The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) has urged Basin state and territory governments to continue to make changes to state management and operating rules to achieve shared environmental outcomes, saying the Murray-Darling Basin Plan can only go so far on its own.
In its submission to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Basin Plan Review Discussion Paper, the CEWH makes clear that while the Basin Plan has reshaped how water is shared, state management and operating rules are limiting environmental outcomes.
Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder Dr Simon Banks said the Basin Plan had delivered a historic shift in how water is shared.
"The Basin Plan was a genuine step change," Dr Banks said.
"But the system around it hasn't kept up. States need to continue modernising water management to meet the needs of all users, including the environment."
Dr Banks said state government water management frameworks were designed to support extraction of water for irrigation and town water supply, not environmental water, which typically remains in-stream.
He said there had been good progress to account for and protect environmental water as it flows downstream, including by the NSW government in the Barwon-Darling River through to the Menindee Lakes. However, in many cases, managing environmental water has depended on complicated stop-gap arrangements built on top of older administrative systems.
"Too often, environmental outcomes are constrained by rules that were never designed for this purpose," Dr Banks said.
The Basin Plan embedded sustainable diversion limits and established water for the environment as a legitimate and core use of water. It is a globally significant reform that reshaped water management across more than a million square kilometres of river systems.
Since 2009, the CEWH has delivered more than 92 per cent of its available water, with more than 19,000 gigalitres reaching 28,500 kilometres of waterways - supporting threatened species recovery and restoring extensive habitat.
"Australians can be proud of the commitment that was made," Dr Banks said.
Drawing on 17 years of experience, the CEWH's submission highlights that state water management arrangements are limiting environmental outcomes. These include river operations, water quality management, accounting systems and delivery constraints.
Climate change is intensifying these shortcomings. Hotter, drier and more variable conditions are placing growing pressure on baseflows, refugia, floodplain and river connectivity and water quality.
"Environmental water is too often used to compensate for system shortcomings, rather than delivering long-term local and Basin-scale outcomes," Dr Banks said. "That is not a sustainable approach."
"Modernising water management for all users must also strengthen the role and involvement of First Nations peoples."
The CEWH is calling for the 2026 Basin Plan Review to anchor reform beyond the Plan itself, with Basin governments taking greater responsibility for delivering outcomes.
Key reform opportunities identified include:
- modernising state water management and river operating rules to meet the needs of all water users
- simplifying environmental water governance to reduce duplication, while strengthening the CEWH's independence to deliver local and Basin-scale outcomes
- embedding First Nations leadership and participation
- investing in infrastructure, constraints management and complementary measures.
"The Basin Plan, along with record investment from the Australian Government, has rebalanced how water is shared with the environment for the benefit of all," he said.
"The next step is for all jurisdictions to do the hard work of making sure the system around it actually delivers to maximise the outcomes."
