Federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said she was “gobsmacked” at the lack of progress on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan when she took on the office after the May election.
Ms Plibersek said she didn’t know how far behind the nation was on meeting environmental flows, with just two gigalitres of 450Gl recovered and no plan for how to recover the rest.
"(State and territory water ministers) understand that it is a real priority of the Commonwealth government to meet all of the commitments made in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan,” she told the National Press Club.
“I think most of Australia would be shocked to know how far we are away from these targets.”
Ms Plibersek also criticised the “broken, barely regulated national water market”.
“The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) found that it was a market with no rules against inside trading, no requirements to keep proper records,’’ she said.
“This led to widespread distrust in the system.
“And as well as this distrust, there was wilful damage inflicted as well.
“The 450Gl of environmental water by 2024 — I think it is extremely challenging to meet that target; and to meet it on the time frames that have been set, I think it will be, well, I have to be honest with you, next to impossible given where we are starting from and how far behind we are.
“It is a serious area of reform for me, and I think the states understand that that is the position of the new government.”
The State of the Environment report found that while water use had decreased since 2016, this was mainly as a result of the dry conditions (and, in turn, decreased water available for allocation) rather than changes in use.
The dry conditions also meant that less water came from surface-water sources, and more came from groundwater and desalinated water.
It said pressure on groundwater sources was expected to increase with climate change and would require specific management approaches.
“Some progress has been made towards more equitable sharing of water between consumptive, environmental and cultural purposes,’’ the report stated.
"However, the implementation of water management plans to facilitate this has been only partially effective, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin.’’
It warned that under a changing climate, the environment would be subjected to greater stresses of longer periods of drought, which would reduce and degrade aquatic ecosystems.
This would also reduce habitats for flora and fauna, which would affect breeding and populations, as well as potentially reducing species refuges.