Completed programs and initiatives

The Australian Government provided up to $85 million for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to conduct a 2-phase project to improve water quality in ACT waterways allowing residents, businesses and visitors to enjoy the benefits of healthy, functioning rivers and lakes and contribute significantly to improved water quality in the Murray-Darling Basin.

See Healthy Waterways on the ACT Government Environment and Planning Directorate—Environment website for details.

The Hydrometric Networks and Remote Sensing Program was a $35 million (GST exclusive) program. It invested in new technologies that enhance monitoring, measurement and compliance of water resources in the northern Murray–Darling Basin.

The program delivered 4 projects that improved public confidence in the way water resources are measured and monitored in the northern Murray–Darling Basin.

The program closed on 30 June 2024. Find out more about the Hydrometric Networks and Remote Sensing Program.

From 2008, the Australian Government has been purchasing water for the environment in the Murray–Darling Basin, as part of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan. For information on water purchasing initiatives between 2008 and 2020, visit Water purchasing under previous programs.

In 2019, the Australian Government committed $15 million to fence northern Basin riverbanks. The key objective of the funding was to improve water quality and outcomes for native fish. New South Wales and Queensland were allocated $7.5 million each to complete projects in their states. These works included in-stream works, such as re-snagging.

Read more at Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Program.

From 2011 to 2020, the Australian Government invested $121 million in the Coorong Lower Lakes Murray Mouth (CLLMM) Recovery Project in South Australia. The project helped manage the area’s ecological health and supported the goals of the CLLMM long term plan. Read CLLMM final report.

For information on the next phase of the CLLMM project, visit the Healthy Coorong Healthy Basin Program.

This program provides grants to communities affected by water recovery actions under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Three rounds of funding have been completed.

Find out more about the MDB Economic Development Program

This program funds communities for projects that improve the health and of rivers and wetlands across the Murray-Darling Basin.

Two rounds of funding have been completed.

Find out more about the Healthy Rivers Program

The Off-farm Efficiency Program is designed to invest in infrastructure in the Murray-Darling Basin and provide water for the environment.

It has 3 components:

• State Led Off-farm – available to Murray–Darling Basin states for delivery of eligible off-farm proposals.
• Off-farm Efficiency Grants Program – closed for applications
• State Led On-farm – available for Murray–Darling Basin state delivery of eligible on-farm proposals.

Find out more about the Off-Farm Efficiency Program.

This scheme assisted farmers nationwide allowing them to purchase and install on-farm water infrastructure.

The scheme closed on 30 June 2024.

Find out more about the On-Farm Emergency Water Infrastructure Rebate Scheme.

This project improved the flow of water and fish passage between the Warrego River to the Darling River by modifying, demolishing or decommissioning dams and other structures at Toorale

Find out more about the Toorale Water Infrastructure Project

This program allowed certain farmers to apply to purchase water at a discounted rate to grow fodder and pasture.

Find out more about the Water for Fodder program

This project delivered water for the environment by upgrading irrigation infrastructure and promoting better water management practices.

Find out more about the NSW Irrigated Farm Modernisation Project

This project delivered water for the environment by upgrading stock and domestic water delivery schemes.

Find out more about the NSW Basin Pipe Project

The Australian Government committed $200 million from the Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Program to establish the Strengthening Basin Communities program.

The Strengthening Basin Communities Program is closed and no future funding rounds are planned at this time.

This program assisted irrigators within the southern connected system of the Murray–Darling Basin to modernise their on-farm irrigation infrastructure while returning water savings to the environment.

Find out more about the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program

This program helped irrigation water providers to develop modernisation plans for their districts and assess options to adapt to a future with less water.

Find out more about the Irrigation Modernisation Planning Assistance program

This program aimed to inform irrigation water providers of the nature, location and amount of water lost in their irrigation water delivery system.

Find out more about the Irrigation Hotspots Assessment Program

This program aimed to improve the efficiency and productivity of water use and management of private irrigation networks to deliver water savings for the environment.

Find out more about the Private Irrigation Infrastructure Operators Program for NSW

This program funded:

• upgrades to irrigation infrastructure
• other activities that improved the productivity of farm businesses.

This program closed to new applications in 2018.

Find out more about the Commonwealth On-farm Further Irrigation Efficiency Program

This program upgraded irrigation infrastructure and promoted better water management practices.

Find out more about the QLD Healthy Headwaters Water Use Efficiency Project

This program developed and tested the feasibility of a suite of Environmental Works and Measures projects in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Find out more about the Environmental Works and Measures Feasibility Program

This project provided $140 million towards the development of modern and efficient irrigation in Tasmania.

Find out more about the efficient irrigation in Tasmania project

This program supported the construction of sustainable irrigation schemes in Tasmania.

Find out more about the Tasmanian Irrigation Tranche II program

This program sought to support and encourage water efficiency within Australia's commercial and industrial sectors.

Find out more about the Water Efficiency Opportunities Program

The Private Irrigation Infrastructure Program for South Australia (PIIP-SA) funded irrigation infrastructure efficiency improvements for Murray-Darling Basin operators in South Australia, with a share of the water savings achieved from those projects to be used for environmental water purposes. In exchange for funding, successful applicants will transferred entitlements to the Commonwealth for environmental water purposes.

Find out more about PIIP-SA

The Riverine Recovery Project aimed to implement an improved riverine management regime for the River Murray from the South Australian–Victorian border to Wellington in South Australia and deliver water savings for transfer to the Commonwealth for environmental purposes. The activities undertaken as part of this project reflect a landscape-scale approach to addressing the problems of the River Murray and provided more effective, efficient and flexible management of environmental water. The Australian Government is contributing up to $89 million towards the project.

The Commonwealth provided up to $100 million for the Victorian Farm Modernisation project to support on-farm irrigation infrastructure upgrades on approximately 450 farms in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District. At least 55% of the water savings generated by the project were transferred to the Commonwealth for environmental use while the remaining 45% were retained by irrigators. The project was aligned with the Goulburn-Murray Water Connections project, which supported a major modernisation of the irrigation system within the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District.

The GMW Connections Project Stage 2 is a State Priority Project. It falls under the Agreement for Murray-Darling Basin Reform of July 2008. The project:

• improved off-farm irrigation efficiency between Swan Hill and Shepparton in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District
• modernised channels
• replaced or removed meter outlets
• created new direct connections for customers connected to distribution and spur channels.

The project was the largest Australian Government investment in irrigation infrastructure. The water savings from this project contributed to the Bridging the Gap program. The total cost of the project was $1.1 billion. The Australian Government contributed $953 million for the delivery of 102 GL long term diversion limit equivalent of water savings for the environment. The project commenced in November 2011 and was completed in 2021.

The $103 million Sunraysia Modernisation project delivered an integrated body of works to modernise irrigation infrastructure across the Mildura, Red Cliffs and Merbein irrigation districts in the Sunraysia region of northern Victoria.

The project returned 7 GL of high reliability water savings to the environment on average over the long-term every year and assisted irrigators in the Sunraysia region to achieve water efficiency gains, minimise costs and grow higher value crops all year round. The Victorian Government submitted a final report on the project which can be found here.

The Wimmera Mallee pipeline project involved replacing 17,500 km of open water channels with 8,800 km of pipeline. The project was co-funded across a number of Commonwealth water programmes and the Victorian Government, including $99 million from the Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Program. Construction of the pipeline is complete.

Funding of up to $10 million was contributed to remedial works on the Hume Dam southern training wall. The funding was appropriated to the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) over 3 years.

The Australian Government provided funding of $4 million to upgrade the Clarence Water Transfer System, allowing the increased use of excess water from Clarence Colliery. The project aimed to improve the security of Lithgow's water supply by supplementing potable water supplies and offsetting water that would ordinarily be drawn from Oberon Dam.

Liverpool Plains Shire Council was the lead recipient for a consortium of councils covering the regions of Liverpool Plains and Gunnedah. The project undertook a review of the issues affecting water security and management in the Gunnedah and Liverpool Plains communities now and in the future. The review included studies into water availability and options to better manage water resources. It also examined the socio-economic importance of water use and undertake a review of existing water supply and management infrastructure, as well as future water needs.

Funding of $20 million was committed to the NSW Government in March 2011 towards Orange City Council's water security project involving construction of a 39 km pipeline from the Macquarie River to the Suma Park Dam at Orange. The pipeline provides Orange with a secure water supply for the future by connecting the city's existing water infrastructure to the Macquarie River. The NSW Government co-contributed $18.2 million towards the project and the Orange City Council $8.8 million. The project has been completed and the pipeline opened on 2 July 2015.

See Macquarie River to Orange Pipeline project – Orange Water Security for details.

The Australian Government committed funding of up to $265 million, under two National Partnership Agreements, to the South Australian Government to undertake delivery of the South Australian River Murray Sustainability (SARMS) Program.

The SARMS program aimed to increase the efficiency and productivity of South Australian irrigation businesses, and secure and return 36 GL of long-term annual average yield ‘gap bridging’ water to the Commonwealth for environmental water use.

The Australian Government provided up to $180.1 million to this project. In 2014, it resulted in the purchase of 84,417 ha of land by the NSW Government and 381,000 ML of supplementary (Lowbidgee) water entitlements being transferred to the Commonwealth for environmental use. These water entitlements make a large contribution towards ‘bridging the gap’ to the sustainable diversion limit in the Murrumbidgee Valley under the Murray–Darling Basin Plan. This has significantly reduced the need to purchase water entitlements from other areas in the Murrumbidgee Valley that have substantial permanent plantings and irrigation infrastructure.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries is responsible for implementing future land management arrangements on the property, including extensive infrastructure works, to assist in achieving these objectives.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) conducted a performance audit of the project in 2014-15 and found it was one of the most cost effective water recovery projects administered by the department.

See Nimmie-Caira project—NSW Department of Primary Industries for details.

The Water Efficiency Program closed in 2021.

The program launched in 2019. All projects are now complete. The program provided funding to upgrade water infrastructure across the Murray–Darling Basin. Projects also delivered water savings that increased environmental water for the Basin.

Water saving infrastructure projects could include:

• on-farm
• off-farm
• urban
• industrial, and 
• water metering infrastructure. 

Participants retained some of the water savings the projects generated. The other part was transferred to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.

Program outcomes

The Water Efficiency Program aimed to:

• improve water use efficiency
• recover water for the environment
• support sustainable water management across the Murray–Darling Basin.

In summary:

• 28 projects approved
• total project funding $9.8 million (including GST)
• projects expected to recover 757.5 megalitres of water, equating to 668.1 ML/y  long term diversion limit equivalence of water entitlements.