Two decades of Murray-Darling water management: A river of funding, a trickle of achievement

Abstract

The paper appraises the myriad of Murray-Darling Basin-related policies since the early 1990s. It contends that significant environmental improvements could have been achieved at substantially lower cost had decisive action been taken earlier. If the total expenditures in the last two decades had been put solely towards water entitlement buy-backs, an amount of water several times that necessary to significantly improve the health of the Basin would have been acquired.;The paper appraises the myriad of Murray-Darling Basin-related policies since the early 1990s. It contends that significant environmental improvements could have been achieved at substantially lower cost had decisive action been taken earlier. If the total expenditures in the last two decades had been put solely towards water entitlement buy-backs, an amount of water several times that necessary to significantly improve the health of the Basin would have been acquired. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT];The paper appraises the myriad of Murray-Darling Basin-related policies since the early 1990s. It contends that significant environmental improvements could have been achieved at substantially lower cost had decisive action been taken earlier. If the total expenditures in the last two decades had been put solely towards water entitlement buy-backs, an amount of water several times that necessary to significantly improve the health of the Basin would have been acquired.;