The way forward: Continuing policy and management reforms in the Murray–Darling Basin

Hart, Barry T.; Alexandra, Jason; Bond, Nick; Byron, Neil; Marsh, Rod; Pollino, Carmel; Stewardson, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-818152-2.00019-x

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 54 publications

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“…The Murray-Darling Basin (the Basin) in Australia is a leading example of this dilemma. Water policies in the Basin have been of wide international interest because they are highly sophisticated, and because they went through a major transformation around a decade ago, returning a significant proportion of consumed water to the environment [8,9]. Both the sophisticated management and transformation have been cited as good adaptations to future climate change [10][11][12], although others claim that they are insufficient [13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Prosser

Chiew

Smith

2021

Water

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Climate change is threatening water security in water-scarce regions across the world, challenging water management policy in terms of how best to adapt. Transformative new approaches have been proposed, but management policies remain largely the same in many instances, and there are claims that good current management practice is well adapted. This paper takes the case of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia, where management policies are highly sophisticated and have been through a recent transformation in order to critically review how well adapted the basin’s management is to climate change. This paper synthesizes published data, recent literature, and water plans in order to evaluate the outcomes of water management policy. It identifies several limitations and inequities that could emerge in the context of climate change and, through synthesis of the broader climate adaptation literature, proposes solutions that can be implemented when basin management is formally reviewed in 2026.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Prosser

Chiew

Smith

2021

Water

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How the Resist-Accept-Direct framework is being used by communities for socio-economic climate adaptation: a case study in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin

Olsson,

Wyborn,

van Kerkhoff

2024

Reg Environ Change

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Globally, water governance struggles to reconcile increased demands on water resources with climate change–induced reductions in supply, making climate adaptation in water governance a pressing concern. The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework has emerged as a climate adaptation tool designed to help make adaptation decisions. However, there is limited understanding of social and political factors, which are critical in driving RAD decisions. This paper explores how communities are employing RAD to make climate adaptation decisions, using a case study of the Goulburn-Murray Resilience Strategy (the Strategy); a community-led strategy that uses a version of the RAD framework to build regional resilience in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District (GMID) in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The Strategy focuses on building socio-economic, rather than ecological, resilience, making this research a valuable contribution to RAD literature. To apply the RAD framework to socio-economic adaptation, we adapted the framework to include IPCC language around incremental, transformational, planned, and autonomous adaptation. With the GMID considered a leader of resilience thinking in Australia, the Strategy may help decision-makers address water overallocation and contested governance in the MDB, and provide lessons for water governance globally. Data analysed from 20 semi-structured interviews with people involved with the Strategy revealed two main findings: (1) Communities and governments prioritise different actions under the RAD framework. Governments, particularly at the state level, preference incremental planned adaptation to maintain the status quo (resist), over incremental autonomous adaptation to changing conditions (accept), and transformational planned adaptation at various scales (direct). (2) Community and government actors perceive that factors driving governments’ preference for incremental-resist adaptation include electoral short-termism, linear planning, and conservative government culture.

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Community-Centred Environmental Discourse: Redefining Water Management in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

Shankland

2024

J Agric Environ Ethics

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The way forward: Continuing policy and management reforms in the Murray–Darling Basin

Cited by 6 publications

References 54 publications

Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

How the Resist-Accept-Direct framework is being used by communities for socio-economic climate adaptation: a case study in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin

Community-Centred Environmental Discourse: Redefining Water Management in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

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