EDO NSW acknowledges that the task of this panel will be difficult because it comes at a time when communities (also under stress from drought) have experienced the impacts of measures designed to reverse the historical over-allocation of water, but are not yet experiencing many of the positive effects the Basin Plan will have.
We recommend that the Panel amend its draft Terms of Reference and Assessment Framework to:
- Ensure that the Panel’s assessment of the impacts of water reform in the Basin includes an analysis of adverse impacts which have been, or will be, avoided through the reforms;
- Ensure that the Panel’s assessment of the impacts of water reform in the Basin doesn’t simply consider the impacts of the reforms as a package;
- Add a commitment to relying on the best available scientific information;
- Consider whether the concept and experience of a ‘just transition’ could be useful to the Basin
