This week’s Federal Budget has secured funding for the rollout Murray-Darling Basin reform, delivering on a range of key reforms according to Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke.

Mr Burke said that the 2013-14 Federal Budget delivered on three major measures, including:

  • Funding for supply measure projects such as environmental works and measures that deliver environmental outcomes equivalent to those in the basin plan but with less water.
  • Recovery of a further 450GL of water for the environment through efficiency measures such as on-farm water efficiency savings that ensure no social and economic downsides for basin communities.
  • Removal of flow constraints that enable improved environmental outcomes from available environmental water.

"This commitment reflected in the budget today maximizes the environmental outcomes under the basin plan and it will be achieved while avoiding adverse social and economic impacts on basin communities,” Mr Burke said.

The majority of this funding will be directed to further improvements in irrigation efficiency and there is $200.0 million set aside for constraints removal projects such as increasing storage dam outlets capacity, protecting low-lying infrastructure and working with landholders on new flood easements.

The Budget locked in the $1.4 billion over the next 11 years to deliver improved supply measure projects.