A key environmental measure in the Murray-Darling Basin plan “cannot be achieved under the current program settings” which may only save 13% of the 450 gigalitres required to protect river ecosystems, a much-anticipated report has found.

The plan promises 450GL to the environment, to save wetlands and avoid species loss, by 2024. The commonwealth funds that 450GL through the water for the environment special account (WESA).

So far, just 2.6GL has been delivered, and very little of the $1.775bn in the fund has been spent, although more water has been contracted since the report was finalised.