Take it as a compliment: integrating complementary measures as the next chapter of Murray–Darling Basin water management

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Murray-Darling Basin has undergone significant reform, primarily focused on rebalancing water shares between diversions and the environment. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan and earlier reforms have reduced diversions to an annual average 28% of inflows, within acceptable impacts in global frameworks for the ecological limits of hydrologic alteration. However, non-water components, known as complementary measures, have received little attention, despite being considered equally important to deliver all anticipated environmental benefits. The lessons learned about the value of integrating both flow, and non-flow, measures to achieve ecological objectives are an important case study for basins globally attempting ambitious environmental reforms.