Hello everyone. This month's update is coming to you from Canberra after some recent travel around the Basin.
This month took me north around Namoi where I was joined on my travels by Murray–Darling Basin Authority staff and Dan Croucher, who is the Branch Head Program Design, from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
One theme that was prominent during this visit was around water recovery targets and what the impacts of this might be to business and industry.
I have said this before, but it is important we continue to have these conversations and to build collaborative relationships with our Basin communities as this is the foundation of achieving a healthy Basin.
Last Monday the Productivity Commission's interim report was released. This interim report assesses the progress in Basin Plan implementation since 2018 and is part of the 5-year inquiry required under the Water Act 2007.
While there have been mixed views on the initial findings, we will take these findings and other learnings we've gathered to strengthen our thinking and undertake the necessary actions towards achieving full implementation of the Basin Plan.
In other travels, I attended the Senate Inquiry public hearing into the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023.
The Bill sets out changes to support the full delivery of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan and to implement water market reforms in the Basin. It provided a great opportunity to bring forward the MDBA’s work, explaining it and engaging with our political masters.
To finish what was a busy week, I spoke at the New South Wales Irrigators' Council Annual General Meeting. It was an important opportunity to talk with key stakeholders on the Water Amendment Bill, Basin Plan implementation, as well as expand on some of the key themes of the Basin Plan Review and what improvements can be made to meet challenges into the future.
It was a tough meeting and similar to our meetings in the Namoi, there is uncertainty around how dry it is becoming and what the Bill might mean for different communities.
I hope you enjoy this edition of River Reach and I'll look forward to seeing you again next month.