The states and Commonwealth government have "done a reasonably good job" of management of the Murray-Darling Basin, according to federal Water Minister, Keith Pitt.
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Mr Pitt was speaking after the first Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council meeting, last week.
"If that weren't the case you would have massive amounts of salt intrusion, for example, acid sulphate soils breaking out right across the Basin," Mr Pitt said. "There's been a drought and everyone recognises that that is a very challenging period, particularly for farmers
"We continue to work closely with the states, regardless of whether they are NSW, Victoria, South Australia or others. "
He dismissed concerns that it had been an acrimonious meeting.
NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey has threatened to pull out of MinCo until they are able to have "an honest conversation."
Ms Pavey sought to push back the 2024 deadline for the full implementation of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
But Mr Pitt said there was no walk out, from the video-conference meeting.
"No one stormed out of the room; it just didn't happen." Mr Pitt said.
"Now, Victoria and New South Wales put forward a motion with no notice.
"It's no surprise to me that other members of the council weren't willing to accept that, given that they hadn't seen it prior.
"They'd had no time to consider what was on the table."
He said the meeting had achieved results, as Victoria, South Australia and NSW had agreed to look at downstream developments.
Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville said council had made a renewed commitment to the socio-economic criteria for water efficiency projects, first agreed in 2018.
She said ministers agreed to a Victorian motion, re-affirming every project would be assessed against the socio-economic criteria and assessments be reported back to MinCo and the community.
"We have consistently stood up for Victorian communities as the Plan is rolled out - the socio-economic criteria are non-negotiable for our Basin communities," Ms Neville said.
"It's timely to reconsider the timeframes for delivering the offset projects - and it's inappropriate for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to threaten buybacks if unrealistic timeframes aren't met.
"I won't stand by and let that happen."
She said she was pleased NSW and South Australia were sending a signal that further extraction in the Lower Murray posed risks for deliverability for irrigators and the environment.
To proceed, every project needs to have positive outcomes for communities and be transparently presented to allow community feedback, Ms Neville said.
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Victoria and NSW put forward a motion to extend the 2024 timeline for offset projects, based on a recommendation from the Productivity Commission, and to avoid the possibility of water buybacks.
While other jurisdictions opposed the motion, it had become clear that some projects couldn't be delivered, unless the timelines were adjusted.
Ms Neville said good projects should not unnecessarily be taken off the table.
Victoria also raised concerns about deliverability, securing agreement from NSW and South Australia to assess any proposals for more water extraction from the Lower Murray.
A set of principles to use in assessing any further extraction will be developed and reported back to MinCo.
But Opposition Water spokeswoman Steph Ryan said Ms Neville has failed to secure any meaningful change for Victorian irrigators.
The council agreed to assess water efficiency projects to be delivered under the Murray Darling Basin Plan, but Ms Ryan said projects already needed to meet criteria requiring them to have a neutral or positive effect on Basin communities.
"The minister also walked away without having secured more than a token gesture from other states on new developments in the Lower Murray," Ms Ryan said.
"Without a firm commitment from NSW and SA to implement a moratorium on new developments downstream of the choke, Victoria's risks driving development over the river."
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has expressed its disappointment MinCo failed to address major issues with the Plan.
Water Council Chair Richard Anderson said Victorian farmers were hoping that the Commonwealth government would provide leadership and deliver real change to support farmers.
"Leading into MinCo, our discussion with Mr Pitt was clear - change to the Basin Plan is needed to create certainty and provide jobs," Mr Anderson said.
"The VFF still hopes Mir Pitt will approach the Plan with a fresh set of eyes and stand up to the bureaucrats and fight for agriculture.
"That didn't seem to be the case."
He said the VFF had provided a pragmatic roadmap, using the adaptive management approach that was already in the legislation.
"But the Commonwealth refuses to consider adapting the Plan to reflect our current state of knowledge," Mr Anderson said.
"The Plan and the Commonwealth are stuck in a time warp.
The VFF remained concerned that Commonwealth bureaucrats continued to dominate discussion and would not make necessary changes to the Plan.
"It is incomprehensible that the Commonwealth government continues to ignore the plight of irrigators and regional communities," he said.
"NSW has stated it will not attend future meetings unless the Commonwealth meaningfully engages on contentious Basin Plan issues and actively seeks out solutions."
"The VFF believes the Victorian Water Minister should join with the NSW Minister if this continues to be the case and boycott future Ministerial Council meetings," Mr Anderson said.
While a renewed commitment to ensure the socio-economic criteria for the 450GL of up water was achieved today, Mr Anderson said the VFF was disappointed it was not scrapped altogether.
"Why continue to flog a dead horse?" he said.
"The 450GL will cause socio-economic hardships and cannot be delivered without third party impacts on both farmers and the environment. It just makes no sense to keep pursuing this."
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