Review of Victoria’s North and Murray Water Resource Plan
In March 2019 Wentworth Group reviewed the Victoria’s North and Murray Water Resource Plan (WRP).
Our review showed that while the draft WRP meets some of our developed criteria there are several substantive problems summarised as:
- The Baseline Diversion Limit (BDL) has not been updated which will result in an additional 32.15 GL of water being extracted for consumption each year instead of being used to support riverine health;
- The WRP does not provide adequate information to demonstrate how planned environmental water will be protected and how environmental objectives will be met; and
- All models used in the WRP need to be thoroughly documented and subject to independent review and accreditation. This includes the BDL model, the final WRP model, modelling of the expected use of environmental entitlements as well as any updated models used in the WRP.
We submit that the Victoria’s North and Murray Water Resource Plan should not be accredited until these matters have been properly addressed.
This review was submitted to the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
Author
Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists
