The public will for the first time know how much water is in the Murray-Darling Basin, where it is, where it’s going and who owns it thanks to a new Bureau of Meteorology water monitoring tool.
Minister for Water Resources David Littleproud said the Coalition had invested $5 million on the new system, which will see this real time data posted publicly for the first time.
“Knowledge is power and this puts it right in the hands of Basin communities,” Minister Littleproud said.
“The tool will help communities understand exactly how much water is available for irrigators, communities and the environment.
“The new system will standardise, combine and generate the data we have across several sources, and then present it in a way that’s easy to understand and use.
“The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is currently holding an inquiry into Basin water markets – but we can also improve accountability right now.
“More transparency on water information is key to effectively delivering the Basin Plan.
“It will help to hold decision makers to account by making clear what water resources we have in each region.”
For more about the Bureau’s water information, visit: www.bom.gov.au/water.
Fast Facts:
- The system will be rolled out over the next three years in two phases:
- Phase 1: Fortnightly updates of data for water in storage on a valley scale.
- Phase 2: Updated water availability data at the river reach and individual storage scale and allow the user to aggregate data to valley and Basin scale.
- The Bureau of Meteorology has been responsible for water information functions since 2007.
