Thinking outside the lease – towards a strategic view of regional water management by the mining industry

Abstract

In the last 30 years, human appropriation of global renewable resources has accelerated to the point where 35 per cent of the earth's land surface is now in managed agro-ecosystems, consumptive water use consumes between 50 per cent and 85 per cent of freshwater supply and 60 per cent of ecosystem services are utilised in an unsustainable manner. There are virtually no landscapes in which renewable resources are not already fully allocated among different economic and environmental uses. Furthermore, it is increasingly recognised that water availability issues do not exist in isolation but are linked with the related environmental issues of biodiversity preservation, the carbon cycle, soil degradation, and energy use and supply. It is against this background that the sustainable management of water in mining is increasingly developing a strategic viewpoint where water is viewed as a resource within an interconnected landscape, having economic, environmental and social value and providing a range of environmental services in the provision of public and private goods. This paper explores the issues associated with sustainable management of water in mining from a strategic viewpoint. The cumulative impacts of multiple water users, both within and outside the mining sector, is increasingly threatening the security of supply for all users. To quantitatively assess the 'true' value of water it is necessary to:• Better understand the science of ecosystem functioning and how human actions impact on environmental processes.• Develop appropriate policy, finance and governance structures to support innovative programs that preserve ecosystem function and services (including market based instruments).• Apply knowledge as interventions across landscapes in ways that maximise benefits and minimise unintended consequences taking into account differences in the value of water among sectors.A strategic viewpoint of water management relies on knowledge to guide decision making that has been acquired at a range of scales from mine site to mining region. This knowledge must be based on rigorous science, sound data and syntheses of different types of information. Strategic management of water resources will better position the industry in terms of understanding the risks posed by complex, interlinked environmental issues that are increasingly impacting on future access to land and renewable resources, including water, thereby ensuring mining's future social licence to operate.