28,000 Irrigators Lose $1.5 Billion Class Action Against MDBA

A class action by 28,000 irrigators seeking up to $1.5 billion from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has failed in the New South Wales Supreme Court.

The irrigators, from southern New South Wales's central Murray region and northern Victoria's Goulburn Murray region, claimed the authority mismanaged river operations. They said the decisions reduced water allocations, cut profits and drove up temporary water prices, leaving some farmers unable to meet supply contracts.

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Namely that the waters of the Murray are a scarce resource, subject to conflicting claims between those interested in the use and conservation of the waters.

Justice Tim Faulkner found that the MDBA had no duty of care to prevent pure economic loss to one group of water users over others. He also ordered the plaintiffs to pay the authority's costs. The judge said the MDBA was an independent body responsible for implementing the states' water-sharing framework, with the Murray River system operated in the public interest.

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The public interest

The dispute focused on over-bank flooding at the Barmah Choke, a narrow section of the Murray between Tocumwal and Deniliquin, from 2017 to 2019. The plaintiffs argued that the authority breached its operating plan by sending water through the banks and flooding the Barmah-Millewa forest, despite knowing the transfers caused high transmission losses.

The MDBA argued that such transfers were not unprecedented and helped maintain supplies to South Australia. Its decisions, the defence said, relied on modelling and the experience of its operations team. Justice Faulkner described the river system as unpredictable and dynamic, with officials balancing the risk of failing to meet South Australia's water requirements against the risk of sending too much water to Lake Victoria. He found no breach in the authority's use of climate outlooks, operating plans or delegation of water releases in 2017.

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Unpredictable and dynamic