River plan ready to run

All the impacted States – NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria – have agreed to co-operate to return 2750 gigalitres of water back into flow to benefit the environment.

NSW was the last State to sign the agreement, holding out until the Commonwealth agreed to limit irrigation buybacks to 1500GL.

It has taken six years for an agreement since then Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull developed the policy in 2007.

The Commonwealth will also fund new infrastructure to boost the efficiency of the system and reduce waste to make up the remainder of the environmental flows.

In signing the plan, NSW secured $80 million for planning and development costs until 2020.

An additional $32.5m will be spent on regional development projects to assist Basin communities cope with impacts from the Basin Plan, dubbed the Murray-Darling Basin Regional Economic Diversification Program.

Irrigators praised NSW Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson’s role in the process, holding out to leverage better conditions.

“While the NSW Liberal and Nationals government agreed there needed to be a Basin Plan, I have remained steadfast in refusing – on behalf of our rural and regional communities – to implement it until key issues were addressed,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

However, NSW went to water on a key condition that limited sales of water entitlements to three per cent, per valley, per decade.

Irrigators John Bradford and Bruce Simpson said if water entitlements were lowered, it could cripple farmers and communities in their districts.

Trawling through the detail of the basin plan can be enough to make the eyes water, but that is where the big unknown for all stakeholders lies.

Where will the extra environmental water come from?

About 1150GL has already been secured in buybacks, and 750GL through increased efficiencies in infrastructure and on-farm programs.

That leaves 850GL still to be found; 650GL is earmarked to come from efficiency measures and 200GL from more buybacks.

Localised impacts won’t be revealed until new caps on consumptive use in catchments, known as sustainable diversion limits, are known. They take effect in 2019.

Meanwhile, new water trading rules, potentially setting higher prices on water, are slated for this year.

Full implementation of the Basin Plan is set for 2024, when rules and regulations for water delivery across the system are finalised.