A range of vital projects designed to meet critical Murray-Darling Basin Plan targets will not be finished on time, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's new CEO has confirmed.
Addressing the National Rural Press Club on Tuesday, Andrew McConville revealed the latest assessment of the Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) projects predicted a shortfall of 190–315 gigalitres by the time they were supposed to be delivered in June 2024.
"This means the authority will have no choice but to recommend to the federal water minister amended sustainable diversion limits in southern basin catchments," Mr McConville said.
These projects were put forward by basin state governments in 2017 and are supposed to deliver environmental outcomes that are equivalent to removing 605GL from the consumptive pool of water.