The next phase of the Murray-Darling basin plan is in serious doubt after Victoria and New South Wales refused to commit to delivering a further promised 450GL of water for environmental flows.

The refusal has also put in doubt a second part of the plan – to save 605GL in the lower Murray-Darling basin – after South Australia said its support for the sustainable diversion limits package, known as the “downwater” package, was contingent on the “upwater” being delivered by NSW and Victoria.

Water ministers met on Tuesday morning in Albury, the first meeting since the explosive allegations on Four Corners last July alleged widespread theft of water and corruption in administration of the water portfolio in NSW.



Since the Four Corners program there have been multiple inquiries. They have all recommended a major overhaul of compliance and policing, at both the state and federal level, and the immediate rollout of meters.

The ministers agreed to to adopt a standardised method of reporting compliance, with the aim of publishing a standardised set of compliance data to stop rorting across the basin.

But the additional water savings for the Murray-Darling, which were delayed because the parties couldn’t agree in 2012, are still in doubt, despite backing from the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

It is especially important to South Australia. It says the water is needed to enhance environmental benefits along the river, reduce salinity in the Coorong and Lower Lakes and increase flows to Coorong to ensure the ongoing health of the internationally renowned Ramsar site.



“They were most affronted by me saying that this was a package deal, and there was no deal on one without the other,” South Australia’s minister for water, Ian Hunter, said of the other states.

He accused the two states of forming “a cabal”.

But Victoria’s water minister, Lisa Neville, has said the extra 450GL is “not possible” and called for an independent inquiry.

The NSW water minister, Niall Blair, said he was disappointed that once again South Australia was putting politics ahead of policy and local communities.

“NSW and Victoria offered up a way to move forward and commence early action towards additional water savings that deliver clear social and economic benefits but it was knocked on the head by South Australia,” he said.

He said the NSW government was committed to a “balanced outcome” and would await the final report from E&Y which is evaluating how 450GL in water efficiency projects can be achieved.

The federal water minister, Barnaby Joyce, did not attend due to the imminent cabinet reshuffle.

“Why would you stand in the way of irrigators getting commonwealth cash to make themselves more resilient and doing things earlier which they are going to have to do anyway?” Hunter said.



The meeting was presented with a report by Ernst & Young that outlined in detail measures that could be used to deliver the extra 450GL while limiting the impact on communities in the Murray-Darling basin.

Hunter gave the example of an almond farm that had used grants to change its almond tree stock to a type that was more drought resistant.

The report, to be released in January, is expected to outline multiple programs to save water used for irrigation in NSW and Victoria.



The “downwater” savings of 605GL involve undertaking works along the lower Murray-Darling to use environmental water more efficiently. This might include building levies or using pumps to ensure wetlands get the water they need.

Hunter said he had written to all federal South Australian politicians asking them to back South Australia’s stance on treating the next phase of the Murray-Darling plan as integrated.

He has also asked them to support a disallowance motion moved by the Greens on reducing water savings targets in the northern basin.

The federal government is supporting a cut of 70GL to the environmental allowance after concerns by communities along the river in Queensland and northern NSW.

The Murray-Darling basin plan was adopted in 2012 with a 2,750GL water recovery target for the environmental water. All basin state governments signed on to the plan by June 2013.



But the plan also envisaged a further 450GL being made available to the environment after the first phase. The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has said the additional water is essential for the river’s health.