Implementing The National Water Initiative - A Generic Set Of Arrangements For Managing Interests In Water

Water resources law has been continuously reformed over recent years in Australia to achieve the sustainable use and development of water resources. This is an ongoing activity. The most recent statement of policy has been the Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative of 2004. This seeks a nationally – compatible, market, regulatory and planning based system of managing surface and ground water resources for rural and urban use that optimises economic, social and environmental outcomes. To make such a system effective requires a fundamental change in legal doctrine. This publication suggests a set of arrangements for managing interests in water directed at the implementation of this policy