Abstract
Water security is generally agreed as the availability of water of sufficient quantity and quality to ensure human and ecosystem needs combined with an acceptable level of risk to humans, ecosystems and economies (Global Water Partnership 2000, Grey and Sadoff 2007, Cook and Bakker 2012). In spite of the explicit recognition of ecosystem needs within the agreed definitions and considerable discussion among academics about ways in which water security is measured holistically (Falkenmark et al. 2007, Lautze and Manthrithilake 2012, Nichols and Dyer 2013), in practise for most developed countries the focus of water security measures has been the provision of water to meet human and economic needs. Australia has a long history of investing in water security for human and economic needs. With an extremely variable climate there has been a focus on ‘drought proofing’ to ensure supply for agricultural purposes and communities and ‘flood protection’ to prevent loss to life and property. In recent decades there has been a growing recognition of the need to provide water for the environment, in part because of a broader understanding of the benefits to society of healthy functioning ecosystems (Baron et al. 2002) Water managers in Australia have long been faced with the challenges of balancing the water requirements of people, environments and economies. In recent years, Australia has coped with a 10-year period of significant water shortage (known as the Millennium drought) followed by major flooding events which caused serious economic loss. Currently, the approach of water managers to providing water for the environment involves three main areas of focus:
Highlights
Water security is generally agreed as the availability of water of sufficient quantity and quality to ensure human and ecosystem needs combined with an acceptable level of risk to humans, ecosystems and economies (Global Water Partnership 2000, Grey and Sadoff 2007, Cook and Bakker 2012)
Following an audit of water use in the Murray-Darling Basin that showed an ongoing increase in diversions from rivers and a widespread decline in river health (Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council 1995), a cap of diversions from the Basin’s rivers was introduced
Subsequent water reform culminated in the passing of the Water Act 2007 and the formation of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) with responsibility to establish a new cap on diversions
Summary
Water security is generally agreed as the availability of water of sufficient quantity and quality to ensure human and ecosystem needs combined with an acceptable level of risk to humans, ecosystems and economies (Global Water Partnership 2000, Grey and Sadoff 2007, Cook and Bakker 2012). Australia has a long history of investing in water security for human and economic needs. In recent decades there has been a growing recognition of the need to provide water for the environment, in part because of a broader understanding of the benefits to society of healthy functioning ecosystems (Baron et al 2002). Water managers in Australia have long been faced with the challenges of balancing the water requirements of people, environments and economies. Australia has coped with a 10-year period of significant water shortage (known as the Millennium drought) followed by major flooding events which caused serious economic loss. The approach of water managers to providing water for the environment involves three main areas of focus: 1. The construction of infrastructure to facilitate watering of major environmental assets
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