New report says buybacks ‘by far’ most cost-effective method to recover water while confirming plan won’t be completed ‘on budget’
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The federal government should step up efforts to recover water in the Murray-Darling Basin, including expanding voluntary buybacks and doing more to hold state governments to account, the Productivity Commission has said in a major report.
Originally agreed in 2012, the plan aimed to recover 2,750 gigalitres a year with an additional 450 GL/y from efficiency measures. However, it won’t “be implemented on time or on budget”, with delays inflating costs even as the climate crisis adds to challenges, the commission’s interim review of the plan’s implementation has found.
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