All of you who want to help Australia managing water reform
For over a quarter of a century, Australia has been at the
forefront of progressive water reform, developing policy and its
implementation and evolving institutional governance.
The historic 2004 agreement to form a National Water Initiative
(NWI), with its shared commitment by governments to increase
the efficiency of Australia’s water use, is rightly recognized as
one of the world’s most significant water reforms. Its aspirations
warrant our continued vigilance and action if we are to avoid
repeating the mistakes of the past. We should, if anything, be
driving it further and faster.
• returning surface water and groundwater systems to
sustainable levels of extraction;
• meeting commitments to incorporate significant water
interception into water plans, to avoid eroding the
security of water rights;
• improving the responsibility and accountability for
environmental water management decisions among the
relevant institutions, and also the scientifically credible
