The latest federal budget includes new funding to ‘future-proof’ the Murray-Darling Basin. 

The Government says it will provide $148.6 million over 4 years from 2023–24 towards the sustainability of the Murray-Darling Basin. 

The Funding includes:

  • $103.7 million for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to prepare for and undertake the first statutory review of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan 2012, with updated science to enable the Basin to adapt to the impacts of climate change

  • $44.9 million for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to provide advice and work with Basin states and affected communities on the Basin Plan

This measure builds on the 2022–23 October Budget measures (PDF) titled ‘Murray-Darling Basin Plan – compliance and science and Murray-Darling Basin – delivering on water commitments’.

The Government has also pledged $236 million over 10 years from 2023–24 (and $13.9 million per year ongoing from 2032–33) to remediate high priority flood warning infrastructure and address “critical reliability risks”. 

The funding will see the Bureau of Meteorology acquire, upgrade and integrate local and state government-owned rain and river gauges into its existing flood warning network.

Partial funding for this measure will be held in reserve until cost-sharing arrangements for the ongoing maintenance of these assets are agreed with states and territories.