EIGHTEEN months after the Federal Government first promised $3.7 billion for major water infrastructure projects in the Murray-Darling Basin, it has finally managed to reach agreements with the states on how to deliver this funding.
The agreement with each state government had been held up by disputes over the Federal Government's funding conditions and long delays in states submitting detailed business cases for their projects, The Australian Financial Review reports.
Federal Water Minister Penny Wong said a deal had been struck with South Australia in November and was finalised yesterday with the other basin jurisdictions - NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT.
"Under these agreements, the basin states will undertake a series of water reforms to ensure the sustainable use of basin water resources, and help basin communities adapt to the impacts of climate change," she said.
Details of these reform conditions were not released yesterday.
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