Free Flow

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ransboundary

ater

anagement

Relationship management has therefore become recognized as a

core component of the reform process. This requires a good under-

standing of the synergies that exist between the parties involved in

collaboration. It has also been critical to be flexible and to adjust

governance arrangements when necessary.

The Australian experience has shown that governance and relation-

ship structures must facilitate, and not hinder collaboration. A number

of elements have enabled a more constructive and collegiate approach

to be developed in federal/state relationships. Firstly, there has been

a collective imperative to act, through the catalyst of the millennium

drought which affected the entire nation. This has prompted a national

focus with state and federal government leaders recognizing that water

management often requires tough decisions, trade-offs and discipline

not to intervene on an ad-hoc basis. Secondly, there has been a national

blueprint, the NWI, which has driven nationally compatible approaches

to water planning and management, coupled with important statutory

reforms in most jurisdictions.

Thirdly, institutional arrangements have been put in place to influ-

ence the way that players and entities interact with each other in

governance and decision-making. There must be clarity about specific

roles and responsibilities to ensure that arrangements enhance the

final outcome and relationships continue to work as effectively as

possible. There are different views at the table, but institutional

arrangements allow for these views to be voiced and worked through,

and in this way ensure that effective collaboration can occur.

And finally, NWI reform was supported by very substantial and

sustained government investment to help advance water reform objec-

tives and outcomes. Investments by governments in data collection,

monitoring and metering have in turn delivered better information to

inform the decisions of government and water users.

Achieving sustainable water management is a long-haul game.

Australia’s experience has shown that implementing water reform

is challenging, resource-intensive and complex. It requires strong

leadership to build and sustain the case for change across affected

communities and to make difficult decisions that are in the public

interest. This is particularly so where rebalancing is required to

address historic overallocation of water rights. Along the way,

Australian water managers have also learned lessons about main-

taining the momentum of such an unprecedented and ambitious

reform programme.

A strategy for skill development needs to be an early action – not an

afterthought. An integrated water management system needs science,

expertise and capability beyond technical and engineering expertise.

This means that new skills need to be developed and skills seconded

from other sectors.

There should be no assumption that there is a ‘common’

language about water. Misunderstandings about terminology not

only undermine confidence and certainty, but can also hinder

productive interaction between research, policy development and

implementation.

Making decisions about water allocation cannot be politically expedi-

ent. They must be supported by thorough, rigorous and independent

science. Government policy is fundamental, but policy alone does not

produce results. What actually happens depends on the daily actions of

all those individuals and entities that are in the business of using water.

Their choices may be constrained or incentivized by the policy envi-

ronment. Within those guardrails, there is enormous discretion to be

prudent or profligate with the resource, to be considerate or careless of

the interests of others.

Even the best plans need to be monitored and meas-

ured, and plans on their own cannot deliver results.

Plans need to be implemented and water actually needs

to be managed according to the plan; the words need

to become actions.

Overallocated water systems cannot fix themselves.

The real test of water management systems occurs

during drought periods. It is tempting to relax during

wet periods, but this will make the next drought harder.

It is detrimental to allocate water resources before the

hydrology of systems and the environmental flow

requirements are properly understood.

While there are significant differences in the water

management issues faced across the country, it is

important to harness the legitimate ownership that local

communities and state and regional institutions have in

managing their water resources. The NWI is very much

about rational, logical and timely planning, but it works

within the more subtle and fluid universe of people’s

values, ideas, emotions and culture.

The challenges in implementing reform commit-

ments continue to be dynamic and evolving, with the

most difficult issues yet to be resolved. They centre

on the contest between water for the environment

and water for production and development; the

restoration of overallocated water systems; explicit

recognition of the social and economic impacts of

water planning; private sector participation; and the

nexus between water, climate change, energy and

natural resource management.

The next step-change in the way we govern and

manage water resources in Australia’s largest and most

important river system is currently unfolding following

the making of the historic Murray-Darling Basin Plan

in November 2012.

Water reform affects many people, takes time to do

well, will always be contentious and has no natural end

point. Yet the journey requires strong commitment to

building and maintaining relationships in the face of

difficult decisions to balance economic, social and envi-

ronmental outcomes, and to nourish real engagement

with communities.

WaterAid Australia

Recognizing that its responsibility to help people secure

access to clean water extends beyond the nation’s

boundaries, Australia has been an active member of the

global WaterAid community since 2004. In 2010 it was one

of four founding members of WaterAid International.

Australia adds its technical water expertise to the

development experience and knowledge of the overseas

aid sector, working primarily in south Asia and Africa

on practical, locally-sustainable solutions that provide

communities with secure access to clean water.

In the past 12 months, WaterAid Australia has delivered

$A 5.5 million of projects that have resulted in more than

200,000 people in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Bangladesh,

India and Timor-Leste receiving access to clean water and more

than 85,000 people gaining access to adequate sanitation.