy Farmers of Victoria (VFF UDV) says Northern Victoria’s dairy industry would be further damaged by water buybacks and the recovery of the 450GL up-water target ahead of this week’s meeting of State and Federal Water Ministers to discuss the Murray Darling Basin Plan. VFF UDV President Mark Billing said the group strongly opposed the recovery of the 450GL saying it would lead to losses in dairy production and local jobs.
Carp eradication plan must be made public immediately: Centofanti
The long-awaited National Carp Control Plan has now been handed to the federal Agriculture Department, but there is no news on when it will be made public. The South Australian Liberal Party is calling on the Labor Government to publicly release the plan immediately.
Dispelling myths about water: Ron Pike
The myths about water are many. They range from Australia being the driest continent on earth, to all of our rivers dying from overuse, right up to the government being required to return water to the environment ... here are some not-so-well-known facts that should be shouted out in the present flood of misinformation about our water resources.
River management flowing in the right direction but scope for improvement: Grant
The report highlights the complexities of water management and notes that each Basin government holds information about rules, entitlements, allocations, and environmental water - there is no single source of information. This is something the Inspector-General has noticed as part of a trend, with states operating under their individual jurisdictional powers.
Strategy Group’s ‘positive’ meeting with Minister
The Murray Regional Strategy Group (MRSG) has been buoyed by positive engagement with new federal Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek ...MRSG Chair, Geoff Moar, said it was a positive meeting and that, “We felt we covered more ground today than we have in a very long time ... The Minister understands that we do not support more water buybacks from our region, and also acknowledged there are a number of problems which need a flexible approach if they are going to be fixed.”
Dartmouth Dam to spill for the first time in 26 years: MDBA
After hovering around 99% capacity for 4 weeks, the largest water storage in the Murray–Darling Basin is expected to be flowing over the spillway tomorrow thanks to inflows from last weekend's rain. MDBA Senior Director of River Management, Joe Davis said water would begin flowing over the Dartmouth Dam spillway at low rates and contribute minor flows to the Mitta Mitta River downstream, with water also still being released through the valves at the base of the dam.
Darling/Baaka sacrificed for northern irrigators
‘The NSW Coalition and the Shooters Fishers Farmers Party have condemned the Darling/Baaka to longer periods of dry riverbed with stagnant slimy pools. This decline in river health started when floodplain harvesting exploded upstream during the 1990’s. The NSW Government has rewarded decades of unsustainable and unregulated water use with new licences while conducting no assessment of the downstream impacts on Darling/Baaka communities, native fish populations, groundwater recharge and important wetland areas’: Brian Stevens, spokesperson for Inland Rivers Network.
Aboriginal Elder calls for greater consultation on water
The Department of Planning and Environment has had more than 100 interactions with First Nations people on environmental water, including Wiradjuri elder Michael Lyons, of Narrandera. Mr Lyons said one per cent of water in the Murrumbidgee River was allocated to Aboriginal people for cultural or environmental use and there needed to be improved communication about where that allocated water ended up.
