Strategy for improving environmental sustainability of water planning
Project details
| Objective: | To address the divergent interpretations and implementation of the terms "sustainable levels of extraction" and "over-allocation" that are currently used in water planning and management across Australia |
| Funding: | $150,000 plus applicable GST from the Australian Government towards a total project value of $150,000. |
| Jurisdiction: | National |
| Commenced: | April 2008 |
| Completed: | September 2009 |
Progress
About the project
A number of reports, including the First Biennial Assessment of Progress in Implementation of the NWI and the Australian Water Resources 2005, concluded that it is difficult to determine whether Australian water systems are being managed sustainably because of the different interpretations in Australian jurisdictions of "environmental sustainability" and different water planning and management approaches to achieve it.
The incorporation of "environmental sustainability" into water planning and management is central to many of the National Water Initiative (NWI) requirements. The Commission has identified the resolution of these issues as a high priority for advancing the implementation of the NWI.
This project will progress this issue by addressing the divergent interpretations and implementation of the terms "sustainable levels of extraction" and "over-allocation" that are currently used in water planning and management across Australia. The project will work collaboratively with the jurisdictions to reconcile the varying terminology, approaches and procedures used, and to encourage a harmonised approach across Australia for the interpretation of the above terms and their application in water planning processes by:
- clarifying the issues surrounding the interpretation and implementation of the terms "environmental sustainable levels of extraction" (or "sustainable yield"), "overallocation" and "overuse"
- developing a common conceptual framework surrounding environmental and physical sustainability in water planning and management including the concepts of ecosystems goods and services, identification of environmental assets, the provision of water for environmental assets and ecosystem function, allocation of water to maximise net social values, stakeholder involvement and decision making, use of scientific knowledge, inclusion of current and future values, flexibility for responding to unexpected circumstances, and monitoring of agreed outcomes and adaptive planning
- identifying critical scientific knowledge gaps, particularly relating to thresholds, that impede environmentally sustainable decisions in water plans
- identification of key future events for which addressing these issues will be critical.
Project benefits
This project will contribute to the Raising National Water Standards priority for water planning and management by providing input to the inclusion of environmental sustainability considerations in water planning. Achieving the incorporation of environmental sustainability into water planning is central to many of the NWI requirements.
The proposal also aligns specifically to NWI objective (iv):
- complete the return of all currently over allocated or overused systems to environmentally sustainable levels of extraction.
The project will also advance a key recommendation of the First Biennial Assessment of Progress in the Implementation of the NWI in 2007 that identified a number of problems in the area of environmental sustainability. The assessment concluded, "The Commission is strongly of the view that a new shared national understanding of overallocation is required which reconciles the varying approaches (and terminology) used by states."
This project will make a significant contribution to assisting water planners, governments and others to improving the environmental sustainability of water planning.