The Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) is the largest river system in Australia and one of the largest in the world. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan (2012) represents a $13 million investment in water reform. It establishes a framework for the sustainable use of water resources in the basin, improving the health of rivers and wetlands, reducing water consumption for irrigation, and ensuring that water is allocated fairly amongst stakeholders. The Plan sets water recovery targets, establishing the allocation of water for environmental purposes and the protection of important ecological sites and species. By the end of 2024, over 2000 gigalitres have been recovered for environmental processes.
In 2012, a monitoring, evaluation and research (MER) program was commenced to help to inform decision-making around water management practices and ensure that environmental water is used effectively to support the health of the basin's ecosystems. This program established a series of Area-based monitoring sites across the Bason, defined key themes based on environmental outcomes, and a Basin-scale evaluation and reporting mechanism to synthesise outcomes. In 2021, a collaborative design process was undertaken to develop recommendations for the future of the MER activities. A collaborative design (or co-design) approach was used to guide the MER Program design that fostered innovation, engagement, and greater communication.
The collaborative design process was implemented through a series of virtual engagement workshops, where the design options for the Program were defined. Over one hundred people engaged in the process, drawing upon knowledge from scientists from across Australia, environmental water managers from within the MDB, policy makers and representatives of First Nations bodies. The outcome drew from lessons learnt from the existing MER Program, and defined priorities of, maintaining science quality and rigour to underpin trust; incorporation of indigenous science and knowledge into the Program; improved data and knowledge sharing; advancing new technologies for monitoring; advancing digital technologies for reporting; and building a knowledge base to better understand the impacts of climate change.
In this paper, we reflect on: the shifts in drivers in the design of the 2012 MER Program, relative to the 2021; the differing objectives across engagement groups; the barriers and enablers to designing a complex program which crosses the science and policy interface; and recommendations for future collaborative design projects.