THE nation's top water bureaucrat has urged the state governments to finish the final piece of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, but it remains to be seen what carrots or sticks the new federal government will get NSW and Victoria's water projects back on track.
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Labor has made it clear it wants the plan delivered in full and on time, however is yet to reveal how it would get the states to hurry up their Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism, which will recover 605 gigalitres.
The NSW and Victorian state governments have been butting heads with the Commonwealth for several years, with both declaring several projects won't be completed before the 2024 deadline.
Terri Butler, the former Labor water spokesperson before unexpectedly losing her seat to the Greens, said extending the deadline was not an option and the party expected the states to meet their obligations.
Senior Labor MP Tanya Plibersek was appointed the new Environment and Water Minster on Wednesday. However, a spokesperson for Ms Plibersek said the new minister was unavailable to comment as she spent the next few days engaging with department officials, including a detailed briefing on where the basin plan was up to.
Murray-Darling Basin Authority acting chief executive Andrew Reynolds urged the state governments to redouble their efforts. He said the SDLAM projects were the "critical final stages" of the basin plan and a "once-in-a-generation chance" to allow water to move through the system more freely.
"That's why we're encouraging everyone to push forward with the projects that will bring this chance to life," he said.
Mr Reynolds said 29 of the projects were well on their way or completed, but there was significant work to be done to get the final seven projects over the line.
"The work that state governments have left to do is hard, really hard," he said.
"While I appreciate and understand how hard these projects are to implement, from a river operator's perspective, they're gold."
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Mr Reynolds was asked if the federal government had any powers to hurry the state governments other than "asking nicely".
He pointed to Commonwealth legislation that was triggered in 2024, which required the federal government to recover any shortfall, which could include water buybacks.
"That's the hook to make sure they progress - we're at a point now where projects are running behind time and that really challenging conversation between governments will have to occur," Mr Reynolds said.
"With a new government just elected and a new minister, it would be premature for me to say how the new government might respond.
"These critically important projects will achieve the environmental outcomes of the basin plan, using less water. If we're going to give our rivers the best chance, these final elements have to be completed."