A new independent report by Aither has been released today, updating previous analysis and providing greater confidence in the estimated current and future horticultural demands in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, and the lower Murray region.

The updated report has been developed with increased collaboration with the Victorian, New South Wales and South Australian governments, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and industry experts to provide an up-to-date understanding of how horticultural water demands are changing.

The revised report gives a greatly increased level of confidence to previous findings – that there will be increasing challenges for horticultural plantings to meet their water needs in dry years – particularly in the lower Murray region.

Download PDF Fact Sheet: Water supply and demand in the southern Murray Darling Basin 2020 (PDF - 441 Kb)

Download PDF Water supply and demand in the southern Murray-Darling Basin (2020 update) (PDF - 2,140 Kb)

This analysis continues the Victorian Government’s push for greater water market information to help water users make informed decisions about their businesses and supports the Minister for Water’s move to directly assess all applications for new extractions from the Murray River downstream of the Barmah Choke.

With increasing competition for water, Victoria’s strong entitlement framework is critical to supporting water users to manage their water needs in a fair and efficient way. Tools like carryover and trade are increasingly important to allow water entitlement holders to manage their water needs and business risks.

The 2019 report on water supply and horticulture demand is available on the Victorian Water Register website.