Water (SDL Adjustments) Notice 2017 (Cth)

Water (SDL Adjustments) Notice 2017 The Murray Darling Basin Authority makes the following notice.

Dated 6 December 2017

Contents 1 Name 2 Authority 3 Interpretation 4 Background 5 Information required by section 23B of the Water Act 6 Illustrative example of proposed SDL adjustments Schedule 1 —SDLs at reference time and apportioned supply contributions for surface water SDL resource units Schedule 2 —Calculation of proposed SDL adjustments Part 1 —Preliminary 1 Purpose of Schedule 2 Simplified outline of this Schedule 3 Interpretation Part 2 —Calculation of SDL adjustment amount 4 Net effect of the total supply contribution and the total efficiency contribution 5 Calculation of SDL adjustment amounts—net effect greater than 543 GL per year 6 Calculation of SDL adjustment amounts—net effect less than or equal to 543 GL per year Schedule 3 —Calculation of other amounts 1 Calculation of percentage difference for paragraph 5(2)(c) of this notice 2 Calculation of total Basin adjustment percentage for paragraph 5(3)(b) of this notice Schedule 4 —Outline of material Schedule 5 —Illustrative example of proposed SDL adjustments 1 Name This notice is the Water (SDL Adjustments) Notice 2017. 2 Authority This notice is made under section 23B of the Water Act 2007. Note: This notice is not a legislative instrument. See paragraph 23B(7)(b) of the Water Act. 3 Interpretation In this notice: Authority means the Murray‑Darling Basin Authority within the meaning of the Water Act. Basin Plan means the Basin Plan 2012. proposed Basin limit has the same meaning as in subsection 23A(5) of the Water Act. Note: See also paragraph 5(3)(a) of this notice. reference time is the time the Basin Plan first took effect, that is, 24 November 2012. total Basin adjustment percentage has the same meaning as in subsection 23A(5) of the Water Act. Note: See also paragraph 5(3)(b) of this notice. SDL means long‑term average sustainable diversion limit. Water Act means the Water Act 2007. 4 Background The Basin Plan (1) The Basin Plan is a legislative instrument made under Part 2 of the Water Act. The Basin Plan provides for the integrated management of the "Basin water resources", which are, broadly speaking, the water resources within, or beneath, the Murray‑Darling Basin. (2) Among other things, the Basin Plan specifies "water resource plan areas", each of which contains part of the Basin water resources. Each water resource plan area consists of one or more "SDL resource units". Each SDL resource unit is either: (a) a surface water SDL resource unit, identified in section 6.02 of the Basin Plan; or (b) a groundwater SDL resource unit, identified in section 6.03 of the Basin Plan. Long‑term average sustainable diversion limits (SDLs) (3) The Basin Plan also specifies the "long‑term average sustainable diversion limits", or "SDLs", for: (a) the Basin water resources as a whole—see subsection 6.04(2) of the Basin Plan; and (b) each SDL resource unit—see: (i) subsection 6.04(3) of the Basin Plan for surface water SDL resource units; and (ii) subsection 6.04(4) of the Basin Plan for groundwater SDL resource units. (4) The SDLs are the maximum long-term annual average quantities of water that can be taken, on a sustainable basis, from the relevant water resources. In accordance with paragraph 23(2)(b) of the Water Act, SDLs have been specified in the Basin Plan as a formula that may be used to calculate a quantity of water per year. Adjustments to long‑term average sustainable diversion limits (5) In accordance with subsection 23A(1) of the Water Act, Part 2 of Chapter 7 of the Basin Plan provides for the Authority to propose: (a) an adjustment of the SDLs for one or more surface water SDL resource units; and (b) as a result of such adjustments, an adjustment of the SDL for the Basin water resources as a whole; by an amount determined by the Authority. (6) In accordance with paragraph 23A(2)(a) of the Water Act, section 7.17 of the Basin Plan also includes criteria for determining: (a) whether the Authority should propose such an adjustment; and (b) the amount of such an adjustment. (7) Subsection 7.20(4) of the Basin Plan requires the proposed adjustments to be in the form of a formula as a function of time that depends on the factors specified in that subsection. 5 Information required by section 23B of the Water Act (1) The Authority has proposed one or more adjustments of the SDLs for each surface water SDL resource unit. (2) For subsection 23B(2) of the Water Act, for each surface water SDL resource unit: (a) the SDL that applied at the reference time is the amount given by column 2 of the table to Schedule 1 to this notice; and (b) the proposed plan area limit is the sum of: (i) the SDL that applied at the reference time; and (ii) the SDL adjustment amount given by section 5 or section 6 of Schedule 2 to this notice, as appropriate, for the unit; and (c) the amount of the difference between the limits referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), expressed as a percentage of the amount of the limit referred to in paragraph (a), is the percentage difference calculated in accordance with section 1 of Schedule 3 to this notice; and (d) an outline of the material on which the Authority based its decision in determining that the criteria referred to in paragraph 23A(2)(a) of the Water Act (see subsection 4(6) of this notice) had been met in relation to the adjustment and the amount of the adjustment is set out in Schedule 4 to this notice. Note 1: Consistently with paragraph 23(2)(b) of the Water Act and subsection 7.20(4) of the Basin Plan, the amounts referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) are expressed as formulae. Note 2: The Minister has not, under subsection 23B(6) of the Water Act, previously adopted any adjustments of the SDLs for any SDL resource unit since the reference time, and so paragraph 23B(2)(d) of the Water Act is not relevant. (3) For subsection 23B(3) of the Water Act: (a) the proposed Basin limit that is proposed as a result of the proposed adjustments referred to in subsection (1) is equal to the sum of: (i) the proposed plan area limits as referred to in paragraph (2)(b) for all surface water SDL resource units; and (ii) the SDLs for each groundwater SDL resource unit as at the date the Basin Plan first took effect; and Note: The Basin Plan first took effect on 24 November 2012. (b) the total Basin adjustment percentage is the amount calculated in accordance with section 2 of Schedule 3 to this notice; and (c) an outline of the material on which the Authority based its decision in determining that the criteria referred to in paragraph 23A(2)(a) of the Water Act (see subsection 4(6) of this notice) had been met in relation to the adjustment, and the amount of the adjustment, of the SDL for the Basin water resources is set out in Schedule 4 to this notice. Note: Consistently with paragraph 23(2)(b) of the Water Act and subsection 7.20(4) of the Basin Plan, the amounts referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) are expressed as formulae. 6 Illustrative example of proposed SDL adjustments To illustrate the effect of the proposed SDL adjustments, Schedule 5 to this notice sets out an illustrative example of how the proposed SDL adjustments might be expected to operate in the hypothetical scenario outlined in that Schedule.