The Federal Government says it has already acted on recommendations to boost the health of the Murray-Darling Basin, including how water buybacks work and its cooperation with the states.
A parliamentary inquiry, headed by rural independent MP Tony Windsor, called for significant changes to basin management when it wrapped up in June.
The Government lodged its formal response to the report yesterday, agreeing in part or in-principle to all 21 recommendations.
It has agreed to prioritise infrastructure spending over buybacks and ensure funds used in the remainder of this year and next year are highly targeted.
One of the biggest complaints from Mr Windsor’s inquiry had been about the lack of strategy with buybacks that, for example, increased management costs for neighbouring farmers who didn’t sell.
Water Minister Tony Burke said the Government would work with industry to develop and publish a water recovery strategy which would ensure the purchasing system was more transparent.
General tenders in the southern basin area also won’t be considered before 2013.
But the Government will be more flexible with buying water from groups - and states - who actively want to sell their water to the Commonwealth.
It’s a change that was heralded in February following early prompting from Mr Windsor, who was about halfway through his eight-month inquiry.
The Government has also agreed to make the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office a distinct entity within the environment department, giving it more accountability.
It will be tasked with developing the science behind environmental water plans and bolstering information on the water needs of various environmental assets.
Among other pledges, the Government said it would work with basin states to improve management efficiency, with a review of their basin agreement due in 2013, and acknowledged a need to improve water data and develop a new approach to infrastructure funding.
