The Murray-Darling Ministerial Council has convened at Canberra to consider the current draft Basin Plan and broader water management issues.

 

The council, headed by Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke and attended by his Murray-Darling state counterparts, met to consider major issues raised by the state surround the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s Draft Basin Plan.

 

The major issues discussed at the meeting were

  • Apportionment of the shared 'downstream' component of Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) reductions;
  • Potential to incorporate an SDL adjustment mechanism into the Basin Plan with the objective of enhancing environmental outcomes and reducing socio-economic impacts;
  • Proposed groundwater SDLs; and
  • The merits of a formal review of SDLs in 2015, (as is currently proposed in the draft Plan).