Adaptive governance in water reform discourses of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Abstract

Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin exemplifies complex governance challenges raised by large-scale trans-boundary river systems. The Basin contains a varied and fragmentary mosaic of human perspectives and practices, situated in a dynamic biophysical system that accounts for a significant portion of Australia’s agricultural produce and is home to diverse and iconic ecosystems. Severe drought, high river-flow variability, and persistent ecosystem degradation have been impetus for water policy reforms culminating in the highly contested 2012 Murray–Darling Basin Plan. We analyzed public-record content from opinion editorials and speeches by policy elites, 2010–2012, to examine public discourses and discourse coalitions associated with development of the Plan. We focus on three domains of discourse: definition of problems, promotion of solutions, and assertions of fact. Discourses illustrated divergent, exclusionary, and largely un-reconciled perspectives about how water resources should be managed, as well as how plural interests should be represented in decision-making. We identify discourse coalition-linked narrative scripts, develop an understanding of constitutive dynamics relevant to ongoing processes of policy development and implementation, and discuss implications for adaptive governance of water resources.