The NSW Select Committee on Floodplain Harvesting is currently considering the future of how overland flow water in the NSW Murray Darling Basin will be managed and regulated. This briefing note highlights six clear reasons why floodplain harvesting should be limited to the legal volumetric...

This report sets out the Productivity Commission’s findings and recommendations on the effectiveness of the Register of Foreign-owned Water Entitlements. The key message of the report is that there is no compelling case for major changes to the Register.

This report assesses the progress of the Australian, State and Territory governments since 2017 towards achieving the objectives and outcomes of the National Water Initiative (NWI). It also provides practical advice to governments on future directions for national water reform through renewal of the NWI.

The Australian government has regulated foreign investment since 1975. This draft report presents the Commission’s preliminary analysis and views on the rationales for the Register of Foreign-owned Water Entitlements, its effectiveness, costs and benefits, and possible improvements, for both its current and future forms.

In August 2019, the ACCC was directed to conduct an inquiry into markets for tradeable water rights in the Murray–Darling Basin. This report makes recommendations to enhance markets for tradeable water rights, including their operation, transparency, regulation, competitiveness and efficiency.

In discussions about the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, one key reform has been consistently underestimated - separation of water title from land, and its subsequent tradability. This discussion paper notes that governments across the Murray-Darling Basin need to work out what they are aiming for from...

The Australian Government established the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water Entitlements (the Register) in 2017. The primary aim of the Register is to increase transparency about foreign ownership of Australian water assets and, more broadly, maintain community confidence in Australia’s foreign investment policy. This...

This draft report assesses the progress of the Australian, State and Territory governments towards achieving the objectives and outcomes of the National Water Initiative (NWI), and provides practical advice on future directions for national water reform.

This publication provides an overview of the economic effects of water recovery on water prices and the irrigation sector in the southern Murray–Darling Basin. The analysis uses economic modelling to separate the effects of water recovery from seasonal variations in rainfall and water supply, along...

In 2017, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources paid almost $80 million for water rights in the Condamine-Balonne valley. This research is based on unredacted valuation documents about the ‘Watergate’ scandal.

This interim report draws upon analysis of comprehensive water market data from 2012 onwards, and the views of a broad range of people with interests in the use and trade of water in the Murray-Darling Basin. The report considers options to enhance markets for tradable...

The objective of the audit was to examine whether strategic water procurements by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment were conducted consistent with government policy, were supported by appropriate program design, were planned and executed appropriately, and achieved value for money.

Australia has spent more than $6 billion to reallocate water to environmental purposes. Most of this money has subsidised infrastructure, despite its lack of cost-effectiveness. This article highlights four key lessons on how to respond to these water governance challenges.

This report presents a series of forward looking scenarios for the southern Murray-Darling Basin water market, examining potential future water prices, trade flows and irrigation sector outcomes, taking into account recent and expected trends for water supply and demand.

Research in this report contradicts claims by federal and state government ministers that new dams are not being built in Australia. The report shows that 20 to 30 large new dams have been recently constructed, funded at least in part by Australian taxpayers.

This report finds that there is clear evidence to indicate that the current water sharing plan rules are resulting in more frequent and longer 'cease to flow' periods. The current cease to flow period of over 11 months Barwon-Darling system is the longest in recorded...

This draft report presents the findings and recommendations from New South Wales' Natural Resources Commission’s statutory review of the Water Sharing Plan for the Barwon-Darling Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources 2012.

Billions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure schemes that have failed to deliver any measurable improvement in water flows or the state of the environment, writes John Quiggin.

This research asserts that poor irrigation techniques have increased salinity in much of the world’s farmland. Soil salinisation threatens major economic losses for countries with large agricultural sectors, both by lowering the available crop yield and the costly methods used in trying to solve the...

The ACCC’s ninth annual Water Monitoring Report has found hotter and drier-than-average weather has led to reduced water availability and higher prices for tradeable water products in 2017–18, placing pressure on water users in the Murray–Darling Basin.

Decisions by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to flood the Barmah-Millewa forest and drain Menindee Lakes have reduced water for NSW Murray general security holders, who have zero allocation for 2018-19. This research estimates an allocation of between 16% and 61% could have been...

The mismanagement of the Murray-Darling Basin has become a national issue in 2019. While the Basin’s problems are widely discussed, solutions are not. This paper outlines some practical steps to turn around the fortunes of the Basin and its people.

The Australia Institute has released this additional analysis of the controversial $80 million water deal between the Department of Agriculture and Water and a company domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The analysis shows the close collaboration between the department and the company selling the water...

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says "the one thing we can do" to reduce the effects of drought is introduce the Bradfield Scheme, an ambitious plan from the 1930s aimed at diverting floodwaters from the north of the country inland.

The Australia Institute has released analysis of official responses to the 'Watergate' scandal surrounding Murray Darling water purchases, covered by The Project, Guardian and other media outlets.