Basin Plan 2012

The object of this section is to assist the Commonwealth and Basin States to identify measures to relax constraints, and develop and implement them in a way that:

maximises the benefits of the constraint measures to deliver environmental outcomes, including but not limited to enhanced environmental outcomes and outcomes identified by the Constraints Management Strategy; and

provides, as far as practicable, a common approach across river systems and jurisdictions including, but not limited to, in relation to:

reporting, transparency and public accountability; and

program implementation and governance including regulatory approvals; and

supporting the acceleration of constraint measures by 31 December 2026; and

managing impacts on third parties.

The Authority must prepare a roadmap for the purpose of achieving the object of this section by 31 December 2024.

The roadmap, and any substantive amendments to the roadmap, must be prepared in consultation with the Basin States, the Commonwealth and the public.

The Authority must publish the roadmap on its website.

The Minister may specify in a written instrument given to the Authority, in accordance with this section, that a water access right, a water delivery right, or an irrigation right, for a surface water SDL resource unit, or part of such a right, is an additional HEW entitlement.

Under subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, such a specification may be revoked, amended or varied in the same way.

The right, or the part of the right, must:

be sourced from the unit; and

be held environmental water; and

if specified after 31 December 2027—have become, or been contracted to become, held environmental water before that date; and

not have become held environmental water as a result of notified efficiency measures or additional efficiency measures, except as provided in subsection (4).

Water access rights, water delivery rights and irrigation rights are types of rights that fall within the definition of held environmental water (see subsection 4(1) of the Act).

The Minister must be satisfied that the right or the part of the right:

decreases the amount of water taken for consumptive use relative to the benchmark conditions of development; and

increases the volume of the Basin water resources that is available for environmental use; and

will contribute to enhancing environmental outcomes as mentioned in subsection 86AA(1) of the Act, including the outcomes set out in Schedule 5 to the Basin Plan.

For paragraph (2)(d), the exception is that:

the right, or the part of the right, is specified after 31 December 2026; and

it was not included in the determination for paragraph 7.21(2)(a) (whether or not it was on the register mentioned in section 7.13 on 31 December 2026).

If a right, or a part of a right, specified in reliance on subsection (4) was an efficiency entitlement or additional efficiency entitlement, it ceases to be an entitlement of that kind.

measures that increase the supply of water or the efficiency of water use, and are notified under this Part; and

additional HEW entitlements specified under section 7.08B;

for efficiency measures—environmental outcomes are increased while maintaining or improving social and economic outcomes; and

for supply measures—equivalent environmental outcomes are achieved with a lower volume of held environmental water than would otherwise be required; and

Some jurisdictions anticipate that such measures may be able to provide the equivalent of 650 GL per year of water, reducing the quantity of water access rights the Commonwealth will need to acquire to ‘bridge the gap’.

where constraints on the capacity to deliver environmental water are removed or eased—available environmental water can be used to maximum effect; and

enhanced economic, social and environmental outcomes compared with the benchmark environmental outcomes and benchmark conditions of development can be achieved for the Murray‑Darling Basin, including through more efficient water use, improved river operations, improved outcomes for the River Murray floodplain, River Murray river water quality, estuarine health, Murray Mouth opening, higher average lake levels and increased in‑stream flows and variability; and

the easing or removal of constraints and the addition of 450 GL per year of environmental water above the 2750 GL benchmark conditions of development, under the Commonwealth’s program, allow the enhanced environmental outcomes as set out in Schedule 5 to be pursued as compared to the benchmark environmental outcomes.

The Commonwealth program to ease or remove capacity constraints and deliver 450 GL of additional environmental water is to improve the environmental outcomes beyond those achievable under the 2750 GL benchmark by a further 450 GL and thus pursue the environmental outcomes set out in Schedule 5 that reflect the results of the 3200 GL per year modelling with relaxed constraints scenario reported in: MDBA (Murray‑Darling Basin Authority) 2012, Hydrologic modelling of the relaxation of operational constraints in the southern connected system: Methods and results, MDBA publication no: 76/12, Murray‑Darling Basin Authority, Canberra. http://download.mdba.gov.au/altered‑PBP/Hydrologic‑modelling‑relaxed‑constraints‑October‑2012.pdf

The Commonwealth’s program referred to in paragraph (e) includes the program that is expected to spend $1.77 billion by 31 December 2027 under the Water for the Environment Special Account.

If the Authority has received a notification of measures under subsection 7.12(1) or (1A), it must, as soon as practicable after 30 June 2017 and no later than 15 December 2017:

for each affected unit, determine the amounts of proposed adjustments resulting from the notified measures in accordance with Division 4; and

propose accordingly, under section 23A of the Act:

an adjustment of the SDL for each affected unit; and

an adjustment of the SDL for the Basin water resources equal to the net effect of the adjustments for all the affected units.

Under section 23B of the Act, the Authority is then required to prepare appropriate amendments of the Basin Plan, for adoption by the Minister.

The Authority must advise the Minister on the implications of a proposal for any declared Ramsar wetland.

If it appears to the Authority that a new determination of the appropriate adjustment amounts, made in accordance with Division 4, resulting from the effects, as at 31 December 2026, of the following:

notified measures;

additional supply measures;

additional efficiency measures;

additional HEW entitlements;

determine those adjustment amounts for each affected unit; and

propose accordingly, under section 23A of the Act:

an adjustment of the SDL for each affected unit; and

an adjustment of the SDL for the Basin water resources equal to the net effect of the adjustments for all the affected units.

Since the adjustments to the SDLs proposed under section 7.10 were made to the Basin Plan, there has been a further set of adjustments made by the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023, as well as changes to Division 4.

Under section 23B of the Act, the Authority is then required to prepare appropriate amendments of the Basin Plan, for adoption by the Minister.

This section might apply if, for example, a notified measure has been withdrawn or an additional supply or efficiency measure has been notified, or an additional HEW entitlement has been registered.

The Authority must advise the Minister on the implications of a proposal for any declared Ramsar wetland.

The Basin Officials Committee may, by 30 June 2016, notify the Authority of 1 or more supply measures or efficiency measures that, in the view of the Committee, should be taken into account in proposing adjustments under section 7.10 or 7.11.

The Basin Officials Committee may, after 30 June 2016 but on or before 30 June 2017, notify the Authority of 1 or more supply measures or efficiency measures that, in the view of the Committee, should be taken into account in proposing adjustments under section 7.10 or 7.11.

The person (the Basin State or Commonwealth) funding or undertaking an efficiency measure may, after 30 June 2017 but on or before 30 June 2025, notify the Authority of 1 or more efficiency measures that, in the view of the person, should be taken into account in proposing adjustments under section 7.11.

The Basin Officials Committee may, on or before 30 June 2025, notify the Authority of 1 or more supply measures that, in the view of the Committee, should be taken into account in proposing adjustments under section 7.11.

A measure may be notified only if:

it will enter operation by 31 December 2026; and

it is not an anticipated measure; and

the person (the Basin State or Commonwealth) funding or undertaking the measure agrees with the notification.

A notification must include, for each measure:

details of the measure; and

the surface water SDL resource units affected by the measure (the affected units for the measure); and

details of any constraint measure that may be relevant; and

the date on which the measure entered into operation, or by which it will enter into operation.

A notification must be amended by 30 June 2026 if any information under subsection (4) has changed.

A notification must be amended by 30 June 2026 to withdraw a measure if it appears that the measure will not enter into operation by 31 December 2026.

A notification may be amended to withdraw the measure under subsection (6) by the person who notified the measure or by the Commonwealth.

Subsections (5), (6) and (6A) do not apply after 30 June 2026.

The Authority must maintain a register that includes the following:

each measure of the following kinds, with the information mentioned in section 7.12:

the notified efficiency measures;

the notified supply measures;

the additional efficiency measures;

the additional supply measures;

for each surface water SDL resource unit—each entitlement of the following kinds as it applies from time to time:

the efficiency entitlements;

the additional efficiency entitlements;

the additional HEW entitlements;

for each kind of entitlement for a surface water SDL resource unit—the long‑term average quantity of water, in GL per year, that is available under the entitlements of that kind from time to time.

Until an adjustment is proposed under section 7.11, the register must include, for each surface water SDL resource unit, estimates of the likely:

efficiency contribution; and

supply contribution; and

additional HEW contribution;

to the extent practicable, the likely SDL adjustment amount for the unit for the purposes of section 7.21.

The Authority must publish the register on its website.

Subparagraphs (1)(b)(i) and (ii) apply to a water access entitlement whether it became held environmental water before or after the relevant measure was notified.

Subject to subsection (2), the Authority must determine the amounts of adjustments under this Division to the SDL for an SDL resource unit on the basis that the SDL resource unit shared reduction amount for the unit is the amount calculated under subsection 6.05(4).

If a Basin State has made a re‑allocation adjustment request for this section, the Authority must determine the amounts of adjustments under this Division to the SDL for an SDL resource unit applying the SDL resource unit shared reduction amount requested by the State for that unit.

For this section:

either:

was made before 1 July 2016, for the purposes of section 7.23 as it stood before the repeal of that section by the Basin Plan Amendment Instrument 2017 (No. 1), and has not been withdrawn or replaced by a request referred to in subparagraph (ii); or

was made between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017, and expressed to be made in anticipation of the insertion of this section by the Basin Plan Amendment Instrument 2017 (No. 1); and

has the effect that:

the total of the SDLs for each zone remains the same; and

no SDL resource unit has an SDL that is larger than would result from replacing its shared reduction amount with zero.

The same SDL resource unit shared reduction amounts were used for the purpose of calculating the initial adjustments proposed in 2017 and will be used in any reconciliation adjustments in 2026.

A request for this section is not a re‑allocation adjustment request for the purposes of section 6.05.

Subject to this Division, the total supply contribution of the notified measures is the total increase in the SDLs for all the units affected by notified supply measures or additional supply measures that will ensure that, calculated in accordance with the applicable method on the basis of:

a repeat of the historical climate conditions; and

the benchmark conditions of development modified by:

the addition of the notified supply measures and additional supply measures; and

the removal of any unimplemented policy measures;

there are equivalent environmental outcomes; and

there are no detrimental impacts on reliability of supply of water to the holders of water access rights that are not offset or negated.

The determination is based on the effect that the supply measures will have when they come into operation, whether or not they have done so by the time the measures are notified under section 7.12. The additional supply measures were not included in this provision at the time adjustments were proposed under section 7.10.

In this section:

the default method set out in Schedule 6; or

if the Authority, having consulted the Basin Officials Committee, decides that another method is preferable—that method.

the SDLs were at the levels set in the Basin Plan when it commenced; and

the benchmark conditions of development applied in the Murray‑Darling Basin.

credit environmental return flows for downstream environmental use; or

allow the call of held environmental water from storage during un‑regulated flow events;

For a determination for the purpose of section 7.10, and subject to this Division, the efficiency contribution of the notified measures for each affected unit at a particular time is a decrease in the SDL for the unit equal to the quantity of water, in GL per year, that is registered as being available under the efficiency entitlements for the unit.

The efficiency contributions are expected to vary over time as relevant water access entitlements are acquired.

The Authority will use long‑term diversion limit equivalent factors to convert water access entitlements into a common unit for the purpose of the determinations.

For a determination for the purpose of section 7.11, and subject to this Division, the efficiency contribution of the notified measures and additional efficiency measures for each affected unit at a particular time is a decrease in the SDL for the unit equal to the quantity of water, in GL per year, that is registered as being available under the efficiency entitlements and additional efficiency entitlements for the unit.

Efficiency contributions will end on 31 December 2026. Under section 7.08B, the Minister may specify efficiency entitlements and additional efficiency entitlements acquired after 31 December 2026 as additional HEW entitlements.

In this section, registered means shown on the register maintained under section 7.13.