Working together for the health of the Murray–Darling Basin

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) has partnered with First Nations peoples, farmers, scientists and state governments to deliver around 30 Sydney Harbours’ worth of water for the environment in the past 15 years.

The Murray–Darling Basin supports a diverse range of communities and ecosystems, as well as agricultural production. It is home to 40 groups of First Nations peoples, and to 16 internationally significant wetlands.

Known as Australia’s food bowl, restoring flows to the Basin’s rivers and wetlands is critical for health and sustainability. The health of the rivers underpins the myriad of values the Basin supports.
 

Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder meeting with stakeholders in the Macquarie Marshes
Image: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

By collaborating with the irrigation sector, the CEWH uses existing infrastructure to get water to wetlands and creeks that would otherwise miss out.

The CEWH continuously builds relationships to support First Nations people to care for Country. For example, in the Murrumbidgee Valley, the CEWH works with the Nari Nari Tribal Council to deliver water to wetlands at Gayini Conservation Area. Over the past 3 years, this has supported large-scale waterbird breeding.

Since 2009, the CEWH has funded more than $100 million in independent scientific research, providing robust evidence to support its decision-making.

Commonwealth environmental water is water that has been purchased or acquired by the Government under the Murray–Darling Basin Plan to restore rivers and wetlands. This water has supported more than 26,000 kilometres of Basin waterways and inundated more than 420,000 hectares of lakes and floodplains. This includes 11 wetlands of international significance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.