Acting Chair of the National Water Commission Stuart Bunn has released a position statement calling for Australia to draw on its experience and knowledge to protect and sustain the unique water resources in the north.

 

The Commission’s position statement outlines five principles to support the sustainable management of water resources as this important region develops.

 

The Commission encourages the three northern jurisdictions and the Australian Government to apply the following principles and actions to water resource management in northern Australia as a priority:

  1. Fully adopt and implement the National Water Initiative (NWI) water reform framework. The NWI provides the right framework for developing and managing water resources and is equally applicable to northern Australia as it is other regions. Failure to adopt the NWI in full can create risks and limit opportunities. The NWI enables greater regulatory certainty and confidence for water related investment decisions, provides a community-wide, transparent and robust process for water planning decisions, and allows for adaptive management of water resources as new knowledge comes to hand.
  • Enactment of NWI-consistent legislation should be a priority in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
  • Leadership is required in all jurisdictions to maintain resourcing over the long life of the reform process and to stand firm in the face of short-term challenges to reform actions.
  1. Undertake transparent and inclusive water planning as an essential prerequisite to effective water management. Settling tradeoffs between competing outcomes for ground and surface water systems involves judgements informed by best available science, socio-economic analysis and community input. Water planning and management needs to consider broader natural resource management planning initiatives and be inclusive of all stakeholders, including Indigenous communities.
  • Manage water resources in a manner that balances environmental and cultural water requirements with development aspirations. Water planning and allocation decisions should take into account all water uses and balance economic, social, cultural and environmental considerations.
  • High conservation value systems should be recognised through NWI-consistent transparent planning processes.
  • Mining activities should be incorporated into state and territory water planning and management regimes from their inception.
  1. Develop an informed and shared understanding of northern Australia’s unique water resources based on robust science and socio-economic information. After a decade of significant investment to deepen the knowledge base of northern Australia for water planning and management, governments now have a greater understanding of the relationships between the ecological systems and hydrological regimes, how they interact with socio-cultural and economic factors, and how these would be impacted by water resource development. This has had an impact on the development of water policy, such as the establishment of Strategic Indigenous Reserves, the use of decision support tools for determining sustainable extraction regimes and for engagement of stakeholders in water planning.
  • As stewards of Australia’s water resources, governments need to continue to invest in science and monitoring so that decisions about development and management of water resources are well informed and stand up to scrutiny.
  • The improved knowledge of the interrelationship of northern Australia’s hydrological and ecological systems should be used to build public understanding of the nature and characteristics of northern Australia’s water resources, especially the monsoonal weather patterns and low relief landscape.
  1. Recognise Indigenous interests in water planning and management. The NWI requires that Indigenous interests and aspirations be factored into water planning; all the more important in northern Australia where Indigenous Australians make up a large percentage of the population and are significant landholders.
  • The Commission supports efforts in the Northern Territory and Queensland to provide specific water allocations to Indigenous people. Access to water is an important mechanism for enabling Indigenous communities to achieve economic development and as such should be considered a legitimate strategy contributing to the ‘Closing the Gap’ agenda.
  • Continued effort to build Indigenous community capacity to participate in water planning is necessary and could, in part, be achieved by utilising existing resources such as the expanding Indigenous community ranger network.
  1. Strengthen cross-jurisdictional institutions and forums across the north to support efficient and effective water management and planning. The establishment of the Northern Australian Ministerial Forum represents an important mechanism for Australia’s northern jurisdictions to collaborate and coordinate their activities. The Indigenous Water Policy Group (IWPG), facilitated by the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), is a good example of a mechanism to coordinate the effective engagement of Indigenous people across northern Australia.

 

Stuart Bunn said, ‘Because the diverse hydrological and ecological systems in our north differ so much from other systems, development in northern Australia presents inevitable challenges for water management.

 

‘We now have a historic opportunity to make sure that these largely undeveloped water systems support productive and healthy ecosystems, vibrant communities and rich Indigenous cultures.’

 

Stuart Bunn explained, ‘Transparent and inclusive water planning that balances development aspirations with environmental and cultural water requirements will be critical to building community confidence in decisions about how we share resources.

 

‘Achieving this will require an informed and shared understanding of northern Australia’s water resources based on robust science and socio-economic information.

 

‘The Commission is encouraged that progress is being made in achieving Indigenous access to water through cultural flows and water for economic purposes.  It is vital that Indigenous interests in water planning and management continue to advance and are properly recognised.’

 

Through strategic investments and partnerships such as the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Research Hub, the Commission has worked to improve understanding of the area’s hydrology, river ecology and water-dependent ecosystems.

 

Recognising that the National Water Initiative (NWI) provides the right framework for managing water resources and is equally applicable to northern Australia, the Commission calls for NWI-consistent water legislation to be enacted in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. 

 

Stuart Bunn added, ‘We also acknowledge the importance of collaboration across governments and welcome the establishment of the Northern Australian Ministerial Forum.

 

‘The Commission believes that Northern Australia’s water resources can be developed in an culturally, socially, ecologically and economically sustainable way by pursuing these principles and associated actions.’

 

The Position Statement is available on the Commission’s website at www.nwc.gov.au