The Australian Murray-Darling Basin Plan: factors leading to its successful development

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• 作者：Barry T. Hart^a ; ^b ; ^{barry.hart@waterscience.com.au}
• 关键词：Murray-Darling Basin Plan ; Australia ; Water reform ; Sustainable diversion limits ; Water recovery ; Government investment
• 刊名：Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：November 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：16
• 期：4
• 页码：229-241
• 全文大小：724 K
• 卷排序：16

文摘

Australia, like many countries, is experiencing water security issues. These became critical during the recent ‘Millennium’ drought (1997–2010), and are likely to increase with the future impacts of climate change. Despite the water reforms that have been occurring over the past 20–30 years, the drought brought to a head the over-allocation of water in the important Murray-Darling Basin and the degradation of the basin's water-related ecosystems due to the lack of environmental water. This resulted in the Australian parliament enacting a new Water Act in 2007 that required (amongst other things) the development and implementation of an integrated water resources plan for the Murray-Darling Basin (Basin Plan).This paper discusses the key elements of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, enacted in November 2012, including: the need for the plan; the development of an ecologically sustainable level of take (ESLT); the establishment of long-term sustainable diversion limits (SDL) based on the ESLTs; a water quality and salinity management plan; new water trading rules; and the development of a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to provide evidence that the Basin Plan is achieving its aims, and to provide additional knowledge to underpin the adaptive management of the plan so it maintains its relevance into the future.The paper also provides a perspective on the key success factors that lead to the success of this major water reform, and some of the lessons from the process that may be of relevance to other countries undertaking water reforms.