Basin Plan 2012.

The Basin Plan provides an integrated and strategic framework for water management, consistent with the requirements of the Water Act 2007. As a requirement of this Act, the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) was set up and required to develop the Basin Plan, with the primary objective of limiting how much water could be used by industries and communities in the Basin. The Commonwealth Minister responsible for water adopted this Basin Plan in 2012. The aim is to bring the Basin back to a healthier and sustainable level, while continuing to support farming and other industries for the benefit of the Australian community.
The objectives for the Basin Plan as a whole are: (a) to give effect to relevant international agreements through the integrated management of Basin water resources; (b) to establish a sustainable and long-term adaptive management framework for the Basin water resources, that takes into account the broader management of natural resources in the Murray-Darling Basin; (c) to optimize social, economic and environmental outcomes arising from the use of Basin water resources in the national interest; (d) to improve water security for all uses of Basin water resources. The outcome for the Basin Plan as a whole is a healthy and working Murray-Darling Basin that includes: (a) communities with sufficient and reliable water supplies that are fit for a range of intended purposes, including domestic, recreational and cultural use; (b) productive and resilient water-dependent industries, and communities with confidence in their long-term future; (c) healthy and resilient ecosystems with rivers and creeks regularly connected to their floodplains and, ultimately, the ocean. More specific objectives are identified as regards environmental outcomes, water quality and salinity, long-term average sustainable diversion limits, operation of the sustainable diversion limit adjustment mechanism, and trading in the water market.
The Basic Plan is composed of 13 Chapters dealing, among other aspects: Basin water resources and the context for their use (Chapter 2); the identification of the particular areas that are to be water resource plan areas and the periods that are to be the water accounting periods for each of those areas (Chapter 3); identification and management of risks to Basin water resources (Chapter 4); long-term average sustainable diversion limits, the temporary diversion provisions, and the method for determining whether the long-term annual diversion limit has been complied with (Chapter 6); the Environmental watering plan, the plan for the protection and restoration of the wetlands and other environmental assets of the Murray-Darling Basin (Chapter 8); the Water quality and salinity management plan (Chapter 9); arrangements for meeting critical human water needs (Chapter 11); rules for the trading of tradeable water rights in relation to Basin water resources (Chapter 12).
Chapter 13 provides for the adoption of the Programme for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the Basin Plan.