Basin Plan modelling

This initiative has delivered the modelling required to develop Victoria's proposal for adjustments to the Basin Plan's Sustainable Diversion Limits. It has also minimised the complexity of Victoria's water sharing arrangements under the Basin Plan and provided improved confidence in Victoria's compliance and accountability measures in managing water entitlements.

Total EC3 investment: $2.76 m

2013-14 expenditure: $0.273 m 
2014-15 expenditure: $0.781 m 
2015-16 expenditure: $0.868 m
2016-17 expenditure: $0.839 m

Progress Report

The Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) Adjustment Mechanism enables a reduction in the Basin Plan's water recovery target through the implementation of supply measure projects.  Supply measures are defined as actions where equivalent environmental outcomes can be achieved with less water.

As part of the initiative, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has worked closely with the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to develop a framework for assessing equivalence of environmental outcomes for supply measure projects.

Four operating rule change supply measures have been identified, which are now at the business case assessment phase (Phase 2). Work leading to this point has included preliminary technical investigations (including hydrological modelling), testing and use of the method developed to identify environmental equivalent volumes, submission of feasibility studies, as well as the preparation of business cases to support these supply measures.  In addition, DELWP has contributed technical advice to MDBA for SDL adjustment modelling activities, including Constraints Management Strategy modelling, as well as undertaking assessments of feasibility studies and business cases put forward by other jurisdictions to ensure that these supply measure projects do not pose risks to Victoria.

Other achievements under this project include:

• work on the Victorian Water Register to improve Victoria's ability to demonstrate compliance with water-sharing arrangements under the Basin Plan. This work was undertaken as part of a wider project to enhance the wholesale water register.
• investigations commenced into minimising the complexity of water-sharing arrangements in Northern Victoria to help demonstrate compliance with the Basin Plan. This included a report commissioned into a review of bulk entitlements aimed at better understanding established roles and responsibilities to meet common requirements across bulk entitlements, inconsistencies in the way obligations are expressed and required to be met by different parties, discrepancies between bulk entitlements, legislation and other instruments and opportunities to improve the way obligations are expressed to align with compliance objectives.
• completion of Victoria's Pre-requisite Policy Measures Implementation Plan, a key task required under the SDL adjustment process described under the Basin Plan.
• technical and policy advice into the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Pre-requisite Policy Measures Implementation Plan for the River Murray.