Poh Ling Tan, Griffith University, Law, c.mooney@griffith.edu.au
INTRODUCTION
Water scarcity and climate variability is an increasing international problem. The recent global financial crisis has increased the number of people living below the poverty line to over 1 billion, and the amount of water currently used in agriculture will need to double in the first half of this century. Poverty, sanitation, clean drinking water, urbanisation, and growing dietary changes are growing concerns. Pressure on the use of water for food and export of virtual water is a special challenge for regional Australia which requires increased effort in irrigation water use efficiency. Also, several audits show that river and estuarine health is deteriorating requiring a re-balancing of water allocated to consumptive use and reserved for the environment. The proposed development of a new cap on consumptive use based on sustainable yield in the Murray-Darling Basin has created anger and community backlash. This paper describes the research carried out by two national projects in water planning to increase collaboration between communities and water planners. We developed a range of tools specifically targeted to important planning issues in very diverse regions in Australia. These tools are expected to reduce conflict through identifying community values in water and environmental assets, and development of transparency in the planning process, particularly where there are disputes over science.
Keywords: water allocation, water planning, deliberative tools, sustainability, Australia, adaptive management.