Immediate action required to salvage Murray-Darling Basin plan, review warns

Productivity Commission says plan is lagging behind schedule and $5bn of taxpayers funds is at risk

The Murray-Darling Basin plan could fail to deliver on its next phase and $5bn of taxpayers' funds is at risk unless urgent changes are made to how the plan is being implemented, the Productivity Commission has said in its five year review.

The commission found the plan so far has delivered a significant amount of water to the environment. It found 20% of water once used for agriculture was helping restore rivers and wetlands.