Explanatory Statement
Issued by Authority of the Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management
Water Act 2007
Water Act (South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2019
Legislative Authority
The Water Act 2007 (the Act) provides the legislative framework for managing Australia’s largest water resource, the Murray-Darling Basin, and makes provision for other matters of national interest in relation to water and water information.
Subsection 54(1) of the Act requires that there be a water resource plan for each water resource plan area identified in the Basin Plan 2012 (the Basin Plan). Water resource plans set out water management arrangements for surface water and groundwater within each water resource plan area.
Under section 63 of the Act, the Basin States (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory) may submit a proposed water resource plan to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (the Authority) for consideration and the Authority is required to provide the proposed water resource plan and its recommendations on accreditation to the Minister. If the Authority gives the Minister a proposed water resource plan and recommendations, the Minister must consider the proposed water resource plan and the recommendations and either accredit the water resource plan or not accredit the water resource plan. The decision to accredit a water resource plan is a non-disallowable legislative instrument.
Purpose
The purpose of the Water Act (South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2019 (the Accreditation Decision) is to set out the Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management’s (the Minister’s) decision, under section 63 of the Act to accredit the South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan (the WRP).
The Minister must accredit a proposed water resource plan if, after considering advice from the Authority (provided in accordance with subsection 63(3) of the Act), the Minister is satisfied that the proposed water resource plan is consistent with the relevant Basin Plan.
Subsection 56(2A) of the Act defines the relevant Basin Plan. For the Accreditation Decision, the relevant Basin Plan is the version that was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 23 January 2017 (F2017C00078).
Background
The WRP was developed by the State of South Australia, in consultation with key stakeholders and regional communities, and was given to the Authority on 13 November 2018, in accordance with subsection 63(1) of the Act. The Authority published the proposed WRP on their website on 3 December 2018. The WRP sets out water management arrangements for surface water and groundwater within the South Australian Murray Region WRP area. The WRP applies to the surface water sustainable diversion limit (SDL) resource units associated with the Coorong and Murray Mouth (below the barrages; and excludes the River Murray channel or Lower Lakes) and seven groundwater SDL resource units. These SDL resource units are identified in section 6.02 of the Basin Plan when read with Schedule 2 at table item 26 (surface water), and section 6.03 of the Basin Plan when read with Schedule 4 at table items 9 to 15 (groundwater).
The Authority considered the WRP and, as required by subsection 63(3) of the Act, prepared recommendations for the Minister on whether the WRP should be accredited. The Authority formed the view that the WRP is consistent with the relevant Basin Plan and recommended that the Minister accredit the WRP. The Authority gave the Minister the WRP and its recommendations on the WRP to the Minister on 5 February 2019.
The Minister considered the WRP and the Authority’s recommendations and was satisfied that the WRP is consistent with the relevant Basin Plan. As required by subsection 63(6) of the Act, the Minister made the decision to accredit the WRP.
Impact and Effect
Once accredited, the WRP will be given effect through sections 58 and 59 of the Act. In summary, section 58 provides that the Authority and any other agency of the Commonwealth must act consistently with an accredited WRP, subject to some exceptions. In summary, section 59 provides that the Basin Officials Committee, an agency of a Basin State, an operating authority, an infrastructure operator and the holder of a water access right must not act inconsistently with an accredited WRP, subject to some exceptions.
Consultation
Section 17 of the Legislation Act 2003 (the Legislation Act) requires that the rule-maker must be satisfied that any consultation that the rule-maker considers to be appropriate and reasonably practicable to undertake has been undertaken.
Section 10.07 of the Basin Plan requires the consultation undertaken in the preparation of the WRP to be described. Section 10.53 also requires a WRP to be prepared having regard to the views of relevant Indigenous organisations with respect to particular matters. A description of the consultation undertaken by South Australia in relation to the development of the WRP is set out in Part 5.2.6 of the document titled South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan, which is a key document that forms part of the WRP. The proposed South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan was available on 4 April 2019 on the Authority’s website at https://www.mdba.gov.au/basin-plan-roll-out/water-resource-plans.
The Authority consulted with relevant Indigenous organisations, namely, the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN), on whether the proposed WRP is consistent with the requirements in Chapter 10, Part 14 of the Basin Plan, regarding Indigenous values and uses.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) have advised that a regulation impact statement is not required (ID: 21669).
The Accreditation Decision is a legislative instrument for purposes of the Legislation Act. Paragraph 63(7)(b) of the Act provides that section 42 (disallowance) of the Legislation Act does not apply to the Accreditation Decision. Consequently, a statement of compatibility with Human Rights is not required in accordance with paragraph 15J(2)(f) of the Legislation Act.
Attachment A
Details of the Water Act (South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2019
Section 1—Name
This section provides that the name of the instrument is the Water Act (South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2019 (Accreditation Decision).
Section 2—Commencement
This section provides that the Accreditation Decision commences the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3—Authority
This section provides that the Accreditation Decision is made under section 63 of the Act.
Section 4—Definitions
This section includes definitions that are relevant to the Accreditation Decision. It defines “Act” to mean, the Water Act 2007. It also includes a note that explains that a number of expressions used in the Accreditation Decision are defined in section 4 of the Act, including “Authority” and “Basin Plan”.
Section 5—Accreditation of South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan
This section provides that the South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan that is set out, or identified in accordance with section 10.04 of the Basin Plan, in the document titled South Australian Murray Region Water Resource Plan that was given to the Authority by South Australia under subsection 63(1) of the Act on 13 November 2018, is accredited.
The accredited WRP is available on the Authority’s website at https://www.mdba.gov.au/basin-plan-roll-out/water-resource-plans (as at 30 July 2019).