Groundwater governance regimes in Australia - how to achieve multiple objectives in complex socio ecological systems-les

1. Groundwater governance regimes in Australia - how to achieve multiple objectives in complex socio ecological systems-lessons for India and PakistanProfessor Jennifer McKay Senior fellows program Australia Nov06-March 07

2. Groundwater governance in South Australia PREPARED BY: Writing and Summary workshop 27-30 March 2007, New Delhi Groundwater governance in Asia in theory and practice-training and research program. SPONSORED BY: IWMI, Groundwater governance in Asia, CGIAR Challenge Program on Water ,Food and Environment.

3. Acknowledgements Dr Villholth, Dr B Sharma, Mark Gordiano, Dr Sabatier. University of SA especially Adam Gray, Ganesh Keremane and Prof Atique Islam DLWBC John Bourne, Steve Barnett and Dr John Radcliffe SA NWI COMMISSIONER, National Groundwater School SA Senior fellows Dr Dutta and Professors Sudan and Lashari. RV Rama Mohan and Aamir Nazear

4. Groundwater management Best practice scheme has these elements 1 conjunctive with surface water, 2 has a licensing systems for users through State or Crown ownership or another mechanism, 3 sets SAFE YIELD and regulates allocation and use

5. Commons poem They hang the man and flog the woman That steal the goose from off the common, But let the greater villain loose That steals the common from the goose. English folk poem, circa 1764

6. Plan of this talk 1. Australian methods to achieve Best Practice model as above details about Share of Consumptive pool allocation and use model being implemented in all States in next 3 years. Background on area conversion and volumetric approaches. Golden opportunity for Senior fellows to monitor this roll out and the social problems. Learn form our mistakes.

7. Plan of this talk cont… 2. Lessons for India 3. Lessons for Pakistan 4. Dr Peck and I have a proposal for a legal aspects senior fellows program 5. Support for Dr Dutta to pursue the Groundwater data infrastructure plan 6. Dr Sudan to set up NGO and 7. Dr Lashari to work on volumetric conversion

8. Surface and groundwater irrigation

9. Great Artesian basin

10. Declarations of drought

11. Complex socio-ecological systems The issue for all water management is how to create sustainable socio- ecological systems. the dimensions of these systems vary in place and time as we have heard from the junior fellows and the Senior fellows from this program.

12. Framework

13. Dethridge wheels Equivalent of Persian wheels

14. Modern total channel control Solar powered flume gates, NSW

15. Modern total channel control

16. Water law in Australia State has power and replaced the common law riparian rule and groundwater ownership rule( land owner owns water and can use all he likes) with licensing system soon as agriculture provoked conflict Commonwealth through funding has EXERTED of influence ie CoAG in 1994 and NWI in 2004. NWI has 80 objectives one of these is Consumptive share approach to replace area irrigation allowances and volumetric allocation.

17. Land and water nexus OWNERSHIP OF WATER Australia moved from riparian system to licensing system area based to volumetric to now % of consumptive pool. over use and over allocation a problem especially under riparian greed but under licensing system as poor hydrological info

18. Land and water ownership land and water not tied together anymore since 1994 which has created flexibility and retirement of some land from irrigation. Facilitated water markets and revisions of water allocation amounts objective is to achieve ESD use so environmental allocations worked out first and the remaining water is the consumptive pool.

19. Institutions, organisations and laws

20. Share of consumptive pool New concept under NWI but foreshadowed in 1994 reforms

21. Share of consumptive pool This will reduce water use as growers will only get a % of the permissible annual volume PAV allowed from a GW or SW source. PAV set by State Governments and part of water plan. The amount of water is not fixed as before but will vary annually.

22. Ground water used instead of surface

23. Other aspects of NWI A common lexicon for water terms in the State acts. more data sharing and common platforms between the States.

24. The Labour in Carrying Water

25. Australia India and Pakistan GW

26. Australia, India Pakistan GW

27. Australia, India and Pakistan GW

28. Australia, India Pakistan GW

29. Lessons Need an allocation system for water separate from land. Need to encourage more Group sharing of GW wells. Need to get the data to work out the PAV and educate growers about the need to preserve the resource ie safe yield

30. Lessons need to separate land and water but be careful to regulate water monopolists through law need to get the States and Provinces to have uniform laws need to have external dispute resolution means see Halanaik and Mckay on Meshana.

31. Thank you Thank you for the opportunity to work with the fellows and IWMI persons and Prof Peck. There will be long term impacts of the Program and it will be important to keep in touch Prof Sudan has a mechanism for this.