NRS-12851 | Murray Waters correspondence files [Public Works]

Full description

On 9 September 1914, the Commonwealth and the governments of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, signed the River Murray Waters Agreement. The Agreement provided for the construction, maintenance, operation and control of certain works to regulate the flow of the Murray River for irrigation, navigation, the allocation of water between the states, and to set up the River Murray Commission to give effect to the Agreement. The Agreement was ratified in New South Wales by the River Murray Water Act, 1915 (Act No.8, 1915).  Following Commonwealth proclamation on 31 January 1917, the River Murray Commission held its inaugural meeting on 14 February 1917. 

Under Section 15 of the River Murray Water Act, 1915 (Act No.8, 1915), the New South Wales Minister for Public Works was made responsible for the 'construction, maintenance, operation and control' of works carried out in NSW.

The files relate to such matters as the drafting of the River Murray Agreement; amendments to the River Murray Commission agreements and the transfer of functions to the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission in 1974; conferences of Commonwealth and State Ministers; surveys; bores; investigation and construction of River Murray works; acquisition and resumption of property and easements; specifications and tenders for plant and machinery; procurement and disposal of equipment and material; maintenance; insurance; hydro electric power generation; catchment protection; records of rainfall and temperature; diversions of the Murray and its tributaries; construction and maintenance of locks and weirs; proposed additional storage facilities; river snagging; erosion and pollution; and utilisation of the resources of the River.

The records have a control number with the prefix MW, indicating Murray Waters files.