NSW 2024 Basin Plan reports now available

The Murray Darling Basin Authority has recently published the NSW 2024 reports on environmental outcomes at the asset scale (Matter 8) and progress towards water quality targets (Matter 12). These are the second 5-yearly reports delivered as part of NSW’s reporting obligations under the Basin Plan. The reports will guide NSW efforts to identify and prioritise improvements to ecological and water quality monitoring and evaluation, and other actions that promote greater benefits from the Basin Plan and water management across the state.

The outcomes described in these reports have not only been influenced by the Basin Plan but other factors such as climatic conditions and land use. The variability in climate experienced across the NSW Basin during the reporting period (2018–23), namely from drought to flood, has made our ability to determine the success of Basin Plan implementation difficult to evaluate. Despite this, we have been able to determine areas where the Basin Plan has supported environmental outcomes and where it may be improved.

The NSW 2024 Matter 12 report provides a summary of water quality monitoring undertaken by NSW in the Murray–Darling Basin and builds on NSW’s 2020 Matter 12 report. The report found that the variable climatic conditions during the reporting period impacted water quality, resulting in fish deaths, hypoxic blackwater events and extensive blue-green algal blooms. Key water quality findings for water-dependent ecosystems found no sites had a water quality rating of very good, with almost half of the monitoring sites assigned a moderate score.

The Matter 8 report builds on the 2020 baseline report and describes the effects of environmental watering on ecological condition in the NSW Basin. As was the case with water quality, the variability in climate experienced across the NSW Basin made it difficult to measure the success of Basin Plan implementation. Despite this, the report found that core wetlands were supported during drought and, the influence of La Niña, combined with environmental watering, saw positive ecological responses across wetlands and floodplains.

The NSW 2024 Matter 12 report was prepared by this department. The Matter 8 report was prepared through collaboration between this department and the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries).