The Murray–Darling Basin Agreement was first adopted in 1985 but it wasn't until 1993 that its full legal status was in-acted. The Agreement led to the creation of a number of new organisations under what is known as the Murray-Darling Basin Initiative. These included the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council and the Murray Darling Basin Commission.
In October 2010, The Murray–Darling Basin Authority released a draft plan to secure the long-term ecological health of the Murray–Darling Basin. This entailed cutting existing water allocations and increasing environmental flows. The document is officially titled the Guide to the Proposed Murray–Darling Basin Plan. It is the first part of a three-stage process to address the problems of the Murray–Darling Basin. MDBA is responsible for preparing and overseeing a legally-enforceable management plan — the Basin Plan
Although the MDBPG is a positive step towards sustainability the measures keep a significant risk of human activities exacerbating the drought risk (see River Murray which has only dried up twice since records began). The Environmental Water Requirement found that a reduction in allocations of 7600gl (per year) is required to be certain that the river systems would maintain their health. However objectors cite socio-economic impacts of major cutbacks to the widescale farming (and in some areas wine-growing) in the basin, and conclude that within plans for population growth, particularly in times of drought, may be a need for sustainable water transportation from new extraction from rivers in the wettest part of the country, the Cape York Peninsula or more desalination.