Hon Lisa Neville me Minister for Police and Emergency Services BNicholson Street East Melbourne Victoria 3002 Telephone: 03 9637 9654 ox210008 Minister for Water The Hon David Littleproud MP Refs MBRO41200 Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Parliament House. Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Minister REVIEW OF WATER MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS IN THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN ‘Thank you for your letter of 2 December 2019 proposing an investigation into the management of Murray-Darling Basin Water Resources to be led by the Interim inspector-General Ihave been very supportive of the role of the IG as discussed and signed off together and | support Mr Keelty having an understanding of resource availabilty in the Basin. However, | have serious concerns about any connection to the water sharing arrangements in the Murray-Darling Basin ‘Agreement (the Agreement), the short timeline, and the suitability of a compliance and enforcement expert to lead what is described as a hydrological exercise. | have written to the Inspector General about our communities’ concerns and expectations that his focus be on floodplain harvesting, allocation, metering, monitoring of large-scale individual water use and licensing arrangements in the Northern Basin. | have concerns that the investigation described in your letter won't deal with these long-standing issues and I'm also concerned that the focus on these elements on water sharing arrangements will rnot lead to constructive changes, or a meaningful look at the reduced inflows to Menindee from the Barwon-Darling and its tributaries. | will not support any proposal which compromises Victorian entitlements, and do not support renegotiating the Agreement. Since the Millennium Drought, Basin governments have already made ‘amendments to the Agreement, including to water sharing tiers to prioritise critical human water needs. | sincerely hope that we do not reach this level of water shortage and support efforts to avoid it, and | remain confident in the arrangements we have previously agreed. {am proud to support Victorian communities with a sound water management system and entitlement framework which promote flexiblity and reliability for our water users. These were developed in Conjunction with Victorian water users in response to lessons from the Millennium Drought when Victorian irrigators and communities suffered from no, or low allocations across multiple seasons. Victoria's reserve policy has provided our entitlement holders with certainty in dry conditions and during this drought has helped support our northern Victorian communities. Any reopening of the ‘Agreement would penalise Victorian water users for the failure of other Basin jurisdictions to implement similar reforms to increase the resilience of their systems to low inflows and destabilise the integrity of the water market FORIA| support Victoria's current carryover and allocation policies, which ensure that water is set aside so that systems can be run in years of low inflows and allow water users to make their own decisions about their carryover. ‘Communities in many parts of the Basin re experiencing extremely difficult conditions right now, and the impacts of drought are undeniable. Victoria supports programs that build resilience to drought and assistance to those communities suffering now. It is important to provide as much certainty as we can, rather than unravelling the Agreement which underpins how available water is shared between Vietoria, New South Wales, and South Australia and underpins how the water market functions. | also {do not want to give false hope to communities in such difficult circumstances. Public comments made by stakeholders to the effect that water for drought affected communities is going to arise from this review should be addressed early You advise that you will be seeking Ministerial Council agreement for new powers for the Inspector- General at our upcoming meeting. However, to date | have not been provided with any legislation to support or otherwise. While it is my understanding that legislation would not be required to enable an investigation of water resource availability in the Basin, your letter indicates that you expect that legislation would be required to enable this. Any agreement at Ministerial Council would be premature without adequate review of the proposed legislation to ensure consistency with Victorian law, | continue to support the establishment of the Inspector-General role 2s agreed at COAG and the ongoing efforts to improve compliance and enforcement in the basin. | look forward to a collaborative process as we move forward with the role. Yours sincerely