Future directions for managing Australia's water
Chloe Munro
Water Australia Summit 20 July
National Water Commission Chair Chloe Munro spoke at the Water Australia Summit about the achievements, disappointments and future directions of water reform.
Ms Munro said that implementation of water reform through the National Water Initiative has delivered significant and tangible benefits.
These include:
- better quality and coverage of water plans
- a legislative basis for secure water access entitlements, separated from land and including water for the environment
- significant investment in water science and data, including the new role for the Bureau of Meteorology
- water markets opened up to intrastate and interstate trade.
However, Ms Munro also said there were some disappointments.
'The full benefits [of reform] have not yet been realised due to timing, resourcing and ineffective implementation in some areas,' she said.
For example:
- enabling legislation has still not been passed in Western Australia or in the Northern Territory
- some water plans have been delayed or suspended
- overallocation and overuse are still not resolved
- barriers to trade remain
- we have seen the effects of stop/go policy making and policy bans.
Ms Munro said that there is still work to be done under National Water Initiative. This includes completing current commitments, but also facing emerging challenges and strengthening some underdone elements.
'Emerging challenges that need to be faced include increasingly complex treatment systems and diversified urban water sources, as well as a lack of clarity in arrangements for stormwater management and waterway health.
Indigenous participation, mining, water quality and urban water are all elements that require more work.
Focussing on urban water, Ms Munro referenced the headline findings from the Commission's recent Urban water in Australia: future directions report which found that:
- there is an absence of agreed objectives
- there is uncertainty about the role of the urban water sector in delivering liveability outcomes
- there are opportunities to improve service delivery and focus on customers
- there are weaknesses in institutional regulatory and policy settings.
Ms Munro completed her presentation by recommending that state and territory governments:
- embed mandatory benefit-cost analysis and community engagement in regulation of public health and environment
- review the existing regulatory obligations driving current and future investment in wastewater networks, treatment and disposal
- create new cross-jurisdictional arrangements that facilitate more consistent, coordinated and timely regulation.
Future Directions for managing Australia's water presentation (828KB)