Water is managed by Governments and their agencies. There are currently over 1,000 separate water authorities operating in Australia (387 water supply authorities, 340 surface water management areas, 367 groundwater management areas).
State Government agencies regulate water use via the allocation of water licences, dam and weir management, and deciding on the timing and amount of water able to be accessed by irrigators and all other users.
Governments prioritise the water available to different users. When water is being allocated, the needs of towns then stock and domestic are usually met first, followed by the environment and lastly low security users (such as most of the cotton industry).
In simple terms a water licence gives an irrigator an entitlement to extract a set amount of water from a river, public dam or underground supply each year, under a very strict set of rules. In most years, irrigators can only access a percentage of their entitlement depending on how much water is available in the system. For example at the start of the 2007/08 season, irrigators in most cotton areas had a 0 per cent water allocation due to the drought, and so were unable to plant cotton or any other crops.
Water trading is the buying and selling of water allocations for a price determined on an open market – similar to the buying and selling of land. Water trading is an efficient and fair means of reallocating water between users and was introduced as one way to address increasing competition for water.
(Source: QLD DNR Fact Sheet, Water Trading, March 2006)
In 1994, a national agreement on water reform was reached for the first time by COAG, which comprises first Ministers of Australia’s State and Territory Governments. The agreement focused on establishing water allocations and entitlements separate from land tenure, securing water property rights, water trading arrangements, making water available for ecosystems, institutional reform, public consultation, education and research. The National Competition Council was given the responsibility of making sure the State Governments were carrying out the agreed reforms.
A 1995 audit of water use in the Murray-Darling Basin showed that if the water diversions continued to increase it would exacerbate river health problems, reduce the security of water supply for irrigators and reduce the reliability of water supply during droughts. The Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council agreed to ‘cap’ the volume of water that could be diverted from the rivers to 1994 levels and irrigators took cuts to the amount of water they could access. Under the new Murray-Darling Basin reforms being implemented by the Rudd government, a Murray-Darling Basin Authority has been established to develop a Basin-wide plan that will include a review of the Cap by early 2011.
Under the Water Management Act 2000, the NSW Department of Water and Energy developed Water Sharing Plans in 36 areas of the state. These plans have a 10 year life (to 2014) and cover water sharing, water use, drainage and floodplain management. The focus is on protecting water for the environment while also securing the rights of water users such as towns, farmers, industry and irrigators. As a result of the introduction of Water Sharing Plans, many cotton irrigators have taken large cuts to their water entitlements to address over-allocation and allow more flows for the environment.
Under the Water Management Act 2000, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources has developed Resource Operations Plans for regions of the state. These plans provide detailed implementation arrangements for how water is shared between all users.
The NWI was signed by all State and Territory Governments between 2004 and 2006. It aims to guide water reform in a shared commitment from Australia’s governments and includes a focus on:
The National Water Commission is an independent statutory body set up to drive the national water reform agenda. Commissioners provide advice to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the Australian Government on national water issues.
The National Plan for Water was released by former Prime Minister John Howard in January 2007. The current Labor Government has committed to its implementation. The $10 billion package has 10 key elements:
