Since 1995, about 30 percent of the water once used for irrigation within the Murray–Darling Basin has been secured for environmental water use. Sustainable diversion limits have been set and are being met across the Basin.
However, water alone is not enough. Without complementary actions, such as riparian restoration, fish screens, and sustainable land management, the full value of recovered water will never be achieved. Local efforts in integrated waterway and catchment management have shown what is possible, but they remain fragmented and under-resourced.
In November 2025, a group of leaders spanning policymakers, practitioners, researchers, First Nations experts, and innovators gathered in Canberra to consider these issues. From this gathering emerged the Basin SCALE Declaration: a call for system-wide, catchment-aligned and locally empowered action.
In February 2026, Mulloon’s CEO Carolyn Hall joined Michael Pisasale (Murray Local Land Services), Michael Stewardson (One Basin CRC | University of Melbourne), Neville Crossman (One Basin CRC) and Samantha Capon (Griffith University) for a webinar to discuss the key points of the Basin SCALE Declaration.
You can read more about the fellow panellists HERE and catch up on the webinar HERE or click on the video below.
We thank Professor Mike Stewardson, One Basin CRC and Australian Water School for the opportunity to present at this important discussion.
