Chapter 1 - Water Resource Policy, Planning and Management in Australia—An Overview

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief introduction to water management in Australia, including an overview of the history of water management in Australia since European settlement. It focuses particularly on the last 30 years, during which Australian governments have been undertaking a program of major water reform, transitioning to a new paradigm of environmentally and financially sustainable water resource management providing high economic value to the nation. This chapter also sets the scene for the rest of the book and summarizes the following individual chapters that go into more detail about specific elements that have contributed to the implementation of the reform agenda.