MURRAY River councils have called for the deadline to be extended for states to complete some water-saving projects as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
NSW Minister for Water Melinda Pavey acknowledged last week only 75 per cent of the projects due to be completed before 2024 were on track.
The Commonwealth is responsible for recovering any shortfall in the target of 605 gigalitres of water savings from the projects and many irrigators are concerned the delays could lead to water buybacks.
“These projects will water parts of the floodplain that would otherwise miss out, except in significant flood years,” Murray River Group of Councils chair Cr Jason Modica said.
“They are really important projects delivering environmental benefits to our wetlands.
“We know many are on track, but the timelines are very tight.
“We also know that some of these projects will not be finished by the legislated deadline for water recovery.
“We are still waiting to see a plan for what the Commonwealth is going to do if one or more of these projects fails to deliver the offsets they are meant to.
“That leaves our communities in northern Victoria uncertain and unable to plan with confidence,” Cr Modica said.
“It leaves questions about how our critical wetlands will be restored and how environmental water will be delivered, and it leaves irrigators worried about how the Commonwealth will deliver the (basin) plan on time.”
Cr Modica said the best thing to do would be to extend the deadline “for those projects that are reliant on more detailed scientific and community co-design work”.
“We understand that would mean a legislative change. If that is too hard, then come up with an alternative plan that will address the reality that some of these important projects won’t be finished in time, but please, let our communities know so they can plan for the future”.
The biggest project taken back to the drawing board last week was the Menindee Lakes redevelopment.
Ms Pavey will take proposals for water savings at the lakes back to stakeholder groups in Menindee this week and has two months to propose changes to the plan.
