New South Wales and Victoria must notify the Authority of how each Environmental Entitlement has been apportioned between:
(1) the Snowy River Apportioned Entitlement; and
(2) the River Murray Apportioned Entitlement.
17. Valley Accounts
If:
(1) New South Wales or Victoria transfers either or both of Water Savings and Water Entitlements to an Environmental Entitlement; and
(2) the source of that water is from a valley for which the Authority maintains a valley account,
New South Wales or Victoria (as the case may be) must notify the Authority of the volume and reliability of the entitlement required to be added to the relevant valley account to generate the Environmental Entitlement.
18. Long Term Diversion Caps
(1) Prior to New South Wales or Victoria transferring either or both of Water Savings and Water Entitlements to an Environmental Entitlement, the relevant State must calculate the equivalent volume by which its Long Term Diversion Cap must be reduced.
(2) If New South Wales or Victoria transfers either or both of Water Savings and Water Entitlements to an Environmental Entitlement, at the same time the relevant State must advise the Authority and the Committee of its calculation as to the volume by which its Long Term Diversion Cap must be reduced.
(3) If the Committee is satisfied with the appropriateness of a calculation advised under sub‑clause 18(2), it must recommend to the Ministerial Council that the relevant Long Term Diversion Cap be amended in accordance with the calculation.
(4) If the Committee is not satisfied with the appropriateness of a calculation advised under sub‑clause 18(2), the Authority must arrange for the relevant volume referred to in sub‑clause 18(1) to be re‑calculated in consultation with the relevant State.
(5) If a majority of the Committee members is satisfied with the appropriateness of a calculation made under sub‑clause 18(4), the Committee must recommend to the Ministerial Council that the relevant Long Term Diversion Cap be amended in accordance with the calculation.
(6) Despite clause 10 of Schedule E, the Ministerial Council must amend a Long Term Diversion Cap in accordance with any recommendation made by the Committee under sub‑clause 18(3) or 18(5).
PART V—RIVER MURRAY INCREASED FLOWS
19. Obligation Of Authority To Make River Murray Increased Flows
Subject to this Part, the Authority must release River Murray Increased Flows.
20. Environmental Objectives And Strategy For River Murray Increased Flows
(1) The document entitled “The Living Murray Environmental Watering Plan 2006‑2007” approved by the former Ministerial Council under the former Agreement on 5 December 2006 is taken to be the Strategy referred to in this Schedule.
(2) Subject to sub‑clauses (3) and (4), the Ministerial Council may from time to time by resolution amend the Strategy.
(3) Any amended Strategy:
(a) must include a provision to the effect that River Murray Increased Flows have first priority from River Murray Above Target Releases;
(b) may provide that water credited to the River Murray Increased Flows in Authority Storages Account need not be released during the Water Year in which it is credited;
(c) unless the Ministerial Council otherwise determines, must not have a significant adverse impact upon the security of entitlements to water;
(d) must include the environmental objectives for the River Murray Increased Flows and integrate those objectives with other environmental initiatives on the River Murray;
(e) must include adaptive management principles to allow the ability to optimise environmental benefits; and
(f) must prescribe appropriate environmental reporting and monitoring conditions.
(4) The Ministerial Council must determine any amended environmental objectives and Strategy in accordance with the following principles:
(a) Natural diversity of habitats and biota within the river channel, riparian zone and the floodplain should be maintained or enhanced.
(b) Natural linkages between the river and the floodplain should be maintained or enhanced.
(c) Natural metabolic functioning of aquatic ecosystems should be maintained or enhanced.
(d) Elements of the natural flow regime, in particular, seasonality should be retained or enhanced as far as possible, in the interests of conserving a niche for native rather than invasive exotic species and in maintaining the natural functions of the river.
(e) Consistent and constant flow and water level regimes should be avoided where practical, as this is contrary to the naturally variable flow regime of the River Murray.
(f) The general principles of ecosystem services should be recognised.
(g) Environmental benefit should be optimised.
(5) As soon as practicable after the end of each Water Year, the Authority must report to the Contracting Governments on the environmental outcomes of the River Murray Increased Flows during that Water Year, in the light of the objectives determined by the Ministerial Council for those Increased Flows.
21. Authority To Maintain River Murray Increased Flows Accounts
(1) The continuous water accounts for the River Murray Increased Flows known as:
(a) the Initial River Murray Increased Flows Account; and
(b) the River Murray Increased Flows in Authority Storages Account,
maintained under sub‑clause 21(1) of Schedule G of the former Agreement immediately prior to commencement of this Schedule are continued in existence.
(2) The Authority must maintain the continuous water accounts of the River Murray Increased Flows referred to in sub‑clause 21(1) in the manner required by this clause.
(3) The Authority must:
(a) credit the Initial River Murray Increased Flows Account with the River Murray Annual Allocation notified by New South Wales;
(b) transfer from the Initial River Murray Increased Flows Account to the River Murray Increased Flows in Authority Storages Account, River Murray Above Target Releases allocated to the River Murray Increased Flows in accordance with the Strategy;
(c) record in the River Murray Increased Flows in Authority Storages Account the transfer of water in that account between Authority storages; and
(d) record in the River Murray Increased Flows in Authority Storages Account the release of River Murray Increased Flows from Authority storages.
(4) The River Murray Increased Flows Accounts must be independently audited unless the Authority by resolution declares otherwise.
(5) As soon as practicable after the completion of each audit, the Authority must send a copy of the audited River Murray Increased Flows Accounts to the Contracting Governments.
22. Binding Effect of Strategy
Despite any other provision in this Agreement but subject to Divisions 2 and 3 of Part XII of the Agreement, the Authority must:
(1) allocate River Murray Above Target Releases to the River Murray Increased Flows Accounts; and
(2) manage the water in and releases of water from the River Murray Increased Flows in Authority Storages Account,
in accordance with the Strategy.
PART VI—NOTIFICATION AND CONSULTATION PROVISIONS
23. Authority To Be Informed Of New Proposals
A Contracting Government must inform the Authority of any proposal:
(1) to achieve Water Savings or to purchase Water Entitlements for the purpose of transferring those Water Savings or Water Entitlements to the Environmental Entitlements; or
(2) to modify the reliability of a supply of water pursuant to an Environmental Entitlement,
in accordance with sub‑clause 49(4) of the Agreement.
24. Snowy Scheme Annual Water Operating Plan
(1) The parties acknowledge that as a result of provisions in the Snowy Water Licence and a deed between the Commonwealth, New South Wales and Victoria as at the Corporatisation Date, the Licensee is bound to consult with others, including the Authority, while developing each Annual Water Operating Plan and any variation to each Plan.
(2) The Commonwealth, New South Wales and Victoria must:
(a) ensure the direct participation by the Authority in each consultation referred to in sub‑clause 24(1) or held under any varied consultation arrangements; and
(b) consult with the Authority before varying existing consultation arrangements.
25. Notifications Required
(1) Each Contracting Government must, at the time specified by the Authority, notify the Authority of such water volumes and estimates as are reasonably requested by the Authority to enable it to make calculations referred to in this Schedule.
(2) The Authority must, at any time specified by New South Wales, notify New South Wales of such water volumes and estimates calculated by the Authority by reference to the Baseline Conditions as are reasonably requested by New South Wales, to enable New South Wales to calculate the Required Annual Release.
PART VII—ANALYTICAL MODELS
26. Developing Analytical Models
(1) The Authority must develop an analytical model for determining, in the case of the River Murray System:
(a) storage volumes; and
(b) total diversions,
that would have occurred under Baseline Conditions.
(2) New South Wales must develop an analytical model for determining, in the case of the Murrumbidgee River System:
(a) storage volumes; and
(b) total diversions,
that would have occurred under Baseline Conditions.
(3) An analytical model developed under this clause:
(a) must be the best model available to the Authority or New South Wales, from time to time, for the purpose of calculating the timing and quantity of the Relaxation Volume under Baseline Conditions; and
(b) must be tested against relevant historical data to determine the accuracy of the model.
(4) New South Wales may at its own cost engage an independent auditor to evaluate whether the model developed under sub‑clause 26(1) of this Schedule is:
(a) the best available to the Authority; and
(b) accurate.
PART VIII—OTHER PROVISIONS
27. Inter‑Valley Water Transfers
(1) To facilitate water transfers, the Authority may request New South Wales to release:
(a) Water Available to the Snowy‑Murray Development to each or both of the Tumut River catchment and the Murrumbidgee River catchment; or
(b) Water Available to the Snowy‑Tumut Development to the River Murray catchment upstream of Hume Dam.
(2) If New South Wales agrees with the request made under sub‑clause 27(1) of this Schedule, any inter‑valley transfer referred to in sub‑clause 27(1) must be converted into an allocation to New South Wales of water in Hume Reservoir.
SCHEDULE G Accounting for south Australia’s storage rights
PART 1 – PRELIMINARY
1. Purposes of Schedule G
The purposes of this Schedule are, in accordance with clause 130 of the Agreement:
(a) to set out rules for giving effect to, and accounting for, South Australia’s storage rights under clause 91 of the Agreement; and
(b) to define what constitutes an effect on water availability and an effect on storage access for that clause.
2. Definitions and Interpretation
(1) In this Schedule except where inconsistent with the context:
“account” means an account maintained under subclause 20 (1).
“allocation” has the meaning given in Schedule D.
“deferred water” means:
(a) any part of South Australia’s entitlement under clause 88 of the Agreement that South Australia stores under clause 91 of the Agreement; and
(b) any allocations South Australia may have acquired for use in South Australia from within an upper State, the delivery of which has been deferred in accordance with this Schedule.
“entitlement” has the meaning given in Schedule D.
“major storage” means any one of the major storages defined by the Agreement.
“Plan” means a Deferred Water Storage and Delivery Plan approved in accordance with clause 7.
“pre‑release” means to release water from a major storage solely for the purpose of creating capacity in the major storage to be used to mitigate downstream flooding.
“re‑regulate” means to control water released from an upstream major storage in a downstream major storage, when the water was released for a purpose other than a planned transfer of water to the downstream major storage.
“substitute” means to alter an account to substitute a volume of water to be shown as being stored in an upstream major storage for an equivalent volume of water previously shown as being stored in a downstream major storage.
“transfer” means to transfer a volume of water held in an upstream major storage to a downstream major storage.
“unused capacity”, for a major storage at any time, means the capacity not then used by an upper State, comprising the difference between:
(a) the lesser of:
(i) the target capacity of the major storage as set out in clause 116 of the Agreement; and
(ii) if the Authority thinks there is a risk that water may have to be released from that major storage for flood mitigation—the volume of water that the Authority estimates will be held in the major storage when the release occurs; and
(b) the volume in storage and attributed to the upper States at that time.
“upper State” means each of New South Wales and Victoria.
“year” means the 12 months beginning on 1 June.
(2) Expressions used in this Schedule and in the Water Act 2007 (Commonwealth) or the Agreement that are not defined in this Schedule have the same meanings as in the Act or the Agreement.
(3) Clause 3 of the Agreement applies to this Schedule as if a reference to the Agreement in the clause were a reference to this Schedule.
(4) For clause 91 and paragraph 130 (6) (b) of the Agreement, storing water after the time when a part of South Australia’s entitlement would otherwise have been delivered:
(a) will have an effect on water availability for an upper State if continuing to store the part of South Australia’s entitlement in accordance with the Plan, or any approved departure from the Plan, either reduces the volume of water available for allocation by the upper State or limits its ability to store any part of the State water entitlement of the upper State; and
(b) will have an effect on storage access by an upper State if delivering part of South Australia’s entitlement that South Australia has continued to store in accordance with the Plan, or any approved departure from the Plan, limits the Authority’s ability to deliver any part of the State water entitlement of the upper State because limitations on the capacity of either or both:
(i) river channels to carry the necessary flow; or
(ii) a major storage to release sufficient water;
affect the ability to deliver the State water entitlements of both States simultaneously.
(5) The Authority must determine when an effect mentioned in paragraph (4) (a) or (4) (b) has occurred, taking into account any relevant Plan, other provisions of this Schedule and any other relevant circumstances.
(6) Whenever the Authority is required to form an opinion for this Schedule, it must do so reasonably in all the circumstances, and must take into account any relevant prevailing professional standards.
3. Commencement
Unless the Ministerial Council determines otherwise, this Schedule takes effect on the first day of the year after it is approved by the Ministerial Council.
4. Application
This Schedule:
(a) only applies to water to be used by South Australia to meet either critical human water needs or private carry‑over; and
(b) does not entitle South Australia to store any water on behalf of an upper State; and
(c) applies during any period of water sharing under Division 1, 2 or 3 of Part XII of the Agreement, subject to any Schedule for water sharing made under clause 135 of the Agreement; and
(d) does not affect the ability of South Australia to store water under provisions of the Agreement other than clause 91.
PART 2 – STORING DEFERRED WATER
5. Establishing initial volumes
(1) The volume of deferred water held in each major storage at the date the Schedule takes effect is taken to be zero.
(2) The Authority must enter the volumes mentioned in subclause (1) in the accounts established under subclause 20 (1).
6. Permissible volume of deferred water
The volume of deferred water in each major storage must not exceed the total unused capacity of the major storage at any time.
7. Planning for storage and delivery of deferred water
(1) By the first day of every month, the Committee member for South Australia must give to the Authority and each upper State a draft Deferred Water Storage and Delivery Plan for at least the following 12 months, that estimates the deferred water to be stored and delivered in each of those months, under either:
(a) minimum inflow conditions; or
(b) other inflow conditions specified in the draft Plan.
(2) A draft Plan must:
(a) nominate how much of the deferred water held in storage at the commencement of the Plan is for the purpose of meeting critical human water needs; and
(b) for each month of the Plan, provide for the delivery of deferred water for the purpose of meeting either or both critical human water needs and private carry‑over; and
(c) for each month of the Plan, nominate one or more preferred major storages in which water set aside as deferred water in that month might be stored; and
(d) for each month of the Plan, nominate one or more preferred major storages from which deferred water might be delivered; and
(e) for each month of the Plan, nominate any preferred transfers and substitutions of deferred water between major storages; and
(f) not provide for deferred water to be delivered in the same month as that water became deferred water.
(3) The Authority must provide assistance and advice to the Committee member for South Australia for the preparation of any draft Plan if the Committee member for South Australia so requests.
(4) When considering whether or not to approve a draft Plan, the Authority must comply with clause 50 of the Agreement.