Answers to Questions

Water Entitlements

434 The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) ().1 May 2025). Can the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water advise:

1. How much water entitlement (gigalitres) is held by the minister?

2. How much water in allocation (gigalitres), which the minister is responsible for, has been utilised?

3. What was the water used for in the following financial years: 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State): The Minister for Climate, Environment and Water has advised:

The Minister for Climate, Environment and Water (the minister) holds 95.5 gigalitres (GL) of water access entitlement on licence across the state. Just over 99 per cent of this entitlement volume (94.6 GL) is for the River Murray prescribed watercourse, with the remaining volume spread across the Lower Limestone Coast, Adelaide Plains, Western Mount Lofty Ranges and Far North.

With respect to the 94.6 GL held by the minister for the River Murray prescribed watercourse, the holdings can be broken down as follows:

1. 45.0 GL of entitlement is held for environmental purposes under The Living Murray (TLM) program (approximately 48 per cent of River Murray holdings).

2. 39.8 GL of entitlement is held for other environmental purposes (42 per cent of River Murray holdings). 37.6 GL of this is held as class 9 entitlement for managing those wetlands within the 1,956 flood boundary that can be managed through a wetting and drying regime. The remaining volume is held as class 3 entitlement and has been set aside to meet environmental requirements associated with the Loveday Basin and Tolderol wetland, respectively.

3. 6.0 GL of entitlement is held for the environment for the purpose of meeting the state's water recovery obligation under clause S-III of schedule 1 of the National Partnership Agreement on Water for the Future (Implementation Plan for Augmentation of the Adelaide Desalination Plant) (6 per cent of River Murray holdings).

4. 3.8 GL of entitlement is held as a strategic water reserve for various purposes (4 per cent of River Murray holdings)—to meet the state's water recovery obligation under clause S-IV of schedule 1 of the National Partnership Agreement (when required); to provide additional dilution flows for Torrens Lake (when required); and to help offset the effects of overuse by consumptive users for the South Australian River Murray prescribed watercourse (when required). To the extent that the volume allocated to the reserve entitlement is not required for these purposes in a particular water year, that allocation volume may be sold back to the consumptive pool (under policies and procedures established for the administration of the reserve).