(5) Subject to subclauses (4), (6) and (7), the Authority must, within 14 days after receiving a draft Plan from the Committee member for South Australia:
(a) approve the draft Plan, subject to any conditions it specifies; or
(b) refer the draft Plan back to the Committee member for South Australia for further consideration; or
(c) not approve the draft Plan.
(6) The Authority must approve a draft Plan unless:
(a) in the opinion of the Authority, the implementation of the Plan would have an effect on either or both of:
(i) water availability for an upper State; and
(ii) for deferred water stored for the purpose of meeting private carry‑over by South Australia—storage access by an upper State; or
(b) subclause (7) applies.
(7) The Authority may refer a draft Plan back to the Committee member for South Australia, or refuse to approve a draft Plan, if, in the opinion of the Authority, prevailing circumstances for river operations make it impractical to implement the Plan.
(8) The Authority must give written reasons to the Committee member for South Australia and each upper State for not approving a draft Plan.
(9) The Committee member for South Australia may at any time:
(a) resubmit to the Authority and each upper State a draft Plan mentions in paragraph (5) (b) or (c), with or without amendments; or
(b) propose to the Authority in writing a departure from arrangements from time to time mentioned in a Plan.
(10) The Committee member for South Australia must give each upper State a copy of anything resubmitted or proposed to the Authority under subclause (9).
(11) Subclauses (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) and (8) apply to any draft Plan, Plan or departure mentioned in subclause (9), as if a reference to a draft Plan or Plan in those subclauses were a reference to a draft Plan, Plan or departure mentioned in subclause (9).
(12) A draft Plan approved by the Authority under paragraph 7 (5) (a) takes effect as the Plan.
(13) If a departure from a Plan is approved by the Authority under subclause 7 (11), the Plan is taken to be amended accordingly.
8. Resolving disputes about Plans
(1) If the Authority does not approve a draft Plan or a departure from a Plan under clause 7, the Committee member for South Australia or the Authority may refer the matter to the Committee.
(2) Subclauses 33 (5) to 33 (8) of the Agreement apply to any matter referred to the Committee under subclause (1) as if it were a matter referred by the Authority under subclause 33 (5) of the Agreement.
9. When deferred water is stored
(1) The Committee member for South Australia may request the Authority in writing to reduce the quantity of water that it would otherwise receive in any month under the Agreement, by a volume to be designated as deferred water under this Schedule.
(2) If a request made under subclause (1) is not in accordance with the Plan approved under clause 7, the request must be taken to be a proposal for a departure from arrangements mentioned in that Plan, made under paragraph 7 (9) (b) and dealt with accordingly.
(3) If a request made under subclause (1) is either:
(a) in accordance with the Plan; or
(b) approved as a departure from the Plan;
the volume mentioned in subclause (1) becomes deferred water for this Schedule at the time when the reduced quantity of water is released for delivery to South Australia.
10. Where deferred water may be stored
(1) South Australia may store deferred water within the unused capacity of one or more major storages.
(2) Subject to subclauses (3) and (4), any deferred water stored after the date this Schedule comes into effect must initially be held in the major storage from which the Authority determines that water would have been supplied, if its delivery had not been deferred.
(3) If the source of any deferred water stored after the date this Schedule comes into effect is a tributary of the River Murray downstream of Hume Dam, the deferred water must initially be held in Lake Victoria.
(4) Subclauses (2) and (3) apply whether the deferred water is either:
(a) part of South Australia’s entitlement under clause 88 of the Agreement, that is stored under clause 91 of the Agreement; or
(b) allocations acquired for use in South Australia from within an upper State.
11. Transferring deferred water downstream
(1) Subject to subclauses (5) and (6), the Authority must transfer deferred water from an upstream major storage to a downstream major storage in accordance with those provisions of a Plan, or approved departure from a Plan, that apply during minimum inflow conditions, or other inflow conditions specified in the Plan.
(2) Despite subclause (1) but subject to subclauses (5) and (6), the Authority may transfer deferred water from an upstream major storage to a downstream major storage at any time, at the request of the Committee member for South Australia.
(3) Despite subclause (1) but subject to subclauses (5) and (6), the Authority must, with the prior written consent of the Committee member for South Australia, transfer deferred water from an upstream major storage to a downstream major storage at any time when, in the Authority’s opinion, a transfer of deferred water is required for the purpose of delivering water for the remainder of the year.
(4) If the Committee member for South Australia fails to consent to a transfer proposed under subclause (3), the Authority must reduce the delivery of deferred water in accordance with the Plan or approved departure from a Plan for the remainder of the year, by the amount of the proposed transfer.
(5) The Authority must not transfer deferred water under subclause (1), (2) or (3) if, in the opinion of the Authority, transferring the deferred water would have an effect on either or both of:
(a) water availability for an upper State; and
(b) for deferred water stored for the purpose of meeting private carry‑over in South Australia—storage access by an upper State.
(6) The Authority may decide not to transfer deferred water in accordance with subclause (1), (2) or (3) if, in the opinion of the Authority, prevailing circumstances for river operations make it impractical to do so.
(7) The Authority must give written reasons to the Committee member for South Australia and for each upper State if it decides not to transfer deferred water in accordance with subclause (1) or (2), under subclause (6).
(8) Subject to subclause (9), the Authority must debit the account for the major storage with any deferred water transferred under this clause.
(9) The Authority must credit the account for a downstream major storage with any deferred water transferred to the major storage under this clause when, in the Authority’s opinion, the deferred water has reached the downstream major storage.
12. Substituting deferred water upstream
(1) Unless the Plan, or an approved departure from the Plan, provides otherwise, whenever:
(a) the volume of deferred water held in a downstream storage exceeds the volume of deferred water to be delivered under the Plan, or an approved departure from the Plan, during the remainder of the year; and
(b) the Authority, for the purpose of normal river operations, is required to transfer a volume of water from an upstream storage to a downstream storage; and
(c) in the Authority’s view, it would be practicable to use a volume of water held in the downstream storage for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (b);
the Authority must substitute the deferred water held in the downstream storage for water held in an upstream storage.
(2) For subclause (1), substituting deferred water held in a downstream storage for water held in an upstream storage includes substituting deferred water held in the Menindee Lakes Storage for water held in the Hume Reservoir.
(3) The Authority must progressively adjust the relevant accounts of the upper States and South Australia maintained under Subdivisions D and E of Division 1 of Part XII of the Agreement as deferred water is substituted from a major storage to another in accordance with subclause (1) to reflect the effect of each substitution of deferred water.
PART 3 – DELIVERING DEFERRED WATER
13. Deferred water delivered at South Australia’s request
(1) Subject to subclause (2), except for deferred water that spills from a major storage, the Authority must only deliver deferred water from a major storage to South Australia in accordance with a Plan or departure from a Plan approved under clause 7.
(2) Despite subclause (1), the Authority may deliver deferred water to South Australia at any time, at the request of the Committee member for South Australia.
(3) The Authority may only decide not to deliver deferred water in accordance with subclause (1) or (2) if, in the opinion of the Authority, prevailing circumstances for river operations make it impractical to do so.
(4) The Authority must give written reasons to the Committee member for South Australia and for each upper State if it decides not to deliver deferred water in accordance with subclause (1) or (2).
14. Power to cancel delivery
(1) The Committee member for South Australia may cancel a delivery of deferred water under subclause 13 (1), or a request made to the Authority to deliver deferred water under subclause 13 (2) by writing to the Authority.
(2) If the Authority receives a cancellation under subclause (1) after giving directions to release deferred water, the Authority must either:
(a) store in a downstream major storage any deferred water released for delivery to South Australia before the Authority directs that the delivery of deferred water should cease; or
(b) if, in the Authority’s opinion it is not possible to comply with paragraph (a), debit that deferred water to the relevant account.
15. Deferred water not part of South Australia’s entitlement
Any deferred water delivered for use in South Australia during any period under this Schedule is in addition to, and is not part of, other water delivered to South Australia under the Agreement in the same period.
16. South Australia’s exclusive right to use deferred water
Unless the Committee member for South Australia and the Committee member for an upper State agree otherwise, and subject to subclause 17 (4), the upper State must not divert any water that is taken to be deferred water by the Authority.
17. Spills and pre‑releases
(1) If:
(a) water spills from a major storage in which deferred water is stored; or
(b) water is pre‑released from a major storage, in which deferred water is stored, for flood mitigation purposes;
the water must be taken to be deferred water, until a volume equivalent to the volume of deferred water stored in the major storage immediately before the relevant event has either spilled or been pre‑released.
(2) In measuring the volume of water spilled or pre‑released under subclause (1), deferred water stored for the purpose of meeting private carry‑over must be taken to have spilled or been pre‑released before any deferred water stored for the purpose of meeting critical human water needs.
(3) The Authority must, whenever possible, re‑regulate any water taken to be deferred water under subclause (1) in a downstream major storage, for use by South Australia.
(4) If the Authority is unable to re‑regulate spilled or pre‑released deferred water in accordance with subclause (3), the water must be accounted for as environmental flows.
(5) If there is deferred water in Dartmouth Reservoir and water is transferred from Dartmouth Reservoir to Hume Reservoir, with the effect of increasing the likelihood that each of these major storages will spill simultaneously:
(a) the deferred water is taken to be transferred first and becomes deferred water in Hume Reservoir; and
(b) deferred water for the purpose of meeting private carry‑over is taken to be transferred before any deferred water stored for the purposes of meeting critical human water needs.
18. Limitations on channels and storages
Unless the Committee determines otherwise, either generally or in a particular case, whenever the delivery of water is restricted due to either or both of limitations on the capacity:
(a) of river channels to carry that flow; or
(b) a major storage to release sufficient water to meet the commitments of any State to supply allocations at any time;
then delivery of deferred water for the purpose of meeting private carry‑over must be given the lowest priority.
19. Reallocation of deferred water
(1) Despite Part 2 and this Part, but subject to subclause (2), the Authority may reallocate volumes of deferred water between major storages and adjust the accounts accordingly if, after considering the relevant Plan, the Authority considers that it is necessary or convenient to do so in order to:
(a) facilitate the delivery of deferred water to South Australia; or
(b) assist in re‑regulating any deferred water that may have spilled from a major storage; or
(c) operate the River Murray System efficiently.
(2) In reallocating deferred water under subclause (1), the Authority must not:
(a) reduce the total volume of deferred water then held in all major storages and entered in the accounts; or
(b) affect either or both of:
(i) water availability for an upper State; or
(ii) for deferred water stored for the purpose of meeting private carry‑over in South Australia—storage access by an upper State; or
(c) increase the risk that deferred water might spill from a major storage.
PART 4 – ACCOUNTING FOR DEFERRED WATER
20. Establishing and maintaining accounts
(1) The Authority must, in accordance with the requirements of this Part, establish and maintain:
(a) a separate account for deferred water held in each major storage showing the respective volumes stored at any time for the purpose of meeting:
(i) critical human water needs; and
(ii) private carry‑over; and
(b) an account showing the total deferred water held at any time; and
(c) an account that maintains a record of deferred water that is stored, spilled, in transit, debited for evaporation or attributed as transmission losses under clause 26 and delivered to South Australia in accordance with this Schedule.
(2) The Authority must give a copy of each account mentioned in subclause (1) to each Committee member at the same time as the water accounts prepared under Subdivisions D and E of Division 1 of Part XII of the Agreement.
(3) If the Authority makes a determination under subclause 2 (5) about the occurrence of an effect under paragraph 2 (4) (a) or (b), the Authority must immediately:
(a) notify each Committee member in writing of that effect and of any adjustment to the accounts maintained under clause 20 that the Authority considers appropriate to correct that effect; and
(b) make any adjustment to the accounts determined by the Committee.
21. Accounting for internal spills
The volume of deferred water in a major storage must not be taken into account when re‑allocating water in the major storage under clause 116 of the Agreement.
22. Attribution of evaporative losses
(1) The Authority must calculate and attribute to South Australia any incremental evaporative losses arising from the storage of deferred water in accordance with subclause (2) and any rules made under subclause 130 (12) of the Agreement.
(2) For subclause (1), the Authority must:
(a) calculate the volume of the total net evaporative loss from all major storages; and
(b) estimate the volume of the total net evaporative loss that would have occurred from all major storages if no water had been stored as deferred water; and
(c) subtract the volume estimated under paragraph (b) from the volume calculated under paragraph (a).
23. Accounting for deferred water in Menindee Lakes Storage
Deferred water stored for private carry‑over
(1) Subclauses (2) and (3) apply whenever New South Wales becomes entitled to use water in Menindee Lakes Storage under subclause 95 (1) of the Agreement.
(2) New South Wales may use for any purpose deferred water stored by South Australia in the Menindee Lakes Storage for the purpose of private carry‑over.
(3) The Authority must alter the existing volume in the account for deferred water stored for the purpose of private carry‑over in the Menindee Lakes Storage to zero.
(4) As soon as New South Wales is no longer able to use water under subclause 95 (1) of the Agreement, the Authority must credit the account mentioned in subclause (3) with a volume equivalent to the existing volume mentioned in subclause (3).
Deferred water stored for meeting critical human water needs.
(5) Whenever New South Wales becomes entitled to use water under subclause 95 (1) of the Agreement, the Authority must:
(a) attribute any credit for deferred water then stored in the Menindee Lakes Storage for the purpose of meeting critical human water needs to the relevant account for Lake Victoria; and
(b) reduce the relevant entry in the account for the Menindee Lakes Storage to zero; and
(c) adjust the accounts maintained for New South Wales under Subdivisions D and E of Division 1 of Part XII of the Agreement accordingly.
Resumption of ability to store deferred water
(6) At the conclusion of any period mentioned in subclause 95 (1) of the Agreement South Australia may resume storing deferred water in the Menindee Lakes Storage for the purpose of private carry‑over and for meeting critical human water needs.
Calculation of additional dilution flows
(7) Any volume of deferred water stored in any major storage must be excluded from any calculation of the total volume of water held in that storage for the purposes of determining any additional quantity of water for dilution under paragraph 88 (c) of the Agreement.
24. Adjustments of accounts between major storages other than Menindee Lakes Storage