1. The COAG meeting of 26 March 08 agreed to establish a new Murray Darling Basin Authority as the single body responsible for the management of the Basin. The deal includes arrangements giving the Commonwealth Minister power to approve a new Basin-wide plan; a commitment to provide for critical human needs and to allow South Australia to store water in upstream dams; $1 billion Commonwealth investment in Victoria's Foodbowl Project; and new priorities for Commonwealth spending in the Basin. States will continue to set annual water allocations, decisions on natural resource management and provide input to the Basin-wide plan. 2. Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, announced funding of almost $7.5 million from the National Groundwater Action Plan for three new projects to improve groundwater management in Australia including one focused on managed aquifer recharge and recovery. 3. The Productivity Commission released a discussion paper Towards Urban Water Reform, which argues a number of deficiencies in how urban water is currently managed.
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