Managing Water for Australia: The Social and Institutional Challenges

Australian water policy and management are undergoing rapid and immense change in response to drought, technological advances, climate change and demographic and economic shifts. The National Water Initiative and the 2007 Australian Government water policy statements propose a fundamental shift in how Australians will use and manage water in the future.

The implementation of the national water policy presents many challenges–the creation of water rights and markets, comprehensive water planning, new legislative settings, community participation in water management, linking urban and rural water management, and more.

Managing Water for Australia brings together leading social sciences researchers and practitioners to identify the major challenges in achieving sustainable water management, to consolidate current knowledge, and to explore knowledge gaps in and opportunities for furthering water reform.The book features a strong and constructive focus on the reform agenda for water policy; offers a substantial, rigorous and highly topical contribution of knowledge to Australia’s water resource management capacities; and brings together a range of specialists from the social science disciplines, including political scientists, economists, sociologists and legal scholars.

Contributors include: Kathleen Bowmer, Serena Chen, Daniel Connell, Stephen Dovers, Douglas E Fisher, Alex Gardner, Geraldine Gentle, R. Quentin Grafton, Steve Hatfield-Dodds, Karen Hussey, Sue Jackson, Tony Jakeman, Rebecca Letcher, Joe Morrison, Chris Olszak, Deborah Peterson, Lisa Robins, Kate Stoeckel, Geoff Syme and Mike Young.