Vision, leadership and innovation needed to drive water reform
29 May 2003
MOREE: A new national vision for sustainable water use is needed to drive substantial change in managing Australia's declining water resources, says WWF-Australia.
"Everyone has a stake in the water future. There is however, an obvious lack of national consensus, agreement or plan on what constitutes sustainable water use across the country," Dr Ray Nias, WWF-Australia Director of Conservation told cotton growers at a recent national industry conference.
"There is a clear recognition that substantial change is required, not just tinkering.
"Australia needs a national water policy framework that articulates a long term vision for the management of rivers and water resources".
Speaking at the Growers Forum and Industry Seminar at the National Australian Cotton Industry Trade Show in Moree on Thursday, 29 May, Dr Nias called for "new leadership, vision and innovation" to build a sustainable water future for Australia.
He said a clear statement of issues and approaches that could be adopted as part of a National Water Plan were put firmly onto the public and political agenda by the Wentworth Group - a group of leading scientists and economists convened last October by WWF-Australia.
"Many of Australia's 246 recognised river basins have limited opportunities for further development and many are already either close to, or overused, compared with their sustainable flow regimes," he said.
"These trends are set to intensify due to climate change.
"It is clear that rainfall has decreased in southern Australia and the intensity of storms, droughts and floods has increased, and predictions for the future are even worse. In the Murray Darling Basin, for example, a 45 percent decrease in stream flow is likely by 2070."
Dr Nias said the forthcoming Council of Australia Government (COAG) meeting to finalise national principles on water allocation and entitlement was an opportunity to establish new standards for the water allocation.
"We currently lack the policies and economic tools to adjust to increasing competition for scarce water resources and to adapt to a changing climate. These needs to be addressed at the national and state levels."
Dr Nias said there has already been "many major policy failures" including a lack of incentives to encourage water efficient practices, institutional confusion, failure to incorporate climate change trends into environmental flow allocations, artificially low water prices and failure to address environmental rehabilitation.
He said a new national vision would need to clarify water entitlements, establish adaptive management to meet environmental outcomes, define and provide structural adjustment and support, encourage water trading within environmental limits and facilitate investment in better water use.
"Government agencies are not capable of delivering this vision- it needs to be driven by the community. Genuine community engagement is essential to inform decision making, build ownership and deliver long term solutions," he said.
