The River Murray is Australia's longest river at 2,508 km, spanning South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. It is the third-longest navigable river in the world behind the Amazon and the Nile.
The River Murray is part of the Murray–Darling Basin and is a vital national resource providing essential water for irrigation, industry, domestic and recreational use. It supports important ecosystems including those of national and international significance.
The SOER is required to report on the health of the River Murray.
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Key Messages
- The River Murray is part of the Murray–Darling Basin, which which spans 1 million km2 (14% of the total area of Australia) It is a vital national resource. It is the lifeblood of South Australia, providing essential water for irrigation, industry, domestic and recreational use and is the nation’s most iconic river, supporting estuarine, floodplain and wetland environments and ecosystems of national and international significance.
- The river is an important source of water for South Australian cities and towns, including Adelaide. The Murray–Darling Basin agreement sets the volume of water that needs to be supplied to South Australia for irrigation, town and industrial water supply and environmental purposes. South Australia’s annual entitlement is 1,850 gigalitres, which may be reduced during dry conditions.
- The rivers, lakes, wetlands and surrounding areas have a very strong cultural and spiritual significance for Aboriginal peoples, including those represented by the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Incorporated, Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC and First Nations of the South East.
- The South Australian Government appointed a Commissioner for the River Murray to advocate for the health of the River Murray, Lower Lakes and Coorong in South Australia. This included securing the delivery of 450 GL of additional environmental water as specified in the Murray–Darling Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan), which is required to achieve an environmentally sustainable level of take as prescribed within the Water Act 2007 and ensure the river system is able to withstand future dry spells. As of 30 September 2023, only 12.2 GL of the 450 GL has been recovered as registered with the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. The South Australian Government provided a response to the 2019 Murray–Darling Basin Royal Commission, which outlined expectations and requirements for full delivery of the Basin Plan. The Australian Government has since introduced the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 to introduce these amendments and include provisions to enable water buybacks that will contribute to the annual delivery of the 450 GL of environmental water by 2027. This Bill has now been passed by the Australian Parliament.
- In 2022–23, the River Murray experienced its largest flood event since 1956 and the third-highest flood ever recorded. There have been many significant environmental benefits from the flood observed along the length of the river, including improved condition of long-lived vegetation such as river red gum and black box due to receiving much needed water to areas of floodplain that had not received water for over 60 years. However, the flood also caused substantial damage to properties, industries and businesses and negatively affected tourism during the peak season.
- Securing the delivery of water to the lower reaches of the River Murray, including the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth is critical to protect Aboriginal cultural values, maintain flows, maintain and/or improve ecological condition, ensure the Murray Mouth remains open and to support habitats for significant plants and animals, including threatened species and communities. Although many ecological benefits have been observed following the flood, the importance of the delivery of water for the environment remains critically important, along with ongoing monitoring and active management to sustain these benefits and inform future management of riverine, floodplain and wetland habitats along the River Murray, Lower Lakes, Murray Mouth and Coorong.