The ACT and Federal Governments have reached an agreement to recover 4.9 gigalitres of water per year, fulfilling the ACT’s water recovery obligations under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, while contributing an additional 1.46 gigalitres of water per year towards other Basin water recovery projects in the national interest.

The ACT Government will receive $58.8 million from the Federal Government for water efficiency and demand management projects that will save 6.36 gigalitres per year, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.

“Our waterways are not bound by borders.” Mr Barr said; “we know that our actions in the ACT will positively contribute towards the health of the river systems across our region and further afield.

“Restoring river flows within the upper Murrumbidgee River catchment supports improved catchment health and water security that is integral for the prosperity of communities in the ACT and surrounding region.”

Shane Rattenbury, ACT Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction, said the water recovery agreement showed the government’s commitment to water efficiency and restoring the health of the Murray Darling Basin, “our country’s lifeblood, [which] for years … has been dying, thanks to corporate greed and political failures”. The ACT Government will work with the Federal Government to realise the Basin Plan and protect the upper Murrumbidgee River.

“While there has been some progress under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, it has been too slow,” Mr Rattenbury said. “We know that we need to do much more to rebuild river and wetland health, improve water quality, deliver cultural flows and water for First Nations, and address shortages in water supply for critical human water needs.”

Last year, the two governments struck a deal to return 450 gigalitres of water to the environment by the end of 2027 (three years later than originally intended).

Following the ACT agreement, the Commonwealth Government will have recovered 60 per cent (31 gigalitres) of the target (49.2 gigalitres), across all seven catchments. Last month, it announced it would recover 26.25 gigalitres per year through a voluntary water purchase tender; the gap would be bridged in three of six catchments in NSW and Queensland.

ANU researchers warned today that the Murray-Darling Basin and other parts of southwestern and eastern Australia could expect megadroughts lasting for more than 20 years.