Since the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement in 1992 a string of government initiatives have been implemented along with substantial public investment. For all the effort, there is considerable underachievement as a result of poorly informed investment decisions and persistent institutional weaknesses. The upshot of this is continued deterioration in the health of the Murray-Darling system. Furthermore, in spite of information and institutional barriers, earlier resolve to address water buy-backs could have achieved environmental improvements at substantially lower cost, even if action had been taken as recently as 2006.

Limiting further social costs will require that future investments and decisions are transparent, based on clearly-defined targets and criteria. Improved governance to manage environmental threats, such as climate change, can be achieved by amending water-sharing arrangements between jurisdictions to align with obligations to prioritise ecological health. Better markets and policies could be designed where externalities are captured comprehensively and accurately through improved hydrological knowledge. This will also allow greater transparency in investment decisions, devoid of political motivations.