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Basin Plan monitoring and evaluation

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan was adopted by the Australian Government in 2012 and aims to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of the Murray-Darling Basin.

This page explains how the South Australian Government is required to effectively monitor and evaluate progress under the Basin Plan to ensure its objectives are achieved.

This page will help you:

Learn how the department monitors and evaluates Basin Plan progress
Understand the Basin Plan's environmental outcomes
Access South Australia's evaluation and technical reports

How SA evaluates achievement of environmental outcomes

The South Australian Government monitors and evaluates progress towards the objectives of the Basin Plan. It reports annually and every five years to the MDBA on the water for the environment plan, water quality and salinity, water trading rules, and water resource planning.

Our evaluation of environmental outcomes under the Basin Plan is underpinned by 5-yearly Matter 8 ‘achievement of environmental outcomes at an asset scale’ reporting, along with Matter 12 ‘progress towards water quality and salinity targets’ reporting.

In undertaking our evaluation, we have worked closely with technical experts and key stakeholders to address these questions:

To what extent have environmental outcomes been achieved?
If outcomes were not achieved, why not?
To what extent did the Basin Plan contribute to achieving outcomes?
Have there been any unanticipated outcomes?

Basin Plan environmental outcomes for South Australia 2024

In 2024, South Australia completed its evaluation of the environmental outcomes in our three water resource plan areas for the second time to build on the evaluation undertaken in 2020.

This evaluation comes at an important time for the implementation of the Basin Plan. It will contribute to the Murray–Darling Basin Authority’s 2025 Basin-scale evaluation and will support South Australia’s input to the upcoming review of the Basin Plan in 2026.

The South Australian evaluation of environmental outcomes under the Basin Plan | 2024 Approach and Summary provides a summary of our environmental evaluation approach and the outcomes across all three SA Water Resource Plan areas.

Key findings from our evaluation include:

The recovery and coordinated delivery of water for the environment has been critical to maintaining flows along the entire length of the River Murray and across all South Australian priority environmental assets.
Water for the environment under the Basin Plan has led to significant improvements in system connectivity, water quality and habitat conditions.
Operation of SA’s environmental regulators in conjunction with targeted watering actions has expanded water delivery areas across the floodplains, improving connectivity to support critical habitats and ecosystem functions.
High (unregulated) flow events and rainfall conditions are vital for increased system connectivity, productivity and resilience of ecosystems.
The 2022–23 River Murray flood event delivered significant environmental benefits along the South Australian River Murray but some improvements may be short-term if not followed-up with further watering
Key challenges persist across the South Australian River Murray and Murray-Darling Basin more broadly – including habitat loss, water extraction and a changing climate – which will require targeted interventions for restoring, maintaining and protecting and the health of aquatic ecosystems.
Low rainfall in the unregulated environments of the SA Murray Region has limited the frequency of flows required to support aquatic ecosystems and is projected to continue.
Whilst there have been improvements, ecosystem condition in parts of the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, particularly the Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges and Coorong South Lagoon, remains poor and will require further action to improve their health and resilience.