NATIONAL IRRIGATORS’ COUNCIL

MEDIA RELEASES

Advocating for the Australian irrigated agriculture industry

Following last week's Member Policy discussion, a Draft Position Statement on Climate Uncertainty is available for review and feedback.  Feedback is welcome by Friday 10th April.  We intend to finalise this Position Statement at our April General Meeting. 

REMINDER - the Blue box is the text that is agreed or voted on by Members and should be the focus of feedback.  The remaining text is background and can be updated as needed with new information without Member approval. 

Following feedback and discussion, we have updated the Basin Plan snapshot document to include climate as well as, more detail on the Basin Plan 2.0 and 1.0.

Visit the Members Area to see the web version of the attached PDF.

The Productivity Commission has released the terms of reference for the tree-yearly review into National Water Reform - this inquiry is into the National Water Initiative and its progress.  The review also includes terms to look at urban water infrastructure and pricing, and thus presents an opportunity to raise concerns with bulk water infrastructure and pricing. This is a tight timeframe, with a two-step process for an initial submission and a final submission deadline, which is similar to the usual process, it will mean we will not see a draft report rather an initial summary.  The intention is this information is available to the Minister prior to the end of 2026, to help inform the legislative program for 2027.

NIC has requested a direct meeting with the inquiry team and we will let you know when.

Part 3 of our Submission to the MDBA's Basin Plan Review Discussion paper is the full list of MDBA options, our NIC response and our own options.  This is available as a stand alone document. 

The first draft of our NIC Submission to the MDBA's Basin Plan Review Discussion Paper is now available.  Attached is the one document, which includes a brief one-pager on the review. The one-pager is designed as a stand alone document for decision makers, and hence its language is tailored accordingly.  The options table is also available separately on the Members Page. 

Feedback is welcomed, and I note we haven't specifically discussed northern connectivity or Menindee yet as a Membership group which will further shape this submission (although we anticipate a separate submission for Menindee Review).  We will have a Specific Member Drop in session scheduled for this in coming weeks, to give you time to read through the submission.  The submission has been written to provide an overarching key recommendations, with a number of specific recommendations within the report - the key list is the option table in Part 3.  We aimed to have it structured to allow, local views and regional examples, to be provided. 

The NIC team have uploaded and embedded a "live document" to help inform our submission development.  This includes overview of issues, SDL assessment and technical issues, options analysis.

The approach aims to be transparent with the key issues for the BP Review, proposed solutions and actions. The document will be updated as we progress through our analysis adn thinking.  

The MDBA options from the discussion paper, are also presented with draft comments outlining our potential responses for the submission.  In the options tab, we have also included previously recommended NIC positions for reference. 

This week, the statutory review of the Water Act 2007 (Cth) commenced. You can read the Terms of Reference and an Introductory Paper on the DCCEEW website. Consultation is now underway until July. We will discuss more at our next member drop-in session. 

Following the Member policy discussion on 25 February, please see the slides from this meeting. Key discussion points were reaffirming our positions, providing insights into our work program including our journal article on evidence to priorisation for the Basin Plan next steps a follow on from our triple crown framework, as well as our engagement and communications planing -internal and external. 

The NIC provided a written, public submission into the Review into the Inspector General Water Compliance saying: "Reviewing how the role is functioning towards these key principles is paramount as the new role matures over time, to ensure that these principles are being met, but also that this is occurring in an effective, efficient, fit-for-purpose and proportional manner. Nothing in this submission is to question or belittle the importance of these principles – rather – to examine how they can be most effectively and efficiently served."

A working draft of our proposed submission to the Independent Review of the Inspector General of Water Compliance, is available here. During this weeks Policy Discussion, feedback was received but not yet fully incorporated.  This is at the end of the submission and will be incorporated next week. 

Please review the working draft and provide any feedback to Christine by the end of next week, a further draft will then be circulated prior to finalising for submission on 25 February 2026.

NIC team have prepared an updated briefing note for Members on the MDBA Discussion Paper and provided some guidance on key areas to question from the MDBA during consultation roundtables next week.
Consideration of additional messages is underway, pending feedback following the consultation sessions. 

The powerpoint slides from the 11 February NIC Member Policy Discussion on the Review of the Inspector General of Water Compliance role and the initial analysis of the Basin Plan Review Discussion paper are available here.

As part of Basin Plan Review communication and information sharing, our first of our weekly Q&A sessions were held today.  These session are held every Tuesday at 1pm. See attached the slides.

Question and themes asked, will be generated into the live issues list and discussed in Policy Sessions, as scheduled every second Wednesday. 

The MDBA has been working with River Murray governments to collate and prepare background information on the historical and current operation and management arrangements for Menindee Lakes and the associated challenges and opportunities in operating and managing the Menindee Lakes into the future.  A technical review and issues paper have been released for information to inform the Basin Plan Review. 

Legalwise is again holding their annual Water Law Symposium in Sydney.
As water law continues to evolve in response to environmental challenges, policy reform and heightened regulatory scrutiny, secure expert guidance on key legal and strategic issues shaping Australia’s water governance framework. You will gain insights into the lessons of the past decade in water reform, the intersection of Indigenous rights and governance, and the design of the Basin Plan Review. 

A first look at the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s Basin Plan Review discussion paper, reveals again that more is needed than “just adding water” to improve the environments of the Basin. “The discussion paper should serve as an important wake up call to the Federal Government who continue to use old tools, for today’s challenges”, said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien.[...]

The MDBA have opened registrations for a series of webinars to support their consultation approach on the Basin Plan Review. The initial topics being how to make a submission, Menindee and SDL assessments. The webinars will be recorded and start from Monday next week. 

A link on these webinars is not yet available on their website but is available by clicking here. 

We have set up a new  Members only page on our website with all the information you need on the Basin Plan Review.

Reminder, you will need to have set up your Member sign in to access the page and all the information. 

The Department are reviewing the role of the Inspector-General of Water Compliance, to ensure it continues to add value to the management of the Murray Darling Basin.

This review is a requirement of the Water Act 2007 and must be completed by 30 June 2026.

Independent reviewers have been appointed.  A survey and or submissions are due by 25 February 2026.

The NIC Board are wanting to undertake a mid-term review of the performance and value of NIC, since the adoption of the new Strategic Plan and membership changes.  To inform this process, the Board are seeking views from Members and other targeted stakeholders on NIC performance, and how we represent the industry to Members and external stakeholders. 

A brief survey has been set up providing you and your organisation an opportunity to provide input and feedback to the Board.  It should take up to 10 minutes depending on your desired level of input.  The Survey will be open until 6th February 2026.

As always, please feel free to reach out to any of the Directors or Zara with feedback and input. 

“Today’s announcement is just smoke and mirrors by the Albanese Government,” said National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Zara Lowien. “Listing these areas [parts of Murray Basin floodplain] only adds complexity, creates uncertainty for new developments, overlooks the progress of the Basin Plan and offers no new solutions.” [...]

Office Closure

We're taking a short break to refuel and get ready for 2026.

The NIC Office will be closed from Monday, 22nd December 2025 until Monday 5th January 2026.

Ministerial Council update

On the 12th December, a national Water Minister's meeting and Murray Darling Basin Water Minister's meeting were held - these are known as MinCo meetings. 

The national meeting, discussed the preparation and next steps of a renewed National Water Initiative and progress on water efficiency standards, as well as, risks pertaining to increased demands on water including water for data centres (in our view any new demands for water should be found from new sources, or through existing markets).  The communique is available here.

The MDB meeting, discussed progress on the Basin Plan and concerns regarding SDLAM projects. There was no direction mention of constraints, however some discussion on a strategic approach to SDLAM projects. The communiqué is available here.

 NIC report reviewed the Federal Government’s purchases and found most have low environmental utility and cannot directly contribute to today’s environmental priorities in the Basin – despite costing taxpayers billions.“These additional water buybacks go beyond what was required to ‘bridge the gap’ to get Sustainable Diversion Limits in place for the Basin Plan,” said NIC CEO Zara Lowien “most of this additional water will not be able to be used as intended and unlikely to contribute to desired environmental outcomes”. [...]

There have been several concerns raised regarding the Federal Government’s decision to purchase additional water from farmers that go beyond the water recovery required to ‘bridge the gap’ to reduce water usage to Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs), in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The concerns relate to the effectiveness or need for additional water acquisition, with questions on how the Government’s actions are contributing to policy outcomes, meeting value for taxpayers’ money, and consider the growing evidence that signals alternatives approach to ‘just adding water’ are needed to enhance environmental outcomes around the Basin.

This Report by NIC, provides a preliminary assessment of the Federal Government purchases of additional water under “the 450 GL” program of the Plan. [...]

The amount of water that can be used in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin may need to drop by a further 255 to 355 gigalitres (GL) after 2026, as States remain behind on vital environmental projects, a new report finds

“Water use has drastically declined since the Basin Plan,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien “with one in three litres of irrigation water, now out of production and new Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs) set by the Basin Plan in force". [...]

The MDBA published the Murray-Darling Basin Outlook on Thursday 27 November, looking at the future hydroclimate of the Basin.

It considers a plausible range of climate futures to the year 2050 - assuming existing management arrangements, and will be used to inform evidence for the Basin Plan Review. 

A Member Briefing note is available in the Member Area. 

The Minister tabled the third independent review into the Water for Environment Special Account (WESA) which funds the 450 GL of additional water for the environment, constraints and the sustaining basin communities program.

A Member Briefing note with links is available in the Member Area. 

Farmers in the Basin are calling on the Federal Government to escalate water security for agriculture as a priority, following the findings of the Basin Outlook, published today which echoed findings from the National Climate Risk Assessment.

“All climate change scenarios will have significant risks on water security for Australian agriculture,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien “farmers are adapting every day to changing climate, but can only adapt so far, water security is critical” [...]

The Independent Panel reviewing the Water for Environment Special Account (WESA) has released its third and likely final report today.

The report focuses on the funding requirements of the WESA to implement the additional 450 GL of environmental water and constraints. It found, that there is a funding shortfall of $1.3 billion for the 450 GL program and that it is uncertain if the full target can be achieved.  It could not assess financial status of constraints beyond 2026 as no estimates of total costs are available and noted the remaining funds are sufficient for the expected expenses until 2026. No assessment on the Sustaining Basin Communities funding was undertaken as no outputs were measured, although they did highlight the need for more explicit guidelines on what is expected to be achieved. 

The National Irrigators’ Council is calling for an independent review of program outcomes, after a statutory review on the Water for the Environment Special Account (WESA) found an additional $1.3 billion would be needed to buy an additional 450 gigalitres, beyond what is required to achieve Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs) in the Murray Darling Basin.

“The report findings call into question the Government focus on just water, with a $1.3 billion blowout, and their own science saying priorities have shifted” said NIC CEO Zara Lowien [...]

Many stakeholders have been left shocked by yesterday’s Federal Government announcement to fast track an additional 130 gigalitres of water purchases from farmers in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin, despite evidence that the Basin management needs to move beyond “just adding water”.

“This was a missed opportunity for Minister Watt to put politics aside and send a strong message about refocusing the Basin Plan on outcomes, not just numbers” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien. [...]

This week the Government's proposed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 2025 Reform Bills (six of) were referred to the Senate Environment and Communications Committee for review. The Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Watt says the Australian Parliament must make a choice - support reform that will protect our treasured natural environment and drive productivity, or keep the broken, outdated laws we have which are failing business, the environment and our community.  However Senator  Sarah Hanson-Young said “The Albanese Government’s proposed environment bill will make things worse for nature and the climate. It will take environment protections backwards while fast tracking approvals for business.

Submissions are open now and close on 4 December 2025 with the Committee due to report March next year. 

Following our General Meeting and recent NIC policy discussion session, we have prepared a new Members Only Area on the Basin Plan Internal Strategy, and uploaded two key communication documents for Members to utilise during conversations with  the MDBA and others, on key points and evidence regarding the review of the Basin Plan. These documents include:
1. Internal strategy information on what we are aiming to achieve and how we will get there, with detailed explanations on the key areas of interest.  These are for guidance to keep our messaging consistent and should be high-level enough that you can add your local flair or specific area of interest.
2. External facing document to be shared amongst your networks with key findings and our key requests, as well as high-level points.    

IGWC released the 2023-2024 metering report card, providing an overview of how Basin States are progressing national metering standards. The report looks provides a snapshot of the progression towards AS4747 meters with NSW increasing their coverage of AS4747 meters, just behind Victoria which has the highest number. The report card does highlight the areas where NSW and QLD are still using estimates for water take, although these percentages are expected to decline with the roll-out of floodplain harvesting metering which has only just began. 

It is important to note that the report card refers to productive/commercial extraction of water, and therefore does not report on environmental water measurement. 

This update relates to persons or classes of people required to report water market information under the Australian Government water market regulation - this can be IIOs and water intermediaries.

DCCEEW are seeking feedback on the Exposure Drafts for the proposed Water Amendment (Water Markets Information) Regulations 2026 (Regulations) and the Water Market Data Standards.  These form the final pieces of the water market reform roadmap and are due for implementation in 2026.

Exposure drafts and a survey for feedback are provided on the webpage.

On Monday 22nd September Matt Coulton from Ricardo provided Members a presentation on Climate Risks and Water Policy implications in the MDB.  The presentation slides are attached for your information.

A recording of the first half of the presentation is temporarily available here via teams. The second part of the presentation was discussion and engagement with Matt which was not recorded to encourage open discussion. 

The NIC Board needs your help - they are seeking feedback from Members regarding the 2026 Meeting schedule.  The NIC Board is considering two options for our annual meeting schedule. We want to ensure maximum value from meeting face to face for discussions and networking, and balance this with resourcing of NIC and Members to travel.  Please complete via this survey (takes 3 mins) prior to Wednesday 10th October!!

NIC provided a submission into Feeding Australian: A national food security discussion paper.  We stated "A national food security strategy must consider Australia’s food sovereignty as well as, our role in the future food security needs of our trading partners; to achieve this, a national water security strategy for agriculture will be needed to underpin it. Water is a critical input into agricultural production, and the objectives of this strategy cannot be achieved in the absence of agricultural water security". We provided six recommendations for consideration in developing the national strategy. 

NIC has completed our own internal review into the Murray Darling Basin Plan, which is a series of papers addressing the key themes of the 2024 Early Insights paper using the recently published “Triple Crown of Water Reform Framework” to highlight possible next steps for the Basin Plan.  We hope to help forge a future pathway that embraces the paradigm shift needed for the Basin that is more about a 'plan of management' than the current ‘water recovery plan’ focus.  The review addresses; regulatory design, sustainable water limits, climate change, environment, agriculture and community and contemporary issues.   
We encourage stakeholders to reach out to discuss these papers, the evidence, our findings and recommendations. 

Irrigation Australia Limited's Spring Journal features our CEO, Zara Lowien's comments on the 2025 Basin Plan Evaluation (on page 32-35) indicating there were plenty of first the MDBA's 'game changing' 2025 evaluation but what does it mean for the irrigation industry.  Zara highlighted the opportunity before Minister Watt has to work collaboratively with communities and industry on a much-needed reset, that looks to refocus the Basin Plan on outcomes rather than numbers. 

Australian Farm Institute, Executive Director Katie McRobert says "Much of Australia’s agricultural policy is caught in a loop. When a crisis erupts – be it drought, market disruption, or community outrage – political and media attention surges. Decisions are demanded, headlines written, levers pulled. But as the immediate threat subsides, so too does the will to implement lasting solutions...This edition of the Farm Policy Journal explores that cycle – and asks what we can do to break it. ....The opening article by Christine Freak and Zara Lowien examines the long and often reactive trajectory of water policy reform in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB)...[They] offer offer an original contribution to this challenge in the form of the Triple Crown of Water Reform Framework, which conceptualises reform as a three-pronged effort: water-sharing (Flows), watermanagement (Functions), and integrated resource initiatives (Further)."

Director nominations for the National Irrigators' Council board are due by 10th September 2025.

There are three positions vacant this Annual General Meeting information, with one director not considering re-election.

Please visit the Meeting Documentation - Annual General Meeting page for more information. 

NIC and our local Murrumbidgee region Members, are helping coordinate the study tour component of the MDA's 81st Conference which is in Griffith, NSW this year.  The study tour will be on 30th September via a bus tour and includes:
- Murrumbidgee Irrigation Ltd, including their control room and looking at their recent efficiency projects including urban channels.
- One Basin CRC hub
- One of the local fish farms 
- Sunrice in Leeton

The tour include lunch at Whitton Malthouse. 

Tickets for the tour are to be book at the 'Member Price' via the MDA conference website. 

NIC is hosting a Member Networking dinner with guest speaker Matt Linegar from the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation on 30th September at Belvedere Restaurant, Griffith.  This event is a great opportunity to hear Matt's leadership story, which no doubt will include a few laughs, and consider industry's next steps as we embark on the review of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.  Tickets for this event are via the event link using Try Booking - an Italian feast has been organised to celebrate the evening.  Drinks are at your own cost. 

On 1st October, Day 1 speakers include The Hon. Murray Watt, Minister for Water and Environment, Troy Grant the Inspector General Water Compliance, Dr Simon Banks, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and there is a panel session on Basin Governance. These speakers and others provide a foundation to inform discussions at NIC General Meeting on Thursday, 2nd October.  The Conference also provides an opportunity to Members to network with Murray Darling Association Members. 
We encourage consideration of attending, however  it is up to Members.  Tickets must be purchased from the MDA website using the Member rate for Day 1.

On 1st October, the National Irrigators' Council is holding its Annual General Meeting from 3pm at the Yoogali Club Griffith.  Please use to link to RSVP.

This event is after the Day 1 Conference proceedings.

NIC General Meeting Administration will occur thereafter until 5pm. 

On the evening of 1st October from 6:30pm - celebrate and socialise at the Piccolo Family Farm, situated in the heart of Griffith.
Enjoy the ambience and view of Griffith and it’s surrounds while you network over local wines and drinks.
Dine with the MDA and enjoy an incredible, seasonally prepared 3-course meal.
Tickets purchased via the MDA webstie using the 'Member Price'.

On 2nd October, the National Irrigators' Council will be holding their Member General Meeting at the Yoogali Club, Griffith. Proposed time is 8:30am - 2pm to allow time to catch flights or travel home. 

Agenda to be confirmed - discussions on what we heard from the conference, Climate and Risk and Succession planning and industry development are being planned. 

Please RSVP using the link. 

A new report has found the Murray-Darling Basin is in full compliance with the new Sustainable Diversion Limits, consistent with previous findings and the recent 2025 Evaluation that the Basin has seen an environmental turnaround.

“The report confirms Sustainable Diversion Limits are being enforced and in fact, water diversions are well under these limits,” said National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Zara Lowien.

“Getting water use below these Sustainable Diversion Limits was a huge feat, and it means 1 in 3 litres of irrigation water are now out of production and remain in rivers.”

The Australian Government committed $3.5 million over 2 years in the 2025–26 Budget to develop the Feeding Australia: National Food Security Strategy. This was part of an election commitment from the Federal Government, backed by NIC and NFF. 

The Government has now published a discussion paper for feedback, with submissions closing on 24 September 2025.

NIC will be providing a submission, and we encourage our memebrs to do the same. We will share our draft submission with you shortly. 

The IGWC has published the Sustainable Diversion Limit Compliance Report for 2023-24, while the MDBA has published their Registers of Take.

The IGWC report found "All 78 SDL resource units assessed for the 2023–2024 water accounting year were found to be compliant. Those water resource areas without an accredited WRP (for the full water year), were also seperately assessed as compliant. Our analysis shows water usage is actually 12% below the SDL.

IGWC Report: https://www.igwc.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2025-08/sustainable-diversion-limit-compliance-report-2023-2024.pdf
MDBA Registers of Take: 2023-24 Sustainable Diversion Limit Accounts

We have just put in our submission for the third Water for Environment Special Account (WESA) review - take a look.

Our key recommendation: "The Independent Panel take a broad view to examine the policy settings and decision-making on the use of WESA funds to achieve enhanced environmental outcomes with consideration of socio-economic impact - to ensure WESA can be used transparently to target priority environmental investments. We encourage you to explore the option to amend the WESA to ensure it can be used transparently to target priority environmental investments such as community-supported constraints measures and investment in non-flow complementary measures as evidence within the 2025 Basin Plan Evaluation and Sustainable Rivers Audit."

Thank you to our members who have contributed to this piece of work, and taking the time to provide feedback. 

OneBasin CRC and the Australian Water School hosted on webinar on "the impact of climate change on crop irrigation requirements across the Murray-Darling Basin".

We haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but you can view the recording online. 

Here's the outline:

Irrigated farming in the Murray–Darling Basin faces increasing challenges due to a warmer and drier climate. With water supply decreasing and irrigation demand rising, farmers need better insights into future water needs to sustain their crops and investments. Understanding these changes is crucial for medium to long-term planning and for making informed decisions about crop choices and water sourcing.

Join a panel of experts who are modelling the future irrigation needs of key crops in the Murray–Darling Basin under various climate change scenarios via a One Basin CRC funded-project.

Join our panellists as they explore:
- Using existing climate, soil, and crop data to calculate potential changes in irrigation demand;
- How crop water requirements might change over the mid to long-term; and
- Initiatives to help farmers and irrigation suppliers plan for a future with higher temperatures and less water.

The 2025 Ricardo Water Markets Report was published this week. The report has really useful data on water markets, including on Cth water buybacks. Worth a look!

Some quick facts:

  • Estimated value of commercial allocation trade in major southern MDB trading zones: $235 million
  • Annual average southern MDB allocation prices: $115 per ML in NSW Murray (above Barmah) to $177 per ML in NSW Murrumbidgee
  • Estimated value of major southern MDB entitlement on issue (including environmental and Victorian water corporation holdings): $31.9 billion.
An interesting statement: "While the 605 GL SDLAM recovery is legislated under the Basin Plan, the recovery of the 450 GL additional environmental water is an in-principal agreement between Basin states and the Commonwealth. In its first term, the Albanese Government had pledged to recover the full 450 GL; however, there is no legislated requirement for this."

If there's one video those working in water must watch this year, it's this - Professor Forest Reinhardt from Harvard Business School talking to Andrew McConville at this years River Reflections Conference on water property rights (watch from 45 minutes into Day 1). 

Let us know your favourite quotes!

One of our favourites (1hr 18mins in) - in response to a question on what a future Basin Plan should look like: "If the subsequent versions of the Basin Plan, can make water more and more like a normal commodity... just as if you own a piece of land... I think that the more you can make water rights look like normal property rights, the more effective the system will be. I come from a country where we can't even get to the starting line of that kind of thing."


The NIC team produced a quick overview of the MDBA's 2025 Basin Plan Evaluation and Sustainable Rivers Audit, saying  (published 24 July, here) the key findings were:

  • Environmental Targets met and overall positive environmental outcomes from the Basin Plan, despite some poor findings (native fish);
  • Strong points for the need for complementary measures;
  • Problematic socio-economic impact assessment, with changes not attributed to water reforms (e.g., external factors), or downplaying the significance of the impact due to the method.
  • There are 32 documents published, some many hundreds of pages long – we continue to review in detail.

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