Water Reform Needs to Be Back on the National Agenda

摘要

Our national water research effort is fragmented, non-strategic and lacks leadership. Stimulated by the millennium drought, Australia made great progress over the early years of this century in reforming and improving the way we manage our precious national water resources. That reform progress has now ground to a halt. Because the seasons in most areas of Australia have been much better, the attention of governments has shifted to other policy problems. But in Australia, the next drought is never far away and much remains to be done to manage our water resources better. The governments of Australia need to work together to develop a new decadal strategy to tackle the next generation of water reforms. The Commonwealth and state governments need to rebuild national collaborative processes, institutions and incentives to restore momentum to the water reform process.