Free Flow

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ransboundary

ater

anagement

human needs at risk – a position that shocked Australians. The

drought not only highlighted the vulnerability of businesses and

communities, it also demonstrated the implications of neglecting

the water needs of the environment.

In 2000, a major national land and water audit found that almost

a third of the continent’s surface and groundwater resources were

close to being overused, or were overused compared to their esti-

mated sustainable flow regimes.

The Council of Australian Governments again stepped in. In 2004,

the council members signed off on the Intergovernmental Agreement

on a National Water Initiative (NWI), which set out detailed commit-

ments to improve institutional water sharing arrangements and to

overcome some of the seemingly intractable differences between states

that shared water resources. It established as an overarching goal the

optimization of economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Under the NWI the Council of Australian Governments created a

new body – the National Water Commission – to oversee imple-

mentation of the reform programme and to provide regular reviews.

This type of institutionalized, regular review framework is unusual

and has been instrumental in driving ongoing improvements in the

delivery of a truly national water reform agenda.

The NWI comprises different types of commitments that together

will improve water management in Australia. There are state-specific

commitments and commitments applicable to groups of states, such

as water trading among the southern Murray-Darling Basin states.

There are also commitments that can only be delivered through

cooperation by all states.

Just as importantly, the NWI commits governments to genuinely

engage with people and groups affected by water management

changes when developing water plans that balance the competing

needs and values of water users with the desired outcomes for the

environment in particular water systems. This is beneficial because

it makes decisions regarding water allocation and use transparent,

and provides an opportunity for interested parties to be

part of the decision-making process.

In the eight years since the NWI was signed, the agree-

ment has come to be recognized internationally as a model

for sound water governance, for addressing the challenges

of cross-jurisdictional management of shared resources,

and for harnessing the power of markets and price signals

to encourage efficient water use and investment.

In an assessment of Australia’s environmen-

tal performance since 1998, the Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development concluded

that the NWI, backed by significant government

investment, was delivering real progress toward

reform, including setting environmental flow

regimes.

As the Australian State of the Environment

Report 2011

observed, “the past decade has been the

most dynamic and significant in modern Australia’s

water history. It has been a period of ambitious water

policy reform at the same time as the worst and

longest drought Australia has ever seen. There have

also been massive public and private investments

in water infrastructure, significant new foundations

for water knowledge at a national scale, and the

widespread acceptance by the public and by govern-

ments that Australia’s climate has changed and will

continue to change.”

The Australian approach acknowledges that success-

ful reform requires cross-agency and cross-government

collaborative effort. Behind these concepts are coop-

erative, multilayered and evolving relationships; albeit

relationships underpinned by a sound legislative and

accountability framework that is supported by robust

systems and processes.

The NWI explicitly recognizes the interests of indigenous people in water management

Image: National Water Commission, Arthur Mostead

Indigenous engagement

The NWI is the first intergovernmental water agreement

in Australia that explicitly recognizes the interests

of indigenous people in water management. Since

2004 most Australian jurisdictions have established

consultative mechanisms intended to engage indigenous

people in water planning, and there is increased

recognition of the cultural values of water resources.

In 2010 the National Water Commission brokered the

formation of the First People’s Water Engagement Council.

The group’s remit was to provide a vehicle for Aboriginal

voices and water aspirations to be heard.

The council consulted widely with stakeholders and held

its first water summit in 2012. From these processes, the

council developed policy and advisory statements. When

the council ended its tenure in 2012, an Indigenous Water

Advisory Council was formed to continue building on the

First People’s Water Engagement Council’s initial work,

taking on an even larger role as national adviser to the

federal government.

The advisory council, along with other indigenous

working groups, indigenous community facilitation

networks, and projects aimed at improving drinking water

and increasing research opportunities, will continue to

provide an important foundation for improving knowledge

and understanding of indigenous Australians’ water-

related cultural, social and economic aspirations.