Improving the legislative basis for river restoration and management in Australia

Citation

Land & Water Australia. 2009. Improving the legislative basis for river restoration and management in Australia. [Online] (Updated July 30th, 2009)
Available at: http://lwa.gov.au/node/3623 [Accessed Tuesday 26th of April 2011 07:24:58 PM ].

The report reviews developments to April 2001 in Australian water resource law and in stakeholders’ experiences. It analyses legislation through eight ‘indicatory topics’ and through questionnaires, interviews and workshops, in four voluntarily-participating States: South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. It proposes a Model Legislative Framework to guide development of water resource law in moving towards sustainable rivers. It calls for a catchment agency to manage all impacts on rivers and catchment strategic plans to override conflicting mechanisms. The Framework is based on processes for good governance and systems management, with the onus on stakeholders to develop and deliver sustainable management as the way to ensure sound economies based around river and water resource use.