The Inspector–General of Water Compliance (IGWC), Troy Grant, has released the 2023-2024 Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) Compliance Statement, with all 78 SDL resource units eligible for assessment found compliant for the 2023-2024 water accounting year.
Progress has been made since the last Compliance Statement, with a further five NSW water resource plans having been accredited, operational and eligible to be assessed for SDL Compliance in 2023-2024. An additional 11 water resource plans have since been accredited and will be eligible for assessment in 2024-2025.
Concerningly, there are still NSW water resource plans that are yet to be accredited. It is uncertain when these water resource plans will be accredited, and SDL compliance will be enforceable in full. Due to the legislative requirements for water resource plans to be in place for a full water year prior to assessment, it will not be until at least the 2026-2027 water year.
The Inspector–General will continue to analyse trends in SDL compliance over time and actively monitor Basin State water use, with the aim of adopting a 'no surprises' approach.
“The goal is to identify areas within the Basin where the risk of SDL non-compliance is emerging, allowing issues to be identified through active monitoring before formal exceedances occur,” said Mr Grant.
The current analysis highlights how alterations in Baseline Diversion Limits, resulting from modelling updates between Basin States and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, can impact compliance, accountability and monitoring of outcomes — as demonstrated in a case study of the Barwon-Darling region.
While Basin States continue working to ensure all significant water extractions are accurately metered, community concern about uncertainty in modelled take remains. Floodplain harvesting is highly variable and take can be nil in one year and very significant volumes the next. However, by design in Water Resource Plans, accounting for floodplain harvesting ensures that annual permitted take will always equal annual actual take.
“Under the Basin Plan, reporting of actual floodplain harvesting take by New South Wales and Queensland to the MDBA each year does not accurately represent the levels of take occurring on ground. Right now, it is modelled and averaged when it really needs to be measured.”
In addition, my analysis looks at the effect of water recovery on compliance with sustainable limits. Currently, under-recovery levels associated with the ‘Bridging the Gap’ program are relatively low and decreasing.
To address continued concerns around compliance across the Murray-Darling Basin, the Inspector–General has established an SDL Compliance Advisory Panel (the Panel). Panel members are highly regarded subject matter specialists in their fields and have extensive experience in SDLs and water resource management. The Panel will provide independent guidance on best practice and continuous improvement for SDL compliance and work with the Inspector–General’s team as part of its statutory SDL compliance role.
“I have appointed Mr Anthony (Tony) Slatyer as Chair of the Panel,” said Mr Grant. “Mr Slatyer brings extensive water policy and strategy experience to the Panel.
“The panel will focus on SDL compliance, contributing to my annual compliance statement and other key areas.”
“Having this Panel at my disposal will strengthen the current assessment process by providing the most up-to-date knowledge, critical thinking, and analysis. In turn, this will increase confidence in compliance assessments.”
While the ongoing strides toward sustainable water management across the Murray-Darling Basin are encouraging, there remains a gap in implementation of the Basin Plan that must be addressed to achieve lasting impact and outcomes.