Risk of future reduction in water availability from the consumptive pool: Current issues and approaches in New South Wales

摘要

There has been much recent regulatory activity in the water sector in New South Wales, including an Intergovernmental Agreement on the National Water Initiative, significant changes to the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW), a State Water Management Outcomes Plan as well as new Water Sharing Plans. A key objective of this regulatory activity has been to encourage sustainable usage of available water. Environmental, economic, social and community interests must all be balanced when allocating water between users. However, changes in climate, scientific knowledge, and user demands - as well as political and legislative change over time - all contribute to making this a difficult balance to achieve in practice. Potential consequences of these "risk factors" include the scaling back, or even cancellation, of existing water access entitlements at some point in the future. This article examines these risk factors in the context of the current water management regime in New South Wales and then considers the concept of "risk sharing" between entitlement holders and government, including the "workability" of the risk sharing model proposed in the Intergovernmental Agreement.