Submitted by Neil Byron on Wednesday 9/12/2009 14:00:00
Along with my colleague Judith Sloan, I have been one of the Commissioners overseeing the Study into Market Mechanisms for Recovering Water in the Murray Darling Basin since it was commissioned by the Australian Government on 24 July 2009.
On 9 December 2009, the Draft Report was released, and now we would appreciate your feedback.
Water shortages and changes in the flow regimes of rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin are placing considerable stress on the Basin environment. There is now widespread recognition that some of the Basin’s water resources need to be redirected from irrigated agriculture to the environment, a view the Commission shares.
But what is less clear are the answers to questions such as; how much water needs to be redirected, and when, and what are the best mechanisms for achieving these goals?
The Australian Government’s agenda for increasing the availability of water for the environment, Water for the Future, includes:
A plan for the administrative reallocation of water that is currently being developed by the Murray Darling Basin Authority
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