Sustainable diversion limit reporting 2019–20

It also reports on environmental water held, available and used in 2019–20, and compliance under the Murray–Darling Basin Cap on diversions.

The Basin Plan introduced a new water accounting and compliance framework based on sustainable diversion limits that began on 1 July 2019.

For the period 2012 to 2019, the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and the Basin states trialled the methods underpinning the compliance and sustainable diversion limits to ensure a smooth transition occurs between Cap reporting and sustainable diversion limit reporting. Transitional sustainable diversion limit water take reports were published as part of this trial.

Following the formal commencement of the sustainable diversion limit accounting framework, compliance under the sustainable diversion limits is reported separately to water take reports.

The Sustainable Diversion Limit Compliance Outcomes Report for the 2019–20 water year report was published by the MDBA in August 2021. The Annual Water Take Report 2019–20 is a companion to the compliance report which makes use of the data generated as part of the 2019–20 sustainable diversion limit accounting and compliance to provide insights on water availability and use in the Murray–Darling Basin in 2019–20.

Responsibility for sustainable diversion limit compliance transitioned to the new Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC) in August 2021, and subsequent sustainable diversion limit compliance reports will be published by the IGWC. The MDBA remains responsible for assessment and assurance of the sustainable diversion limit accounts annually and will continue to analyse water availability, trends and patterns in water use in the Basin. The MDBA also remains responsible for the assessment of compliance under the Murray–Darling Basin Cap on diversions and the publication of annual water take reports.

State narrative reports

When Basin states submit their water use data to the MDBA each year, they also provide narrative reports setting out the water availability and conditions experienced in that state in the relevant water year. There may be differences between the volumes in the state narrative reports and those in the sustainable diversion limit accounts. Such differences are likely the result of the transition from Cap to sustainable diversion limit accounting and to ensure the sustainable diversion limit accounts are prepared consistent with the Basin Plan.