Water Matters
Part of National Science Week
Held on 24-25 August 2007 in the H C Coombs Theatre, Fellows Road, ANU

ANU Emeritus Faculty, the ANU Water Initiative and the ANU College of Science

Sponsored by ActewAGL, ACTEW Corporation
The Australian Government, The Murray Darling Basin Commission,
The ACT Office of Sustainability Policy and Programs

 

Colloquium Program - H C Coombs Lecture Theatre, Australian National University
DAY 1: Chair: John Molony, Chair, ANU Emeritus Faculty
	Prof Ian Chubb AC.
	The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull (to be confirmed).
	KEYNOTE Presentation - "British Water Reform: Lessons for, and from, Australia" Lord Selborne KBE FRS, UK
Theme 1:	Water Resources in Australia Chair: Paul Perkins, Adjunct Professor ANU
	"A Geological perspective" - Dr Bear McPhail, ANUWI
	"Water and the Coast" - Rebecca Letcher, ANU College of Science
Theme 2:	Water Dynamics Chair: Paul Perkins, Adjunct Professor ANU
	"Australian rivers: variability and environmental flows" - Prof Tom McMahon, Melbourne
	"Climate Change and Water Resources: Are We Getting Wetter or Drier?" - Professor Will Steffen ANUWI
	PANEL DISCUSSION
Theme 3:	Water Uses and Users Chair: Warren Musgrave, Emeritus Professor, University of New England
	"How we got where we are" - Dr Dingle Smith, ANUEF
	"Food Production, agriculture and sustainability" - Barney Foran, Beechworth
	"Water in the Urban Sector (Canberra and SE Queensland)" - Professor Paul Perkins AM, ANUWI
	"Water in the Urban Sector (Sydney)" - Professor Pat Troy, ANUEF
	PANEL DISCUSSION
DAY 2: Chair: John Molony, Chair, ANU Emeritus Faculty
Theme 4:	Engineering Applications: Chair: Barry Ninham, Emeritus Professor, ANU Emeritus Faculty
	"Mining Aquifers: the WA Yaragadee case study" - Mr Peter Lane, ANUEF Margaret River
	"The impact of Surface water Groundwater interaction on Australia water resources" - Dr Rick Evans, SKM Ltd, Armadale, Vic
Theme 5:	Current Policy Framework Chair: Karen Hussey, ANU Water Initiative
	"Public Good versus Private Gain" - Dr Quentin Grafton, ANUWI
	"Institutional reform" - Prof Steve Dovers, ANUWI
	"The Flawed History of Irrigation in Australia: Faltering Attempts at Reform" - Alistair Watson, ANUEF Melbourne
	PANEL DISCUSSION
Theme 6:	Synthesis Chair Bear McPhail
	"The Murray Darling Basin" - Dr Wendy Craik AM, Murray Darling Basin Commission
	"Where next on the journey to ecologically sustainable water use?" - Professor Gary Jones, E-Water, University of Canberra
	"Water and the Creative Arts" - John Reid, ANUWI and a group of creative artists.
	PANEL DISCUSSION
Forum Program - Sponsored by the ACT Office of Sustainability, Policy and Programs and the ANU College  of Science VENUE: The Shine Dome, Academy of Science
	Sing Australia presented three water pieces by Sirocco as a cultural event.
Public Forum	The Public Forum was moderated by Alex Sloan, ABC Radio Canberra and chaired by Michael Gentleman, Member for Brindabella.
	Panel Members	Paul Perkins, AM, ANUWI Gary Jones, E-Water, University of Canberra Janet Lindesay, ANU College of Science Rebecca Letcher, ANU College of Science Lord Selborne KBE FRS.

Colloquium on Water

Speakers’ Abstracts and Biographical Notes (alphabetical order)

Dr Wendy Craik AM

Title: The Murray Darling Basin

Abstract

The Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) and its predecessor, the River Murray Commission, have overseen joint management of the Basin’s water resources since 1914.

As the organisation responsible for coordinating the programs including Cap on diversions, The Living Murray Initiative, Interstate Water Trade and the Native Fish Strategy, the MDBC is seen internationally as a best practice model of catchment management.

Record low inflows, the emerging threat of climate change and societies’ changing values toward the environment have provided fresh challenges for the MDBC, whose river operators, ecologists and policy makers are reassessing basic elements of basin management to make every drop of water count.

Biographical note

Dr Craik took up her position as Chief Executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) in August 2004.

Prior to this Wendy was President of the National Competition Council, Chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and Chair of the National Rural Advisory Council. Other former positions include Chief Executive Officer of Earth Sanctuaries Ltd, a publicly listed company specialising in conservation and eco tourism, Executive Director of the National Farmers Federation, and Executive Officer of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. She has also worked as a consultant for AcilTasman Consulting.

Wendy is a member of the Board of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal. She has been a member of a variety of other Boards and advisory councils.

Wendy was awarded an AM in 2007 for her contribution to natural resource management and rural policy.

Professor Steve Dovers

Title: Institutional challenges in Australian water reform.

Abstract

The 2004 National Water Initiative and the 2007 Commonwealth water policy reforms consolidate and considerable extend decades of policy change in Australian water. They set out a major realignment of water policy and management, stating the vision for which is considerably easier than implementing the detail of the reforms. One of the main challenges with a reform package of this kind is that the institutional system within which it is to be delivered was not designed with current and future challenges in mind, but is rather a reflection of past understanding and imperatives. This presentation will identify the major institutional challenges in Australian water reform, including such areas as regional capacity, the new demands for comprehensive water planning, information provision and flow across agencies, and the policy divide between urban and rural water management.

Biographical Note

Professor Steve Dovers is with the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU, where he undertakes research and teaching in policy and institutional aspects of sustainable development. His recent books include "Environment and sustainability policy" (Federation Press 2005), "Institutional change for sustainable development" (with Robin Connor) (Edward Elgar 2004) and, with Karen Hussey, the edited volume "Managing Water for Australia" (CSIRO Publishing 2007).

Dr Rick Evans

Title: The impact of Surface water Groundwater interaction on Australia water resources

Abstract

The rapidly evolving understanding of surface water groundwater interaction in Australia indicates that in most cases groundwater and surface water are interconnected and interchangeable resources. This reality of the integrated nature of the hydrologic cycle has generally not been appreciated by our water resource planners who have tended to manage groundwater and surface water as two independent resources. The assessment of the available groundwater resources of Australia has generally not allowed for groundwater discharge to rivers. Hence frequently the groundwater resources of Australia have been overestimated. Or put another way, if the double accounting of groundwater and surface water were eliminated, the total available water resources of Australia would be reduced significantly. This paper explores the impacts of this double accounting and suggests various management and policy implications and initiatives to address this problem.

Biographical Note

Dr Rick Evans is Principal Hydrogeologist with Sinclair Knight Merz. Rick has 28 years experience in groundwater, water resource management and has worked on numerous water resource projects throughout Australia and Asia, at both technical and management levels. He has substantial experience in groundwater management issues and is the author of several National policy documents, including the COAG National groundwater management policy. He is a member of the World Bank Groundwater Management Advisory Team. He has a keen interest in surface water – groundwater interaction.

Dr Barney Foran

Title: Food production, agriculture and sustainability

Abstract

Modern societies owe their good fortune to their ability to continuously innovate and to remove each barrier or problem as it comes along. Thus our current food systems represent the pinnacle of efficient production recipes, just in time transportation and elegant food safety regimes. While food has never been cheaper in real terms, rivers and landscapes are stressed and rural communities have become poor cousins to their city neighbours. Cheap food and sedentary lifestyles combine to produce the prospect of obesity and population health crises. Within these broader boundaries of input and output, we continue to jump the barriers one by one, without questioning whether there are broader systemic issues that require change. So it is for agriculture and water: we must use less so that we can continue to have more. Somehow the sustainability message at the whole economy level has not crystallised for decision makers or normal citizens. We expect that life will continue as in the past with the help of a few silver bullet technologies, giving just a bit more efficiency and productivity. Each State Premier still expects high population growth to drive economic growth rates, while pronouncing that a few wind farms and desalination plants will solve pollution and resource issues. We could invoke ‘consumer pays’, since it is now possible to apply an environmentally weighted GST at the cash register. Products rich in water, greenhouse or land disturbance could really pinch the consumer’s hip pocket nerve. However such an innovation would invite political demise and is thus unlikely in today’s consumer-led society. Should developed economies ever embrace the key physical message of sustainability of ‘less of everything’, it will mean much more than irrigation efficiency for farmers, and fixing dripping taps at home.

Biographical Note

Barney Foran is a visiting fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society and also has research affiliations with the Physics Department at the University of Sydney, and the Institute of Land Water and Society at Charles Sturt University. He has 30 years of prior research experience with the CSIRO Divisions of Wildlife and Ecology and Sustainable Ecosystems. For his last twelve years with CSIRO, he developed and led the ‘resource futures’ group for major reports on human population (Future Dilemmas), marine fishing (Fish Futures) and whole-economy life cycle analysis (Balancing Act). His current work focuses on long term structural changes to Australia’s physical economy which maintain energy security but lower greenhouse emissions, while maintaining economic productivity and social equity.

Professor Quentin Grafton

Title: Public good versus private gain

Abstract

In January 2007 Prime Minister John Howard announced 'A National Plan for Water Security' which provided a planned investment of $10 billion over 10 years to address the challenges of water inefficiency, over-use and over-allocation. Although the plan was national the primary focus was the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). Much of the proposed expenditure was for improving water efficiency ($4.765 billion) and market-based water recovery ($3 billion) to reduce the over allocation of water in that region. The presentation provides criteria to review The Plan and to guide policy makers charged with addressing the challenges of water management in the MDB.

Biographical Note

R. Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics and Research Director at the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University and Co-Chair of the ANU Water Initiative. He currently serves as Editor of the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, is a former Associate Editor of Marine Resource Economics and recently a Guest Editor for the International Journal of Global Environmental Issues.
He is the author of more than 50 scholarly articles in environmental and resource economics as well as several books including The Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources and Understanding the Environment: Bridging the Disciplinary Divides that was endorsed by Kenneth Arrow, the 1972 Nobel Laureate in Economics, as a ‘…pioneering effort in introducing the fields one to another…".  His major research contributions include the bio-economic modelling of fisheries, ecological uncertainty, the measurement of efficiency and productivity, social networks and economic growth, water economics, and efficiency outcomes associated with private property rights and environmental management. 

Professor Gary Jones

Title: Where next on the journey to ecologically sustainable water use?

Abstract

The past decade in Australia has seen a revolution in the way governments and water resource managers consider the environment. It may not seem that way, for those of us who worry about the dwindling health of many of our inland and coastal rivers, but it is important to remember just how far we have come on this journey. Prior to the 1980s, concerns about the ecological condition of waterways only occasionally ventured outside academic institutions and the campaign offices of environmental NGOs. And, for much of the 1990’s, scientists could not even agree amongst themselves how to determine whether or not a river was healthy, let alone help to build broader understanding and acceptance with governments and other influential stakeholders. Yet, today, environmental flows, healthy waterways and river restoration are core policy and core business for state and federal governments, river and catchment authorities and, even, for most private irrigation industries and mining companies. We have, indeed, come a long way on this journey ….so where next?

Over the next decade I think there are two big needs or, even better put, two big opportunities, for those concerned about improving river and wetland environments – one scientific, one legal and political. The first - better ‘packaging’ of ecological knowledge into models and decisions systems that can directly inform repeatable, transparent and publicly-justifiable investment in river and wetland management. The second - the direct involvement of private citizens and businesses in large-scale river restoration, especially through private ownership and application of environmental water rights. In my talk I will provide some practical examples of how these challenges are being addressed by different public and private organisations, my own included.

Biographical Note

Gary Jones is the Chief Executive of eWater Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and Professor of Freshwater Science at the University of Canberra. He was formerly Chief Executive of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology (a forerunner of eWater CRC) and, prior to that, a Senior Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO Land & Water. As well as having extensive research experience in water chemistry and ecology, Gary has filled numerous advisory roles in catchment and river management for state, national and international governments and agencies. In recent years he has chaired the MDBC Living Murray Scientific Reference Panel, was a member of the 2006 Australian State of the Environment Committee, and chaired the ACT Chief Minister’s Water Supply Catchment Management Advisory Group. He is an author on over 100 scientific papers, reports, book chapters and articles, on topics ranging from the management of toxic cyanobacteria, to river and reservoir management.

Mr Peter Lane

Title: Mining Aquifers: The Western Australian south-west Yarragadee, a case study

Abstract

Settlements along the southern part of the west coast of Western Australia originally relied on water from three major river systems. The catchment areas of these systems have become progressively saline and Perth now draws most of its water from an aquifer. As well a desalination plant has recently been commissioned.

The Water Corporation’s application for a licence to extract 45 gigalitres/year water from the Yarragadee Formation to the south of Perth has now been rejected. This aquifer outcrops and both directly and indirectly is connected to the surface. It provides water into streams and supports wetlands. The proposal was controversial as many scientists considered extraction of this amount of water would do considerable environmental harm.

Biographical Note

Peter is a geologist with some 40 years experience in the oil industry. He is spokesperson for the Cape to Cape Alliance, an environmental group in the south-west of the state. His main interest in the environment has been the economics of logging native forests. Peter has recently published the book "Geology of Western Australia's National Parks".

Dr Rebecca Letcher

Title: Water and the Coast

Abstract

Australia’s coastline is under pressure - changing lifestyles mean we all want to move to the coast. What does this mean for our coastal lakes and estuaries? How are these pressures mixing with already existing uses such as agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, and recreation? What’s being done to alleviate the pressure? This presentation will look at water and the coast, considering the values we place on water in this setting, some of the pressures we are facing and actions being taken to try to reduce the impacts of these pressures. The complex trade-offs involved in managing these highly valued systems will also be demonstrated.

Biographical Note

Rebecca Letcher is a Fellow with the Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management (iCAM) Centre in the Fenner School for Environment and Society at the ANU. Her research interests relate to the development of approaches for integrated assessment of natural resource management issues (mainly water related). This includes development of integrated modelling approaches and frameworks, development and application of participatory approaches in modelling, and the design of decision support systems. Most recently she has been involved in the development of the Coastal Lake Assessment and Management (CLAM) tool, used by the NSW Government to undertake Sustainability Assessments for its coastal lakes. She has also developed decision support systems for considering water allocation issues and is currently working on a DSS to support development of a Water Quality Improvement Plan for the Great Lakes System as part of the federally funded Comprehensive Coastal Initiative (CCI).

Emeritus Professor Tom McMahon

Title of Talk: Australian rivers: variability and environmental flows

Abstract

One of the most important parameters in the study of surface hydrology is the variability of streamflow. It has major implications for the amount of water that is available for consumptive and non-consumptive use by humans, and is a key driver of healthy water ecosystems. This paper compares the variability of tropical, temperate and arid Australian rivers with rivers in equivalent climates world-wide. Typically, the annual coefficients of variation of annual flows (Cv) in Australia are about double the Cvs elsewhere (excluding southern Africa). This effect is partly explained by the difference in vegetation characteristics across the world and, secondly, as a result of the higher rainfall variability in some parts of Australia compared with overseas. Other causes of streamflow variability including land use change, river regulation and inter-basin water transfers are discussed. In the paper the impact of relatively high streamflow variability is discussed with reference to reservoir yield, and the severity of low flows on aquatic ecosystems. Finally, several issues including the definition of natural flows as used in environmental flow assessments, and climate change, are also discussed.

Biographical Note

After graduating in agricultural engineering and working for 7 years with a private research foundation, in 1967 Tom McMahon began his academic career joining the Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University. In addition to teaching in hydrology and water resources engineering, his research interests covered flood, low flow and stochastic hydrology. In 1980, Tom was appointed as Professor of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Melbourne and in 1992 as Professor of Environmental Hydrology. In 1981 he received a Doctorate of Engineering and in 1986 he was appointed a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Tom McMahon has been active in many areas of research including most areas of hydrology, reservoir storage-yield analysis, stochastic hydrology, global hydrology, water resources management and irrigation technology. In addition, he has supervised research students in the area of irrigation management, exchange rate in irrigation, the impact of environmental flows on availability of irrigation water, and atmospheric computer modelling. He has supervised more than 75 research Masters and PhDs, co-authored 9 books and 500 articles and reports (70% refereed) mainly in hydrology and water resources. He has been active in consulting both nationally and internationally. During his career, he was Co-director of the Centre for Environmental Applied Hydrology, Deputy Director of the CRC for Catchment Hydrology, served on the Council of the University of Melbourne, and as the Head of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since retirement, Tom continues an active research program in global hydrology and supervises several PhD students.

Dr Bear McPhail

Title: Water Resources in Australia: A Geological Perspective

Abstract

Australia is the driest continent on Earth, and subsequently water resources are scarce relative to many other countries. In addition, rainfall and drought are extremely variable in space and time, making it difficult to manage our water resources effectively. Although water resources in Australia are abundant in some areas, e.g., in the north of the continent, those are in sparsely populated regions. On a global scale, by far most of the water on Earth is in the oceans, i.e., greater than 96%, but after the ice caps, groundwater is the most abundant source of water in the world. Groundwater provides an existing or potentially important source of water in Australia, although its quality varies from fresh and potable to brackish to brine. There are a number of basins that contain already exploited or potential groundwater resources. For example, the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) underlies arid and semi-arid regions that cover approximately 1.7 million km² (about 1/5 of Australia) and contains shallower and deeper aquifers up to 3 km deep, some of which have been exploited for more than 120 years. Groundwater in GAB aquifers is recharged on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the north-eastern part of the continent, up to 1000 km from where groundwater is used in the southwest of the basin. Isotope data indicate that groundwater in the deeper part of the GAB is more than 1 million years old. Other examples include the Officer and Canning Basins of Western Australia where there are potentially substantial groundwater resources; however, the extent of those resources is not well understood, nor are their age and recharge characteristics. In addition to the resources available in basins, groundwater plays a vital role in supplying water flows in rivers and lakes, as well as affecting water quality in surface water, through groundwater-surface water interaction. This is important for both natural and human-impacted environments, e.g., saline lakes and salinity problems in areas such as Victoria and Western Australia. In order to use our groundwater, and surface water, resources wisely we need to recognise and understand the large spatial scales, the range of shallow to deep aquifers, and long time scales involved in groundwater systems. This in turn requires understanding the oftentimes complex geology, hydrogeology and geochemistry/water quality to underpin the development of effective management strategies of Australia’s water resources.

Biographical Note

Dr. D.C. "Bear" McPhail is currently a Reader and Head of the Department of Earth and Marine Sciences at the Australian National University. He also sits on the executive of the Cooperative Research Centre for Landscape Environments and Mineral Exploration (CRC LEME) and the Steering Committee of the ANU Water Initiative. His expertise includes the natural science fields of aqueous geochemistry, groundwater and regolith geoscience, with applications in mineral exploration and environmental issues such as salinity and acid sulfate soils.

Professor Paul Perkins AM

Title: Water reform in the Urban Sector

Abstract

The Australian urban water sector is currently engaged in an unprecedented level of institutional reform and infrastructure construction as cities attempt to address severe shortages due to wasteful over-use, drought, and a generation of under-investment.

The paper considers the typical portfolio of initiatives from policy reform and pricing, water recycling, demand management, new storages and desalination. Experiences of major cities are discussed with special emphasis on indirect potable reuse at the municipal scale (Toowoomba, Brisbane and Canberra) and industrial and domestic scale non-potable re-use.

Biographical Note

Adjunct Professor Paul Perkins is with the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU. He was the chairman of the Australian Science Festival (1997 to 2003).

He is presently chairman of the National Environmental Education Council and the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Environmental Remediation (CRC CARE) and deputy chairman of Perpetual Water Pty Ltd, a water recycling technology start-up. He is a member of the Australian Government’s Business Roundtable on Sustainable Development and the Rosenberg International Water Policy Advisory Board.

He is a widely published commentator on the environment, public sector reform and industry development and is the author of "The Australian Water Industry Roadmap" (2005).

He was CEO of ACTEW (2000-2003), a unique government-owned holding company which operates electricity, gas, water, sewerage and broadband telecommunications operations through ActewAGL, Australia’s first equity-based public-private partnership multi-utility.

He was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2005 for contributions to public sector reform, environment and export development.

John Reid

Title: Water and the Creative Arts

Abstract

Artists on the Podium: Artists and performers propose that water matters in their chosen medium of aesthetic expression.

Presenters will be John Reid, Visual Arts: Geoff Borny, Theatre: Angela Giblin, Singer: Giles Pickford, Poetry. All are members of the ANU.

Lord Selborne KBE FRS

Title: Keynote Address: British Water Reform: Lessons for, and from, Australia

Abstract

South-East England has a reputation for grey skies and constant rain, yet faces a crisis in its water supply. In 2006 water management became a national concern with public outrage at hose pipe bans, drought orders and other restrictive measures.

The British public is used to an un-metered, low priced water supply and expects the water industry provide water without restrictions. The reality of a heritage of thirty years underinvestment in water infrastructure, a bungled privatisation of water supplies and a failure to plan adequately for the water requirements for the new housing in South East England has led to a wake-up call.

The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology visited Sydney and Melbourne in January 2006 when conducting an inquiry into UK Water Management to compare the response in Australia to a six year national drought in a hotter climate with the UK's record.

We reported that the Australian public have a much greater understanding of the need for severe water restrictions than the British public, yet water use in the home is much greater than in the UK – around double the UK's 160 litres per person per day. This can largely be accounted for by a far greater use of water outside.

In Australia water saving measures such as tough regulations on sustainability and water use in new homes are more advanced. Measures besides compulsory installation of rainwater tanks included replacement of top-loading washing machines and low water use fittings such as aspirated taps and restricted flow shower heads.

Both the UK and Australia take a 'near-zero' risk approach in the provision of water reuse. There is abundant available technology for reusing rain water, waste water, and sewage but public perception has limited the application of this technology for potable supplies. In the UK using rivers that have received effluent from waste water treatment plants as the source of potable supplies is common, yet the public will not accept waste water direct from the treatment plant. In Australia there is much greater resistance to recycling water for drinking ( see experience of Toowoomba referendum).

Practice in the UK is behind that of Australia in aquifer storage and recovery, and rainwater harvesting. If the UK is to make better use of this technology it needs to put in place appropriate policy and fiscal incentives that will drive water conservation at both a local, domestic level and at catchment-wide level.

In the UK public support for water saving measures is limited by a perception that the water shortage is due to unacceptable levels of water leakage (Thames Water leakage is over 30%), excessive profits of water companies and a failure of various regulatory authorities to co-ordinate their activities. Only an agreed basis for long term planning with transparent, agreed methodology on demand forecasts and supply management will lead to wider acceptance of the need for new reservoirs, water transfer systems and even desalination plants. Our report returns time and again to what we saw as a lack of an agreed methodology for forecasting demand.

The UK has seen a decline in industrial and agricultural use of water which has helped to meet the increased demand for domestic water. In Australia there appears to be a cultural barrier to challenging existing agricultural water rights or to reviewing national priorities for water use. As a British farmer I am impressed by the ability of Australian farmers to hold on to such a high proportion of the nation's water resources. 70% of all water use in Australia is for irrigation yet as much as half of this appears to be wasted.

However Australia's National Water Initiative managed by the National Water Commission has the potential to drive national water reform. The UK should set up a similar overarching Commission.

Biographical Note

Lord Selborne is a member and a past chairman of the United Kingdom's House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and chaired an inquiry on UK Water Management which reported in June 2006. He also chairs the Foundation for Science and Technology, The Royal Society's Science in Society Consultative Group and the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has previously served as Chancellor of the University of Southampton, President of the Royal Geographical Society, Chairman of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Chairman of the Agricultural and Food Research Council.

Will Steffen

Title: Climate Change and Water Resources: Are We Getting Wetter or Drier?

Abstract

The lingering drought in eastern Australia has focused attention on the long-term security of water resources, both for agriculture and for urban needs. The demand for environmental flows adds another layer of complexity to the water equation. As the drought persists, more questions are raised about the potential links between drought and climate change. This talk will address the drought-climate change connection. It will examine the 50-year drying trend in eastern Australia from the perspective of both natural variability and climate change. The talk will also comment on such issues as the relationship between rising temperatures and actual evaporation, as well as on the prospects of a wetter or a drier climate for the next 50 or 100 years.

Biographical Note

Professor Will Steffen is the Director of the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, and a Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the Australian National University.

Dingle Smith

Title: How we got where we are?

Abstract

The pattern of water use in Australia is the outcome of environmental history. As such it reflects the nature of the resource and the socio-economic factors surrounding its development. As a national we are well-endowed with water but the variability, spatially and temporally, is extreme. This challenge led to an ever-growing infrastructure culminating in the massive post-World War 2 mega-projects undertaken by State and federal governments. Water is a renewable resource but the last twenty years have brought the realisation that for many regions the resource development is close to capacity. The resource stays constant but technology, values and institutions change. `How we got where we are’ looks at the past and the need for changes in approach.

Biographical Note

In 1976 Dingle was a founder member of the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, the forerunner of the Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU. A life-long academic his interest in water research commenced with glaciology in the Canadian arctic, progressed to limestone hydrology in Jamaica and from the late 1970s until retirement focussed on water resources in Australia. Author of `Water in Australia: Resource and Management’ (OUP).

Professor Patrick Troy AO

Title: Behavioural and Attitudinal Aspects of Water Consumption in Sydney

Abstract

For the past two centuries Sydney has pursued a 'predict and provide' approach to the supply of water in Sydney - especially for its domestic consumption.

Over the last century water consumption has increased due in part to the massive increase in population but also due to the trebling of per capita consumption. The present 'crisis' and the engineering solutions proposed to solve it spring from a moral panic rather than a cool analysis of the drivers of demand. A re-examination of the approach taken by water authorities to the demand for water for potable water, for the water used for leisure and pleasure and for sanitation services is long over due but the path dependency caused by past investment in various water based services is hampering pursuit of sustainable water service provision.

Biographical Note

Patrick is Emeritus Professor and Visiting Fellow in the Fenner School at the ANU. He is working to establish energy and water consumption profiles in Australian cities. His most recent work includes studies of water consumption in Adelaide where he carried out a pilot study; in Sydney where he explored the water consumption of 28,000 households; and in Canberra where he explored the water consumption of 18,000 households.

Dr Alistair Watson

Title: The Flawed History of Irrigation in Australia: Faltering Attempts at Reform

Abstract

Several scholars (Campbell, Davidson, Musgrave, Powell, Randall) have provided a damaging critique of the history of irrigation in Australia illuminating the underlying unsuitability of large-scale irrigation to local conditions. Their analysis revealed a disjunction between political enthusiasm for irrigation and the actual physical, climatic and economic circumstances confronting Australian agriculture that informed academic commentary and mainstream public service advice. The views of these critics were confirmed when irrigation reached its economic and technical limits by the mid-1980s. Environmental damage from irrigation became a major public concern. A comprehensive program of water reform was initiated in the early 1990s. The paper discusses the major features of those reforms; some successes and failures. It turns out that many mistakes of the past are being repeated in different guise. Romanticism about water in Australia and political opportunism still compromise genuine progress in water reform.

Biographical Note

Alistair Watson is a freelance agricultural economist based in Melbourne. Previously, he was Chief Research Economist of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Economics in the School of Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Melbourne.

PUBLIC FORUM

Held at 5.00 – 7.00 pm on Saturday 25 August in the Shine Dome, Academy of Science

Sing Australia presented three water pieces by Sirocco as a cultural event (15 Minutes)

Moderator: Alex Sloan, ABC Radio, Canberra

Paul Perkins AM, ANU Water Initiative

Wendy Craik AM, Murray Darling Basin Commission

Gary Jones, E-Water, University of Canberra

Janet Lindesay, ANU College of Science

Rebecca Letcher, ANU College of Science