NSW government putting Murray-Darling basin plan at risk, inquiry told

Failure to meet deadlines for water resource plans could jeopardise the entire strategy, royal commission told

There is a high likelihood the New South Wales government will fail to meet the deadline for developing a crucial water resource plan that will underpin the Murray-Darling basin plan, the South Australian royal commission has heard.

Bill Johnson, a former MDBA senior staffer who now serves on an advisory committee developing the NSW Barwon-Darling water resource plan, told the commission he feared that the agency was preparing to sign off on the plans with only a perfunctory review.