Reviews and reports

Last updated: 7 Jul 2025

The Inspector-General of Water Compliance publishes reviews and reports to provide transparency of Basin compliance and performance.

Sustainable Diversion Limit Compliance

Managing water-take is essential to the Basin Plan 2012. Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) set the amount of water that can be taken from the Murray-Darling Basin. This helps to keep the rivers and environment healthy.

The Inspector-General of Water Compliance assesses how water managers observe sustainable diversion limits. Each year, this helps water managers to comply and to protect catchment areas.

SDL Compliance 2022-23

Published July 2024

Download

SDL Compliance Statement for 2022-23 (PDF 1.5 MB)
SDL Compliance Statement for 2022-23 (DOCX 1.9 MB)

SDL Compliance 2021-22

Published September 2023

Download

SDL Compliance Statement for 2021-22 (PDF 1.1 MB)
SDL Compliance Statement for 2021-22 (DOCX 1.5 MB)

SDL Compliance 2020-21

Published August 2022

Download

SDL Compliance Statement for 2020-21 (PDF 5.3 MB)
SDL Compliance Statement for 2020-21 (DOCX 1 MB)

SDL Compliance maps

Download

Map of Groundwater SDL Resource Units (PDF 3 MB)
Map of Surface Water SDL Resource Units (PDF 1.8 MB)

SDL Compliance: Frequently Asked Questions

Download

Sustainable Diversion Limit Compliance: Frequently Asked Questions (PDF 93 KB)
Sustainable Diversion Limit Compliance: Frequently Asked Questions (DOCX 820 KB)

Murray-Darling Basin Compliance

The Inspector-General of Water Compliance enforces laws on water-take by the Basin governments and agencies. The Inspector-General of Water Compliance reports on their compliance activities. This approach helps uphold public confidence in Basin water management laws and plans.

Stocktake report: Monitoring and evaluation reporting of environmental outcomes

Published June 2025 

This report was a key part of the Inspector-General’s Annual Work Plan in 2024-25. It gives insights to:

  • environmental outcomes monitoring
  • evaluation reporting

in the Basin. The associated spreadsheet presents the list of reports used to inform this report.

Download

Stocktake report: Monitoring and evaluation reporting of environmental outcomes (PDF 1.5 MB)
Stocktake report: Monitoring and evaluation reporting of environmental outcomes (DOCX 428 KB)

Spreadsheet: Stocktake of environmental outcomes Monitoring and Evaluation Reports (XLXS 92 KB)

Steady as it flows: An assessment of River Murray operations and environmental water management

Published September 2022

This report examined how the:

  • Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) performed its role in running the River Murray system
  • Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) managed its portfolio of water entitlements to improve river health in the Basin.

It found the two agencies performed their obligations, with opportunities for improvement.

Download

Steady as it flows: An assessment of River Murray operations and environmental water management (PDF 4.9 MB)
Steady as it flows: An assessment of River Murray operations and environmental water management (DOCX 4 MB)

Compliance and enforcement across the Murray-Darling Basin

Published August 2022

The Inspector-General commissioned a review of Basin State governments and agencies' compliance. The Inspector-General engaged Des Pearson (AO) for the review. This report responds to Mr Pearson’s independent conclusions.

Download

Compliance and enforcement across the Murray-Darling Basin (PDF 606 KB)
Compliance and enforcement across the Murray-Darling Basin (DOCX 622 KB)

Review by Des Pearson AO: Compliance and enforcement across the Murray-Darling Basin (PDF 1 MB)
Review by Des Pearson AO: Compliance and enforcement across the Murray-Darling Basin (DOCX 199 KB)

Performance reporting

Compliance Performance Report 2022-23

Published December 2024

This report looks at how Basin State governments and agencies manage water-take compliance. Their approaches are diverse. The report shows:

  • how effective enforcement tools are
  • the need for consistent and transparent reporting practice
  • the importance of collaboration.

Download

Report: Murray-Darling Basin Compliance Performance 2022-23 (PDF 11.8 MB)
Report: Murray-Darling Basin Compliance Performance 2022-23 (DOCX 489 KB)

Metering Report Cards

The Inspector-General of Water Compliance's Report Card is an annual snapshot of Basin water metering reforms. The report cards track how Basin State governments and agencies are achieving metering reform commitments. The commitments are part of the 2018 Compliance Compact.

Metering Report Card 2022-23

Published April 2024

Download

Metering Report Card: 2022-23 (PDF 4.9 MB)
Metering Report Card: 2022-23 (DOCX 292 KB)

Metering Report Card 2021-22

Published July 2023

Download

Metering Report Card: 2021-22 (PDF 1.5 MB)
Metering Report Card: 2021-22 (DOCX 187 KB)

Metering Report Card 2020-21

Published January 2023

Download

Metering Report Card: 2020-21 (PDF 1.3 MB)
Metering Report Card: 2020-21 (PDF 540 KB)

Trade Price Reporting

Trade Price Reporting investigation report

Published October 2023

Water trade is crucial in managing water scarcity in the Basin. It is essential that price information reported to the market is accurate as it helps people make informed decisions about how they manage their water.

In this report, the Inspector-General of Water Compliance investigated the price reported for the sale of water allocations in Macquarie NSW. The Inspector-General of Water Compliance wanted to know whether people had followed Basin Plan(Opens in a new tab/window) reporting requirements.

Download

Investigation: Trade price reporting (PDF 1.4 MB)
Investigation: Trade price reporting (DOCX 501 KB)

Snapshot: Investigation into trade price reporting (NSW) (PDF 124 KB)
Snapshot: Investigation into trade price reporting (NSW) (DOCX 715 KB)

Modern Regulator Improvement Tool

Regulatory leaders in the Murray-Darling Basin meet in a forum. The Inspector-General set up the Regulatory Leaders Forum in 2021.

Forum members use a Modern Regulator Improvement Tool (MRIT). The tool measures their performance.

The Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators neTwork (AELERT) developed the tool.

Regulation Enforcement Collaboration and Practice (RECAP) independently reviewed and verified the Inspector-General’s results.

Published June 2025

The Inspector-General has now finished its second self-assessment using this tool.

Download

Executive Summary: Modern Regulator Improvement Tool (MRIT) (PDF 341 KB)
Executive Summary: Modern Regulator Improvement Tool (MRIT) (DOCX 1.5 MB)

Independent assurance review: Self-assessment of regulatory maturity (PDF 313 KB)

Published September 2024

This was the Inspector-General's first self-assessment using this tool.

Download

Executive Summary: Modern Regulator Improvement Tool (MRIT) (PDF 311 KB)
Executive Summary: Modern Regulator Improvement Tool (MRIT) (DOCX 553 KB)

Independent assurance review: IGWC self-assessment of regulatory maturity (PDF 252 KB)

Archived reports

Access reports and reviews published prior to 2021 in archived reports.

These were variously released by the:

  • Interim Inspector-General of Water Compliance
  • Interim Inspector-General of Murray-Darling Basin Water Resources
  • Northern Basin Commissioner.

These roles are no longer active.

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility(Opens in a new tab/window) for assistance.

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Everyone in the Murray-Darling Basin can help ensure that the Basin Plan is fair, transparent and sustainable. Join us on the journey.