Basin salinity management 2030: strategies and reports

Salinity is a significant management challenge and poses ongoing environmental, social and economic risks in the Murray–Darling Basin.

Salinity is forecast to continue to increase over time and requires careful ongoing management to prevent a return to the highly saline conditions of previous decades.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and Basin governments have a long and successful history of working together to manage salinity. The current strategy (BSM2030) has been in place since 2015 and will deliver a program of coordinated salinity management until 2030.

The focus of BSM2030 is to:

  • maintain the cap on salinity through the existing Basin Salinity Target and the existing accountability framework
  • bring environmental water fully into the accountability framework in a practical and pragmatic way
  • explore opportunities to responsively manage salt interception schemes so that operations can be further optimised and costs can be reduced when river salinity is forecast to be low
  • support Basin Plan flow management obligations to have regard to the salinity targets for managing water flows
  • support basin states managing salinity in their catchments through their land and water management plans and be consistent with their Basin Plan water resource plan obligations
  • develop fit-for-purpose governance arrangements which reduce the frequency of audit, reporting and reviews
  • invest in knowledge to reduce uncertainty and potentially avoid the need for future capital investment in new joint works and measures
  • undertake a major strategic review to ensure the strategy continues to guide effective management of salinity in the basin.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

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Data / Information Category Report
Authoring Agency Murray–Darling Basin Authority
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Landing page https://www.mdba.gov.au/publications/mdba-reports/basin-salinity-management-2030
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