Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024C00760:reg:24:p28
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024C00760
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 24 (pt 28/36)
Character Range: 382470–385610

Nations. This is our inherent right". The provision of cultural flows will benefit Indigenous people in improving health, wellbeing and provides empowerment to be able to care for their country and undertake cultural activities.
    32. The resources are also used for water sports, wider recreational activities, to attract visitors to particular regions, and for visual amenity.
    33. All jurisdictions in the Murray‑Darling Basin have legislated under the National Water Initiative for the statutory provision of water to be used by the environment, often defined in water plans. Entitlements may be held on behalf of the environment, which are then used for specific environmental objectives. This process is typically managed under advice; for example from groups such as the Authority's Environmental Watering Group for The Living Murray and the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (NWC 2011a).
    34. The Authority's best estimate of the surface‑water runoff in the Basin is shown in table 1:
Table 1: Murray‑Darling Basin long‑term annual inflow and water use
Surface‑water                               GL
Inflows
  Inflows to the Basin                      31,599
  Transfer into the Basin                   954
  Total                                     32,553
Water use
  Watercourse diversions                    10,890
  Interceptions                             2,733
  Water used by the environment and losses  13,788
  Outflows from the Basin                   5,142
  Total                                     32,553

Sources:  MDBA 2011a, MDBA 2011d.
Note 1:  The diversions shown in this table are based on Authority estimates and correspond to those outlined in Schedule 2.
Note 2:  The total inflows into the Basin shown in this table are the Authority's best estimate of surface‑water runoff generated across the Basin and are based on modelled inflows adjusted where necessary to incorporate the effects of interception activities. This differs from other methods of assessing total Basin water availability such as inflow data based on CSIRO 2008, which modelled flows at the point of maximum flow under without‑development conditions.
Note 3:  Some estimates have been subject to rounding.
Users of Basin water resources
    35. Users of Basin water resources include about 1.3 million people living outside the Basin as well as the more than 2 million people living in the Basin (ABS, ABARE and BRS 2009). Householders in cities, towns and villages use the water resources for domestic purposes while local authorities use them to maintain sports fields and parks.
    36. All of the approximately 60,000 agricultural businesses in the Basin use the water resources of the Basin, about 18,000 of them in irrigating crops (ABS 2006).
    37. Businesses processing food and fibre grown in the Basin, mining companies working the mineral resources of the Basin, and wider industry depend on use of Basin water resources.
    38. People of the more than 40 Indigenous nations across the Basin use the water resources for cultural, social, environmental, spiritual and economic purposes. They see themselves as