Design and Early Implementation of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan

Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin extends over one million square kilometers and supports almost three-quarters of the country’s irrigated agricultural land. Like the Colorado River in America and the Yellow River in China, the Murray–Darling Basin runs across a number of jurisdictional boundaries, and has been a focus for national water reforms for many years. The Murray–Darling Basin Plan is the culmination of more than two decades of water reform experience in Australia. It was adopted by the Commonwealth Water Minister in 2012 to rebalance use of water resources and create a more sustainable footing for a healthy working Basin. The Basin Plan was based on the best science at the time, which was endorsed by peer review. The key features of the Basin Plan that are integrated into its design are optimizing social, economic and environmental (triple bottom line) outcomes; improving transparency of decision-making and flexible and adaptive management. As a result of widespread consultation, the Basin Plan also included suggestions from jurisdictions and communities that served to better balance the competing interests for water resources, and provided a clearly defined timetable for implementation to create certainty for communities and investment. The Basin Plan commenced on 29 November 2012, and early implementation activities are well progressed, meaning that water resources are already better positioned to cope with major drought. Looking forward, continued support for Basin Plan reforms from governments and communities will be an ongoing challenge for implementation. Similarly, separating out the effects of the Basin Plan from other external effects on the social and economic well-being of Basin communities will be a challenge when evaluating whether the Basin Plan has achieved its triple bottom line outcomes and objectives.