Title: Governance and Justice in Water- Introduction
Abstract: This issue of Social Alternatives about governance and justice in water argues for the need for a change in direction in addressing the escalating global water crisis. This shift involves an important value and perception change - from seeing water as a commodity to be exploited, often at the expense of one's neighbours and the environment, to seeing water as a shared and fragile resource to be used for the benefit of all people (Cosgrove 2003). It involves greater understanding of how institutions, social networks and individuals can provide innovative approaches to governance and equity. It foreshadows transformation, not just in the present but for future generations so they too will have options and opportunities to experience water in its natural state and use it for a variety of purposes. This means knowing how to share water fairly and efficiently with the environment among other uses. It means expanding options beyond 'big infrastructure' solutions, with individuals and communities taking greater responsibility for their use and water supply. Globally, water is an increasingly scarce resource with demands for it to be shared among a range of users. In Australia, 26% of surface water and 30% of groundwater management areas are either close to or already overused. On average only 77% of water diverted for use in urban and rural areas actually reaches the customer, with the remainder lost to seepage or evaporation (NLWRA 2001). Stressed water resources and micro-economic reform have been drivers for institutional change about water management. In rural areas, farming communities have had to cope with changing climatic conditions and a national approach to institutional water reform based on secure water property entitlements, marketbased mechanisms, and allocation of water for the environment through the National Water Initiative (2004). Unfortunately, insufficient scientific knowledge, foresight, and policy mechanisms have made it difficult to deliver. The failure of the Murray-Darling River Basin system in south-east Australia is a case in point. A relatively sophisticated sharing of water between various users occurred decades ago, supplemented more recently by an agreement allowing water trading. However, the recent years-long drought has illustrated that the quantities of water needed to provide ecosystem health were clearly underestimated (Rogers 2008, 31). In New South Wales, water plans were suspended soon after they were completed. Commercial users have been affected, receiving reduced or no allocation for irrigation, and the system has reached a crisis point with governments scrambling to find solutions. The market focus of reforms has inevitably led to an emphasis on economic options and costly solutions which will be borne by the entire country. This situation provides background to the discussion in this issue about a need for governance approaches that are participatory, deliberative and take account of community values. Unusually dry conditions attributed to climate change have resulted in low urban water supplies around the country, resulting in a quasi-'state of emergency' response by State and Local governments. Some shortages were caused, at least in part, as a result of micro-economic reforms in which water authorities, increasingly separated from government became more profit-driven with insufficient regulation. This is exemplified by the case of Brisbane-based SEQ Water which increased its sales of water to Tarong power station which in turn augmented its output to sell energy on the grid to New South Wales (Davies and Travers 2008). This increased its profit, with the unintended consequence of a water shortage for the city of Brisbane. The response to the urban water crisis has been, in part, big infrastructure solutions: to recycle Brisbane's wastewater to initially supply non-potable water to power stations; to add purified recycled water as a domestic water source along with desalinisation plants along the coast; and to move water from other catchments as part of a regional water grid. …
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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