Urban water reform
Through a series of key water supply, efficiency and pricing innovations, the National Water Initiative sets the framework for urban water reform.
The National Water Initiative (NWI) aims to:
- provide healthy, safe and reliable water supplies
- increase water use efficiency in domestic and commercial settings
- encourage the re-use and recycling of wastewater where cost effective
- facilitate water trading between and within the urban and rural sectors
- encourage innovation in water supply sourcing, treatment, storage and discharge
- achieve improved pricing for metropolitan water.
Actions for urban water reform
Specific NWI actions to meet these aims fall into three categories:
- managing the demand for water, increasing urban water use efficiency
- encouraging the re-use and recycling of wastewater where cost effective
- encouraging innovation in integrated resource planning and pricing to enable water sensitive cities.
Achieving the desired outcomes for urban water reform will depend on implementation of the NWI as a whole, so broader actions which also contribute to sustainable water management and planning in Australian cities include:
- water resource accounting
- statutory water planning
- access entitlements for different classes of water
- water trading
- environmentally and economically viable infrastructure planning
- restoration of over-allocated urban supply sources.
Progress
In their 2007 Biennial Assessment of progress against the NWI (see also the 2009 Biennial Assessment), the National Water Commission found that reasonable progress is being made to implement the various urban reforms called for under the NWI.
The Commission noted, however, that the challenge of urban water management has intensified significantly since the NWI was signed. They recommended that the original NWI actions need to be supplemented by an enhanced set of actions in order to better achieve NWI outcomes, and to improve urban water supply security in light of current and emerging water challenges across Australia.
The enhanced set of actions should cover:
- improved supply and demand planning (including supply diversification to accommodate climate risk)
- fundamental reforms to institutional and market arrangements for water supply entitlements and pricing/charging arrangements
- rationalisation of water restrictions, with clearer understanding of risks to water supplies and levels of supply security
- better integration between water and energy resource suppliers and the adoption of water sensitive urban design principles into mainstream planning processes.