Close said this afternoon that despite only two gigalitres of the 450GL of environmental water due to be delivered by 2024 having been returned to the system, all ministers at this morning’s meeting agreed to find ways to reach the target.

“There’s a reaffirmed commitment to deliver the plan,” she told InDaily.

“I’m feeling hopeful without in any way being complacent, I feel like as the state at the bottom of the river we have the most clear and pressing need to have water secure in a drought, but it is important to all states.”

Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek chaired the meeting with Close, adding that she reiterated that all options were on the table including water buybacks – where water entitlements are purchased – but focused on water efficiencies to be delivered by states along the Murray Darling.

The last national ministers meeting was held in April 2021 and Close said it was important to bring work to support the plan back on track. Ministers agreed to meet again to discuss the plan in January-February next year.

New South Wales and Victoria previously have dragged their heels on delivering water efficiency savings, she claimed. Arguments about the plan having too much of a social and economic impact on river towns and businesses by some states and sectors have created controversy.

Currently, funds have been set aside for the Murray–Darling Basin Off-farm Efficiency Grants Program where, in return for funding water efficiency infrastructure projects, participants transfer an agreed volume of water savings to the Commonwealth in the form of eligible water rights.

Minister Close said reports have consistently shown upstream states not achieving the water saving targets set out in the Plan and this has left South Australia short changed and vulnerable to future droughts.

The most recent Basin Plan Report Card in July this year showed New South Wales has only formally submitted one of the 20 water resource plans to the MDBA and provided five water resource plans for review ahead of formal submission.

It also showed only two GL of the additional 450GL has been recovered, with a further 22.1 GL contracted for delivery.

Opposition spokeswoman for Water Resources and the River Murray Nicola Centofanti said yesterday before the meeting that buybacks were not the answer.

“Labor’s obsession with buybacks is nothing more than broken ideology that rips productivity out of our river communities, gutting regional economies and guaranteeing job losses,” she said.

“Selling such a large volume of water, 420GL to the government, would take a huge amount out of the consumptive pool – that’s effectively 420GL that can no longer be used for crop production.

“Therefore, less crop production, not to mention higher water prices, less jobs, more families leaving these regional communities because they can’t get jobs, resulting in the gutting of regional economies and regional towns.”