Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Program

This Schedule will support the delivery of elements of the Reconnecting River Country Program to be operable by 31 December 2026.

The Program comprises river constraints alleviation measures for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which form part of the Sustainable Diversion Limits Adjustment Mechanism:

• NSW Murray River (Hume to Yarrawonga and Yarrawonga to Wakool reaches)
• the Murrumbidgee River.

This Schedule will support the Australian Capital Territory in delivering its Shared Reduction Amount of 4.9 gigalitres per year Long Term Diversion Limit Equivalence to meet the Sustainable Diversion Limit under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

This Schedule will support the delivery of three New South Wales projects in the Gwydir Valley that have been approved for implementation, as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan Northern Basin Toolkit Measures: Gingham watercourse, Lower Gwydir watercourse and Lower Mehi River. 

This Schedule will support the delivery of three New South Wales projects that have been approved for streamlined delivery as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan Northern Basin Toolkit Measures. 

This Schedule will fund the River Murray in South Australia Constraints Measure Early Works Project (the Project) which will fast-track the upgrade of some sites for the South Australian (SA) River Murray Constraints Measure.

The upgrades will manage the impacts of flows proposed under the constraints measure and include improving access roads and tracks and installing and modifying infrastructure.

The Project builds on the preconstruction activities undertaken under the Project Agreement for Stage 1 Funding for Sustainable Diversion Limits Adjustment Supply and Constraints Measures in the Murray-Darling Basin (Schedule C). Preconstruction activities include design work, site assessments, community engagement and the development of an implementation proposal, expected in June 2022, for the Constraints Measure.

The SA River Murray Constraints Measure is part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan's Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) adjustment mechanism, which enables the Plan's SDLs to be increased by 605 gigalitres (GL).

The Schedule supports the delivery of the Queensland Fish-friendly Water Extraction Project: Condamine-Balonne and Border Rivers (the Project), as part of the Northern Basin Toolkit Measures.

This Project will :

• screen offtake pumps and diversion infrastructure to ensure fish are not removed from northern Basin rivers and so increase native fish populations in relevant catchments. The demonstration sites are located in reaches of the Lower Balonne River, the Queensland Border Rivers and the Condamine River.
• increase the uptake of screening technology by irrigators more broadly across the northern Basin.

This schedule will support the delivery of alternative supply chain models with 'whole of chain' collaboration to facilitate an increase in lamb production in the Cunnamulla region.

This Schedule will support the refurbishment of Wilcannia Weir, which will:

• improve water security and contribute to better Basin Plan outcomes for the Indigenous community of Wilcannia
• enhance opportunities for cultural gatherings
• provide for low impact water recreation activities
• enhance environmental outcomes by improving fish movement along the Darling Rover including through the construction of a weir fishway.

This Schedule will support the Commonwealth and States to implement the package of supply and constraints measures to give effect to an amendment to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan (Basin Plan) which commenced in law on 13 January 2018 and enabled the Basin Plan's Sustainable Diversion Limits to be increased by 605 gigalitres (GL).

The Schedule complements the existing agreement set out in the Project Agreement (Project Agreement for Stage 1 Funding for Sustainable Diversion Limits Adjustment Supply and Constraints Measures in the Murray-Darling Basin) and the deliverables set out in its related Schedule A (Stage 1. Funding for New South Wales Supply and Constraints Measures).

The Schedule accelerates the delivery of five specific measures originally anticipated to be delivered under a new funding agreement for Stage 2 activities. These activities will be accelerated ahead of the completion of Stage 1 (Schedule A to the Project Agreement), and/or prior to the approval for progress with the comprehensive project works package for any remaining Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjust Mechanism (SDLAM) projects. This will allow streamlined assessment and delivery of the five measures by 30 June 2024.

This Schedule will support the delivery of stronger compliance in the northern Basin as intended by the Australian Government's commitments in the Murray-Darling Basin Communities Investment Package by building capacity of metering and telemetry and improving the information available to water users and compliance officers.