G'day everyone, welcome to this November edition of River Reach.
This week marks the release of 2 major publications as we look forward to the 2026 Basin Plan Review: the 2025 Murray-Darling Basin Outlook and the 2025 Sustainable Yields report.
Together, they provide our best insight into what future Basin conditions and resources may look like, and it will help guide our decision-making in the lead up to the Review.
The Murray-Darling Basin Outlook contributes to our shared understanding of the future condition and trend of environmental, social, economic and cultural values in the Basin.
While the Sustainable Yields report provides a Basin-scale assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on water resources.
They have highlighted several key issues, including:
- the need to prepare for a hotter, drier Basin in the future
- the importance of drought preparedness and supporting communities and industries to make informed decisions in the face of uncertainty
- the increasing complexity of managing water for different values and needs
- the likelihood that climate change will compound existing challenges, such as poor water quality.
And there is so much more to unpack about their findings.
In other news this month, we hosted our second Basin Leadership Summit and our first-ever Youth Roundtable. These events brought together more than 180 leaders from across the Basin to:
- share new Basin science insights
- discuss the work we've doing to prepare for the upcoming Basin Plan Review
- collaborate on how we can work together to shape a better future for the Murray-Darling Basin.
It was also a great opportunity for Basin leaders to share their own ideas about the key issues they want to see addressed when we look to the future of the Basin, in pursuing our purpose of rivers, for generations. We'll have more to share on the outcomes of these events very soon.
And finally, don't miss our video on a new project restoring native fish -and explore 2 new research projects developed with First Nations science and knowledge-one on the Cultural and ecological importance of the Barkandji stone fish traps , and another preserving traditional knowledge of native Basin grasses .
Well, that's it from me for this month. I'd like to wish you all the very best as we head into the holiday season. We're already busy preparing for a big year ahead, as we finalise our Discussion Paper ahead of the Basin Plan Review so it's ready for release in early 2026.
Once again, I hope you enjoy this month's edition of River Reach. See you again soon.
