About this report

The Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) is a unique organisation, involving the Australian, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian, Queensland and Australian Capital Territory governments. The MDBC was created because the six governments wanted an organisation that transcended the political boundaries between these jurisdictions to manage the far-reaching Murray-Darling river catchments as effectively as possible.

This report describes the objectives and significant achievements of the MDBC during the 2003–04 financial year. It is tabled before the parliaments of each jurisdiction through the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council (Ministerial Council). This tabling process has been developed to meet the requirements of the 1992 Murray-Darling Basin Agreement, which has been incorporated into legislation and passed by the Australian Government and state parliaments that have jurisdiction in the Murray-Darling Basin (the Basin). The Australian Capital Territory’s involvement is through a memorandum of understanding.

The MDBC undertakes works and measures at the direction of the Ministerial Council, and coordinates the efforts of the government partners to the Murray- Darling Basin Initiative (the Initiative). This annual report focuses mainly on those activities that the MDBC has carried out on behalf of the Ministerial Council in 2003–04. Information on the 2003–04 activities of the partners to the Initiative will be available through the states’ annual departmental reports, which should be available by early 2005.

This annual report also incorporates the annual report of the Ministerial Council’s Community Advisory Committee, the primary community body advising the Ministerial Council on natural resources management issues in the Basin.

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