Stakeholders have welcomed a "bridging the gap" agreement between the federal and ACT governments that will ensure the territory fulfils its water recovery obligations by returning 4.9 gigalitres of water a year to river flows.
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However, farm groups and the opposition said several questions remained around the deal announced on Wednesday under which the ACT will receive $58.8 million to deliver water efficiency and demand management projects.
Following news of the agreement, the National Irrigators Council also said the successful reclaiming of water through efficiency targets proved there were viable alternatives to government buybacks.
Despite being the smallest jurisdiction in a basin plan that includes New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, the ACT will also add an additional 1.46 gigalitres per year under the deal - funded from previous budgets - in the "national interest."
The government said the addition of a total of 6.36 GL from the ACT meant around 31 GL/y will have been recovered towards bridging the gap to the sustainable diversion limits target of 49.2 GL/y across the seven catchments.
Water Minister Tanya Pliberserk said in a statement that "unlike the Liberals and Nationals" the government was determined to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full.
"With another drought around the corner, we are getting straight to work to put the Basin Plan back on track by providing more time, more funding, more options, more accountability and more transparency," she said.
Meanwhile, NSW Irrigators' Council CEO Claire Miller said the agreement was "better late than never" after the ACT had been "let off the hook" for more than a decade while communities and farmers across the Basin had performed the "heavy lifting" to meet water recovery targets.
"It's been especially galling to have had the Federal Government and Canberra-based agencies backing even more buybacks while making excuses for their own city," she said.
"We trust the Government will put the ACT under as much pressure as it has put on Basin states to make good on their obligations."
Meanwhile, NSW Farmers water spokesperson Richard Bootle said the media release announcing the deal had invited "more questions than it answers."
"Is this an infrastructure grant that delivers water efficiency? Is it a lease? Is it an entitlement purchase?" he said.
Similarly, Shadow water minister Perin Davey also said the deal with "basin laggard" the ACT required further "explanation and transparency."
"At the very least the Government should be able to tell Australians what the ACT government is obliged to do for the $58mil; are the water licences new or coming from Canberra's urban licence; will there be an impact on other water holders; and when will the transfer occur?" the Nationals Senator said.
"There is no detail on what this money will be spent on, other than to transfer 4.9 gigalitres to the Commonwealth"
The extra funding is on top of the $50.5 million upper Murrumbidgee River health package secured by independent ACT senator David Pocock to pass the government's proposed Murray Darling Basin overhaul in Parliament.
The full recovery of the 450GL of environmental water has been pushed back to the end of 2027.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said returning the water to the upper Murrumbidgee River catchment was integral for improving water security and catchment health.
"Our waterways are not bound by borders; we know that our actions in the ACT will positively contribute towards the health of the river systems across our region and further afield," he said.
Meanwhile, the federal government announced in February that it had paid farmers, irrigators and water traders around $205 million for 26.35 GL/y of water entitlements.
The voluntary buybacks were stockpiled through a competitive tender process opened last year to reclaim 44.3 GL/y of sustainable diversion limits target for seven NSW and Queensland catchments.
Ms Plibersek said at the time that the tender process showed the direct purchasing of water - the first in the basin since 2020 - "can be effective" as one tool to reclaim water rights.
However, community and farmer representative groups remain opposed to the buyback program.
NIC chair Jeremy Morton said he welcomed the ACT meeting its commitments and pointed out that the deal showed there were "alternatives to buybacks."
"Industry has come forward with many alternatives to buybacks," he said.
"However, the clock is ticking while the department is working on implementing legislation."
He said the council "strongly encouraged" the government to explore all options and not overly-favour the "lazy" option of running water tenders that can have a "massive impact" on communities and industries.
