Murray-Darling Basin Plan deadline extension an open question

On Wednesday, basin water ministers met in Canberra for the first time in 18 months. For now, the federal government and the basin states are working towards the MDBP's mid-2024 deadline.

During the federal election Labor promised to deliver the plan in full and on time. But as the deadline draws closer, the Commonwealth and state governments are aware at some point there will be a discussion about extending the timeline.

READ MORE: Minister rejects claims Labor knew water promise couldn't be kept

Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said everyone was committed to delivering the plan in full, but the state ministers had been "very explicit that these time frames are challenging".

"None of this a mystery, none of this is a surprise and it comes - at least in part - from the fact that the previous federal government spent its time undermining the plan, sabotaging it rather than getting on with it," Ms Plibersek said.

Under the current legislation, if all the required water is not delivered in time, the federal government is legally required to recover any shortfall via voluntary buybacks.

NSW and Victoria have openly declared a number of their water efficient projects - which recovery a significant portion of the 605GL target - won't be completed on time.

NSW Water Minister Kevin Anderson said everyone had to be realistic about the challenges to implement plan within the remaining time frame.

The other ministers supported Mr Anderson's recommendation to develop a plan that "provides flexibility for delivering projects" and dealing with water target shortfalls, which will be presented at the next basin ministers' meeting in early 2023.

READ MORE: State hopes basin water buybacks a real chance under Albanese govt

Another hard conversation the Commonwealth and states will have in the near future is whether the socio-economic criteria remains in place to recover the required 450GL of environmental water, of which only 2GL has been recovered.

Currently, the legislation only allows water to be recovered if it has a positive or neutral impact on nearby communities.

A recent government report - which was kept secret by the Coalition - found it would be impossible to recover the 450GL under the socio-economic criteria. At most 390GL could be recovered before the 2024 deadline.

South Australia formally withdrew its support for the criteria at the meeting.

Ms Plibersek did not go as far to say her government would also away from the testing, but was extremely critical of the "brown tape" set up by the previous government to prevent the MDBP's delivery.

"There's no way we're going to join in the same old approach that has stifled progress to date," she said.

"Of course we need to change what we're doing. If we don't we're going to keep getting the same results, which are just not good enough."

During the meeting, the states and the federal government also agreed with implement the recommendations of a recent inquiry into the water market. The 23 recommendations will aim to increase regulation, transparency and access to data.