The Solution

 

We CAN have a living river and communities that thrive in partnership with it. A better future is possible, but we need to come together to reach this vision.

The Basin Plan and the Water Act are being reviewed in 2026, with decisions about the future direction expected in 2027. This is a critical time and it’s up to us to ensure our rivers have a voice – and that governments feel pressure to make the big, bold changes needed to secure a healthy, thriving future for Australia’s biggest river system.

We’re calling for reforms to

Protect and restore wetlands

Too much water has been taken from inland rivers for too long, pushing vulnerable ecosystems to the brink. When rivers have the water they need, they sustain diverse and precious ecosystems throughout a myriad of wetlands, aquifers, and floodplains. 

We’re calling for strong reforms to protect and restore at least 60% of wetlands across the Basin by 2035 and ensure they get the water they need to thrive. Apply a Basin-wide monitoring program to track progress and publicly report on their protection, inundation and ecological condition.

Plan for climate change and share the impacts

The current Basin Plan does not include any consideration for climate change. As our climate becomes hotter, drier, and less stable, it’s more important than ever for the new Basin Plan to adopt measures to respond to changing water availability, and set out how water management will respond to climate change impacts. 

We can do this bysetting minimum flow requirements to keep rivers flowing consistently every year,, regularly revising and adjusting Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs) to take into account observed climate change impacts on water inflows; and ensuring the Environmentally Sustainable Level of Take (ESLT) factors in climate change impacts.

Improve accountability and transparency

Making sure that our precious water is used responsibly and fairly requires more systemic transparency, and greater accountability for practices that violate entitlements.

It’s important to accurately measure and report water data, monitor ecosystem health, and ensure management decisions are based on the best available science. In particular, taking steps to adopt rigorous water accounting systems that test hydrological model outputs against remote sensing data and gauged river flows, publicly report the findings, and update models to improve accuracy.

We support genuine Traditional Owner-led self-determination and water justice for Traditional Owners across the Murray–Darling Basin.

What action do we want to see?

Summary of our recommendations for the Basin Plan Review

This is taken from our Basin Plan submission. Note this is not the full list of recommendations. 

1. Protect and restore wetlands
  • Ensure at least 60% of wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin are protected, restored and are receiving optimal watering. 
  • Protect and restore Ramsar-listed wetlands in the Basin. 
  • Improve monitoring of vegetation health and reporting against targets for water-dependent vegetation communities.
2. Connect rivers with floodplains and wetlands
  • Prioritise implementation of the Constraints Relaxation Roadmap, incentivising states to overcome barriers to implementation.
  • Progress constraints relaxation work independently from the SDLAM projects. 
  • Implement measures for the Commonwealth Government to take a more active role including sharing risks and costs with state governments and participating in landholder engagement.
3. Connect rivers along their length
  • Require states to define, protect and publicly report on Planned Environmental Water.
  • Legislate flow targets that reflect scientifically derived environmental flow requirements and require that flow targets are achieved before large upstream extractions are permitted.
  • Manage infrastructure barriers in rivers by introducing a licensing system and requiring upgrades to meet environmental and cultural standards.
4. Return water to nature
  • Complete the delivery of existing water recovery commitments under the 2012 Basin Plan. 
  • Ensure the Sustainable Diversion Limit Assessment factors in climate change impacts when evaluating whether water extraction levels are consistent with the Environmentally Sustainable Level of Take.
  • Ensure surface and ground water Sustainable Diversion Limits are informed by ecological modelling of flow requirements, climate projections and a water audit.
5. Deliver First Nations water justice
  • Work with Traditional Owners to return lands and waters to Traditional Owner management to enable restoration of wetland and floodplain ecosystems and continuation of culture, learning from the successful Gayini example.
  • Implement in full, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) in the Water Act, the Basin Plan, and all other subsidiary instruments.  
  • Legislate the requirement to recover and protect cultural flows, as defined by the Echuca Declaration (2007), and resource Traditional Owner groups to participate in implementation of Cultural Flows.
6. Improve water quality
  • Ensure water quality is monitored at the river valley level with the active involvement of Traditional Owners, and that the results are published regularly.
  • Establish water reserves to support water quality outcomes, with water to be delivered in response to water quality crises.
  • Invest in restoring riparian vegetation in partnership with Traditional Owners to filter runoff and stabilise river banks.
7. Prepare for the impacts of climate change
  • Ensure the Basin Plan, Sustainable Diversion Limits, water recovery targets and water sharing rules are informed by the latest climate change projections.
  • Embed climate change adaptation in the objectives of the Basin Plan, with a focus on building ecological resilience.
  • Implement enforceable end-of-system flow targets to protect ecosystem health in a drying climate.
8. Reduce the impacts of floodplain harvesting
  • Accurately measure the volume of water being taken by floodplain harvesting.
  • Reduce the volume of water that can be extracted by floodplain harvesting to below 1994 levels. 
  • Ensure floodplain harvesting cannot take place unless downstream environmental flow targets are being met.
9. Deliver world-leading governance
  • Adopt double-entry water accounting systems that monitor water remaining in a river as well as water extracted, test this against Basin Plan water model projections, and publish an annual assessment of discrepancies.
  • Undertake regular water auditing using on-ground monitoring and satellite imaging to look at where, when and how water is being used across the Basin.
  • Embed the role of the Inspector-General of Water Compliance in all aspects of Basin Plan oversight and include in their role a 5-yearly evaluation of governance.
  • Require that state hydrological modelling is compatible with Basin-wide standards and methodology, is independently verified and that modelling and underlying assumptions are published.
10. Invest in regional communities
  • Recommend program objectives and next steps for establishing a Basin Transition and Resilience Fund to support Basin communities to adapt to a future with less water through diversification of production systems and reduced dependence on irrigation.
  • Ensure drinking water quality across the Basin is monitored and publicly reported on a regular basis in line with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
  • Support off-river infrastructure upgrades to ensure all Basin communities have a safe and reliable domestic water supply.