NSW and Queensland regularly fail to make sure irrigators comply with the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and aren't transparent about these failures, a review has found.
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority was asked four months ago to undertake an independent review of compliance with water use rules following allegations of theft by rogue irrigators.
The review has found NSW and Queensland are particularly bad at making sure people comply with basin rules, often don't punish breaches, and aren't transparent about this failure.
And Victoria doesn't have a glowing record either.
While there's a "culture of compliance", penalties for breaking the rules need work and the compliance system is about as opaque as it is in NSW and Queensland.
"The specific issue ... in Victoria is the lack of a full suite of penalties and sanctions, which means compliance action can only occur administratively with limited penalties and sanctions, or by criminal prosecution requiring a very high standard of proof suited to serious breaches," the review released on Saturday said.
Meanwhile, problems in NSW and Queensland were put down to a lack of compliance officers, as well as "patchy metering, the challenges of measuring unmetered take and the lack of real-time, accurate water accounts".
This is all because the MDBA isn't committed to compliance.
"Without a commitment to the function, compliance has no voice in an organisation's budget debate; the work does not attract the interest and attention of management; and the necessary systems and transparency are not developed," the review said.
It's also difficult to prove when irrigators break the rules.
"Even for low-level breaches, offences must be proven and commonly those responsible are given an opportunity to take remedial action," the report says.
