Climate change to be key focus in National Water Initiative overhaul

A trigger to “rebalance” consumptive and environmental water use are among the recommendations in a draft report today that could change the face of Australia’s water management.

Governments will have to give greater focus to climate change when managing water resources, the Productivity Commission warns.

CLIMATE change must become a key consideration in Australia’s national water policy if it is to meet the nation’s needs in the face of drier conditions and longer droughts, the Productivity Commission is warning.

A draft report by the commission, released today, is calling for an overhaul of the National Water Initiative, which could include introducing triggers for “rebalancing” the split of consumptive and environmental water allocations as the climate changes.

Commissioner Jane Doolan said the current NWI – which governs how state and federal governments manage water efficiency and resources – has served its purpose well, but was now 17 years old and had reached its use-by date.

“Given our future pressures, namely climate change and population growth, it’s going to struggle to provide good guidance in the future – it needs to be renewed and refocused,” she said.

“All the projections suggest more frequent, more severe droughts and a likely drier climate. Parcel that on top of the recent experiences of the millennium drought and the most recent drought, and the last 20 years have been significantly drier.”

The Productivity Commission advises that a new NWI must have climate change adaptation as a major theme, and that should be considered in terms of natural resource management, environmental management and urban water management.

Among the specific areas the commission wants feedback on is how and when shares of consumptive and environmental water should be rebalanced due to climate change.

Dr Doolan said planning for how to manange water when conditions were at their worst was essential but had been lacking in the past.

In highly allocated systems, triggers for rebalancing could include tracking the long-term conditions or building in requirements for regular assessments.

“It’s a pretty fundamental question of how we should take climate change into account,” Dr Doolan said.

“When we’re in rebalancing mode, the consumptive and environmental objectives need to be reviewed, they can’t stay the same.”

Other major recommendations include strengthening the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in water management, and more rigorous examination of how federal governments invest in water infrastructure.

Dr Doolan said spending in the past, such as with the Government’s National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, had not been transparent, with many of the funded projects not representing value for money. Submissions on the draft report are now open.

The commission will be also be holding a series of virtual public hearings at the end of March. More information can be found at the Productivity Commission website.

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