NATIONAL IRRIGATORS’ COUNCIL

POLICY PORTFOLIO - MURRAY DARLING BASIN PLAN

Advocating for the Australian irrigated agriculture industry

The Murray Darling Basin Plan

The Murray Darling Basin Plan "the Plan") became Commonwealth legislation in 2012.  It was enabled under the Water Act 2007.  The plan outlines the management of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin, including water allocation, environmental water management, and water quality standards.

The Plan has been amended twice since becoming law:

  • 2017/18: Amendments to reduce the Water Recovery targets for the Northern Basin, enable Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism and the additional 450GL of environmental water to be achieved with neutral socio-economic outcomes. 
  • 2023: Restoring Our Rivers Bill amended key timelines for implementation, broadened the environmental objectives for the additional 450GL environmental water and enables other mechanisms of recovery without the need for neutral socio-economic outcomes, and removed limits on water purchases.

The Plan is scheduled for review by the Murray Darling Basin Authority in 2026.

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'Moving Forwards: Our Review into the Murray Darling Basin Plan' is a series of comprehensive papers by National Irrigators' Council based on the key themes identified by the MDBA in their Early Insights Paper and aims to start a conversation on how to enable improvements in the Basin Plan and enhance environmental outcomes with the water already held for environmental purposes. 


See Report
 See Report

Snapshot of environmental outcomes

  • Over the 9-year period, 15,443 GL of Commonwealth environmental water was delivered to 56 ecosystem types representing 249,079 ha of lakes and wetlands, 187,486 ha of floodplain, 27,715 km of waterways and 23,768 ha of estuarine ecosystems - Flow-MER_22-23 Synthesis Report (CEWH).
  • The largest bird-breeding events in the decades in 2022-2023 were supported by natural flows and various forms of environmental water- DCCEEW.
  • Increased abundance in native fish and improved resilience of native fish - CEWH
  • Improved connectivity between the Lakes, Coorong and Murray Mouth with 10 years of continuous flow and increased barrage flows, the maintenance of lake levels and salinities within optimal ranges in SA Lower Lakes - Monitoring Report -CLLMM.
  • The export of at least 4.2 million tonnes of salt through the barrages at South Australia - Benefits of water for the environment (DCCEEW).


Water Recovery Progress

Water recovery towards the Murray Darling Basin Plan Sustainable Diversion Limits and compliance with those limits, is monitored by the Murray Darling Basin Authority.


As reported in the August Sustainable Diversion Limit Water Take Report the Basin Plan Sustainable Diversion Limits are being achieved with all water resource plan units compliant. 


The progress to-date means  that 1 in 3 litres of water for agriculture is now held by environmental water holders.  This is a total reduction in water availability meaning 72% of average river flows are for the environment and 28% to water users.


KEY MESSAGES

The National Irrigators' Council wants to see healthy rivers and wetlands because we are locals too and that is why we are committed to enforcing compliance with current Sustainable Diversion Limits  - as the core component of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

Future Basin Plan implementation must focus on moving beyond ’just add water’. Governments must optimise outcomes through being smarter and more strategic with environmental water; investing in complementary measures (such as invasive species control, fish passageways, habitat restoration, fish screening, riparian land management); and a paradigm shift of working together.


Policy Position Statements relating to the Murray Darling Basin Plan

Finalising the Murray Darling Basin Plan

Position Statement

SDLAM Reconciliation

Position Statement

Constraints Management

Position Statement

Reliability of Water Access Entitlements

Position Statement Agreed July 2025


Key Related NIC Resources on the Murray Darling Basin Plan

This submission is provided to the review of the operation and management of the Menindee Lakes system. Many of our Members are critically linked into the frameworks and operations of Menindee Lakes via existing sharing arrangements through the Murray Darling Agreement or local sharing plans - above and below the Lakes. This submission therefore represents the views of irrigation entitlement holders and water users, and non-government water delivery networks, up and downstream of the Lakes.

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. 

 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. [...]

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.

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)."

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. 

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."


Today’s publication of the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s (MDBA) 2025 Basin Plan Evaluation and Sustainable Rivers Audit has found the health of the Basin has improved, advising that “water for the environment is essential, but on its own is likely not sufficient” [MDBA Overview]...  The National Irrigators’ Council has described many parts of the Evaluation as refreshing and a wakeup call needed to shape thinking in the Basin going forward and is calling for more quick thinking on how to determine and prioritise a package of strategic environmental investments in these complementary (non-flow) measures to inform next steps on the Basin Plan, given the Evaluation found this as a missing piece of the current Plan puzzle.  [...]

Basin communities fear socio-economic impact assessments soon to be released by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) will water down the true impact, overlooking community and industry-level data, in their Basin-scale assessment. “Basin Plan legislation requires 5-yeraly Evaluations, but at a Basin-scale”, said Zara Lowien, National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) CEO, “we know the most severe impacts are felt at a local community level, and within specific industries, but these impacts get smoothed out when the assessment zooms to the Basin-scale.”  [...]


NIC Members agreed to a specific Position Statement on the reliability of water access entitlements to provide a clear message to Governments on how decisions impact water property rights, as represented and agreed in the National Water Initiative.

This position statement was prepared in conjunction with our guiding principles.

Approved 17 July 2025.

14th May 2025, Canberra, ACT: The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) congratulates Murray Watt on his appointment as the Minister for the Environment and Water, saying this is an opportunity for new leadership to put policy above politics and partnerships over partisanship. “Until recently, water management in Australia has had a long history of bipartisanship across politics.  We hope under new leadership... we can see a return to respectful and constructive water policy solutions, that can once again rise above politics,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien. [...]

DCCEEW today released the Exposure Draft of the Water Markets Intermediaries Code (the Code) and an Overview of the draft are now available for consultation.  On this page you will be able to submit your feedback on the Exposure Draft. The consultation will be open until 11.59pm on Sunday 6 April 2025.  The Exposure Draft incorporates feedback from the Policy Position Paper consultation in November-December 2024.

The release of the Auditor General’s report of the Federal Government’s water buybacks finds the Government implemented a well-paved road of effective process but struggled to find the link between the buyback program and the intended policy objectives for the Murray Darling Basin Plan.  

“Many will glance at the key findings of effective process and give the Government a pat on the back, but the devil is in the detail when the report goes on to question the link between the buyback program and the intended policy objectives for the environment” said National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Ms Lowien [...]

Minister Plibersek tabled the Australia Audit Office's review of the 2023 Strategic Purchases for Bridging the Gap, which you may recall the Inspector General recently found flaws in governance and managing conflicts. 

The report identified steps were taken to address earlier deficiencies and that processes stacked up.  What was interesting to read in the detail were questions and recommendations about the purpose of these purchases towards the overall policy outcomes, which you will hear more from NIC about this area 

NIC today lodged their submission to DCCEEW on the Water Market reform - Intermediaries Code and Statutory Trust Account Policy Position paper with an overarching concern that the regulatory burden of this reform, particularly given its scale and pace. We are also concerned that the reform is going too far, and is becoming disproportionate to the problem at hand, and the size and extent of water markets. While market integrity, transparency and good governance are important – there is enormous risk of not striking the right balance for a proportionate policy response […]

National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) expressed its sincere gratitude to Sir Angus Houston, who has led the MDBA since 2020. Under Sir Angus' leadership, significant progress has been made in fostering better relationships with communities across the Basin, prioritising transparency, and restoring trust in the management of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
"Sir Angus Houston's dedication to listening to Basin communities and his focus on repairing relationships and trust have been crucial during a period of significant uncertainty and challenge," said Zara Lowien, CEO of NIC.[...]

The Inspector General this week released their 2022-2023 Murray Darling Basin Compliance Report.  The report states that "this compliance performance report provides a sample of common compliance activities metrics for each Basin State which will be incorporated into progressively broader reporting under a Basin-wide compliance performance reporting scheme. It is also anticipated that future reporting on compliance activities will be at the water resource plan level."  
The report provides an overview of the different approaches and outcomes to compliance in each of the Basin States. NSW reported licence holder numbers not metered percentage  (with a target of 95% underway), SA reported 98.2% of take was metered, Queensland report 74% of take was metered, in Victoria 98% was metered (and 76% telemetered), no details for ACT.  Victoria has the largest number of statutory officers, despite have the highest percentage of telemetered meters.  Victoria also had the highest number of investigations open and closed and warnings, whereas SA had the highest number and greatest value of fines.

The announcement of $160 million for Southern NSW communities targeted by Government water buybacks for an additional 450 GL, is welcomed by the National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) but they warn, it will not make up for the damage.  “Removing water from agriculture has enormous flow-on impacts throughout communities, which cannot simply be patched up with one-off handouts,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien. [...]

Check out our final submission into the Inspector General of Water Compliance Inquiry into the Northern Basin Toolkit. 

The Toolkit was a multi-pronged solution developed through the Northern Basin Review to recommit government to existing requirements (Bridging the Gap requirements), fund a series of investments over-and-above the Murray Darling Basin Plan assumptions and existing levers of just adding water, enhance environmental outcomes and minimise socio-economic impacts.  The Toolkit was the Government's initial investment into complementary measures. 

As with many of the Murray Darling Basin Plan elements, it has lacked transparency and accountability, which should be improved in future program development.  The Toolkit highlights a number of great outcomes when investment is provided to optimising environmental water delivery and environmental outcomes. 

Take a look at our final submission on both the: 

Overall, NIC is increasingly concerned by the regulatory burden of this reform, and that it's going too far - disproportionate to the problem at hand, and the size and extent of water markets.

We are developing a strategic plan for how we approach this ongoing issue, which has a number of steps still to be implemented - stay tuned. 

The Australian Government is hosting a webinar to provide an update on our progress in implementing the Basin Plan.

The online public webinar will be held on Wednesday 11 December 2024 at 12:00pm (AEDT). The webinar will run for 60 minutes.

The panel will include representatives from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Submit your questions in advance

We welcome your questions and encourage you to submit them in advance. Please email your questions to water.engagement@dcceew.gov.au.

Irrigators’ have called out Minister Plibersek’s announcement of having ‘1000 willing sellers towards’ the Commonwealth’s tender to buy water for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, as a political stunt on the day of Senate Estimates.
“The last time Minister Plibersek announced a buyback tender round had been over-subscribed, the Government later rejected 72% of the offers contracting only a small proportion of the reported offers (26 GL out of 90 GL), mostly due to value for money concerns,” said Zara Lowien, CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council. [...]

Following ongoing discussions with DCCEEW about accountability and transparency of progress on the Murray Darling Basin Plan, our attention was drawn to this new resource to track the progress.  Whilst it doesn't go all the way with providing the much-needed transparency, it does provide a visual examples of the progress, and remaining effort.  Its worth a look. 

Today, Federal Senate Estimates for the Environment and Communications portfolio held their hearings on matters relating to the Murray Darling Basin Plan, water market reforms and the National Water Agreement renewal. The hearings are available via the Australian Parliament YouTube channel. 

Some key outcomes from today's discussion confirmed that an updated version of the National Water Agreement is due "soon" and that many of the stakeholder concerns, including those from the Productivity Commission were being addressed.  The Department indicated a living entity is not a legal entity and that there is no intention for Free, Informed and Prior Consent, to provide authority over water decisions. 

Questioning regarding buybacks revealed that 26GL out of the 90GL of 'overwhelming offers' last year for Bridging the Gap were contracted with 72% rejected due to value for money concerns. 

National Irrigators' Council  is concerned that these proposed listings are being rushed prior to the Federal election (reminiscent of a previous disallowed attempt prior to the 2013 election) and that little additional work since 2013 has been provided to support the nomination despite significant improvements and other measures being taken since that previous attempt (namely the implementation of the Murray Darling Basin Plan and evolution of environmental water management in these specific regions). [...]

he Federal Government continue their pre-election rush, with a flawed buyback tender process designed to over-estimate irrigator interest in selling water to the Government as part of the Government’s relentless pursuit of buybacks to achieve the additional 450 GL of water under the Basin Plan. This is despite Minister Plibersek’s assurances that all other options, other than buybacks, were on the table. [...]

The Federal Government is again being called out for rushing through risky and untested reforms that seek to gain more power for themselves, prior to the upcoming election.  Consultation soon closes on their recent grab, to list two new areas as “endangered” under national environment law, replicating a controversial and subsequently, disallowed move by the former Labor Government in 2013. [...]

National Irrigators Council are calling on the Australian Government for answers, as they continue to pursue additional water purchases when water usage is well below the Basin Plan limits.  National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Zara Lowien said “the recently released data from the Murray Darling Basin Authority[i] confirms the core objectives of the Basin Plan are being achieved with water take 23 percent below the Basin Plan limit [...]

VIC Basin deal must reignite old and new win-win projects for all states Canberra, ACT – The National Irrigators Council (NIC) is relieved that the stalemate between the Australian Government and Victoria appears broken with agreement to fund Victoria’s stalled Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) projects. This crucial step is a win-win for Victoria […]

The Murray Darling Basin Plan has been a vital tool in balancing the needs of our communities, our environment and our productive sector. It hasn’t always got it right, but it has achieved a great deal since its inception. Ensuring balance is needed so we can keep our rivers and communities healthy and thriving, while feeding and clothing Australia and the world. Whilst we didn’t agree with all elements of the Restoring our Rivers bill such as the lifting of the cap on buybacks and the ability to use direct water purchases towards the 450 GL efficiency measure program. We remain committed to finalizing the Basin Plan and ensuring all the tools, not just buybacks, are utilized in its implementation to maintain and protect the prosperity of our regional communities and agricultural businesses. [...]

Productivity Commission warns Basin Governments – don’t waste time, do your job The Productivity Commission’s Final Report into the 5-year Implementation Review of the Murray Dalring Basin Plan has highlighted significant concerns about Basin Plan governance, saying governments must shape up or fail said Zara Lowien, CEO of National Irrigators Council. “The final report has […]

NSW Confirms Buyback not the Answer. The NSW Government release of their ‘Alternatives to Buybacks Plan’ as part of their commitment to implement the Murray Darling Basin Plan has been welcomed by National Irrigators Council CEO, Zara Lowien. “It was a show of cards by NSW to reinforce their commitment to avoid buybacks”. “The focus […]

The National Water Initiative (NWI) has played a crucial role in shaping the future of water management in Australia and supporting the growth of the irrigation industry. In doing so, it has also reshaped many regional communities and irrigation industries, particularly when considering the impacts experienced to achieve sustainable levels of take and establishing the water market. Nonetheless, it is imperative that any updates to the NWI uphold the fundamental principles that are now the backbone of the industry. We must also recognize that the objective to achieve environmentally sustainable level of take has been or is near completion, in all developed water sources and consideration how this objective applies for remaining regions should be a future focus. [...]

Basin communities’ fate sealed during Senate debate National Irrigators Council (NIC) is disheartened to see Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Restoring our Rivers Bill passed in the Senate today without bipartisan support, as the Government sought deals with individual cross benchers, driving a wedge into the heart of Basin communities. Thirty-three Senators voted to pass the bill, […]

Peak body opposes last minute water Bill deal ahead of Senate debate. National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) is disappointed about the last-minute deal struck between the Albanese Government and the Australian Greens to apparently ‘strengthen’ the Restoring Our Rivers Bill with the addition of new amendments – none of which reflect any socio-economic consideration of Basin […]

Productivity Commission warns the Government, you risk being seen as just chasing a volumetric target. The Productivity Commission released its Interim 5-year Review into the Implementation of the Murray Darling Basin Plan and was scathing of the lack of progress and planning by Government’s in the lead up to the Plan’s initial deadline of June […]

Government Withholds Vital Information from Senate on Murray-Darling Basin Bill The Federal Government is attempting to blindside the Senate on its Murray-Darling Basin Bill by refusing to release crucial information on how it will affect farmers, regional communities, the environment and the water market. The National Farmers Federation, National Irrigators’ Council and NSW Irrigators’ Council […]

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) has appeared before today’s Senate inquiry into the Federal Government’s Restoring Our Rivers Bill 2023, which proposes a range of amendments to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The peak body, which was among 27 individual and stakeholder groups to present at the public hearing in Canberra today, cited its strong opposition […]

The National Irrigators’ Council welcomed the release of the consultation outcomes paper of summarising community led ideas to finalise the Murray Darling Basin Plan. NIC Chair Jeremy Morton said: “We’ve always suggested there were better ways to finalise the Plan without the need to buy more water from production. “Communities have again, stood up and […]

The National Irrigators’ Council has today welcomed Minister Plibersek’s announcement that the timelines will be extended to finalise the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. NIC CEO Isaac Jeffrey said: “Today’s announcement is a credit to Minister Plibersek and her pragmatic approach to finalising the Basin Plan. NIC has been calling for this timeline extension and we are […]

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