Murky waters running clearer? Monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the state of the Murray–Darling Basin after more than three decades of policy reform

Context Rigorous monitoring and reporting helps determine effectiveness of water reforms. We assess implementation of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan, intended to ensure that water resources are used sustainably. Many aspects of Basin Plan implementation are poorly monitored and reported, owing to fragmented and inadequate data collection across jurisdictions. Aims To address this issue, we synthesised publicly available data for 27 indicators that provide insights into the State of the Basin since implementation of the Plan in 2012–2013. Methods Indicators, in Indigenous, economic, environmental, social and compliance themes, were chosen to assess effects of policy interventions for water reform within the Water Act 2007 (Cth), the underpinning legislation for the Plan. Key results Of the targets for the indicators, seven were met (26%), 10 were variable but showed no overall trend (37%) and 10 were not met (37%). Conclusions Five of seven economic targets, relating to irrigated agriculture and capital value of land, showed improvement, whereas of 20 Indigenous, environmental, social and compliance indicator targets, only two environmental ones were met. Implications We detail practical improvements, including building a more comprehensive, Basin-wide monitoring and reporting framework that could be implemented to aid assessment of progress on implementation of the Basin Plan.