Impact of Water Act 2007 on Murray-Darling Basin

This essay analyses the impact of Water Act 2007 on Murray-Darling Basin and its influence on social, economic and environmental aspects. It also discusses the current plan and suggests recommendations for improvement.

Running head: WATER LAW
Revisiting Murray Darling basin
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction
The improvisation and imposition of the Water Act 2007 has helped in the
formulation of the Murray –Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), which has helped the
Australian government to plan steps for improving Water Information Programme (Sennett et
al. 2014). The chief constituents of the Act are based on the development management of
the Murray-Darling Basin in a sustainable manner. The Bureau has taken steps to work with
the data collectors and stakeholders in Australia for consulting varied accounting standards,
data collection, and the like to facilitate the proper functioning of the hydrological monitoring
systems. In 2008, the Australian government planned to undertake an investment of $450
million for the undertaking the improvement initiative (Bom.gov.au 2018).
The water of the basin is an attraction for the Europeans in terms of settlement. The
government planned to create dams for capturing the waters from the upper catchment areas.
Regulation of the water flow enhanced the awareness regarding the meeting the demands
(Skinner and Langford 2013). Differing from the natural flow patterns compelled the
scientists to think about sustainable water developments. Herein lays the appropriateness of
the policies, which reduced the pressure of the river system. Consideration of the issues like
population growth, emerging agricultural industries, droughts and floods, proved beneficial in
terms of catering to the socio-economic needs for water. Incorporation of the modern fabric
within the policies and procedures reflect the attempt towards preserving the traditions and
cultural heritage. In this regard, the purpose of this essay is to figure out the impact of the
Water Act of 2007 on the Murray-Darling Basin and the way it influences the social,
economic and environmental aspects in that region. As a matter of fact, the report is also
going to analyse the current plan to understand whether the current plan is right or it requires
some changes.

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Legal compliances towards water
The government ensures that every citizen gets access to the natural resources for the
fulfilment of their basic needs. For this, specific laws have been introduced. Typical example
of this is the Environmental Protection Act, Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act
among others. In this context, the purpose of the Water Act is coincided with the National
Water reform agenda of the Australian government. As far as the National Water Reform
Program is concerned the Australian government puts emphasis on enhancing the water
market, reducing over allocation of water especially in the Murray-Darling Basin and also the
environmental sustainability (Skinner and Langford 2013). Therefore, this section would
focus on Water Act (2007) in terms of balancing the social, economic and environment
interests of the society.
Water Act
Due to the enactment of the Water Act of 2007 the Bureau of Meteorology got the
power to implement plan in order to safeguard the water resource in the Murray Darling
Basin. As per the government website, the Water Act encompasses a great deal of emphasis
on improving the water standards. In respect to this, the bureau is entitled to collect, generate
and interpret the water information of the Murray Darling Basin. Besides this, conducting
regular assessments are also a part of the planning of the bureau. The next step is associated
with publishing the annual National Water account and providing forecasts regarding the
report. In addition to this, suggestions and recommendations regarding the condition of the
water resource in the Murray Darling Basin is also incorporated into the activity of the Water
Act (Ren and Kingsford 2011).
In this regard, the Water Act highlights a blueprint for the planning of the Murray
Darling Basin. There are some recommendations the Australian government must possess in

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order to implement the Murray Darling Basin plan successfully. Therefore, the
recommendations are limited water resources, enactment of water conservation regulation;
increase the flow in the Murray Darling Basin, water allocation transfers and holdbacks.
Murray Darling Basin Agreement
This agreement forms the first schedule of Water Act. The purpose of this agreement
is to promote sustainable, equitable and efficient use of water and other resources provided
by the Murray Darling basin. The Ministerial Council takes the initiatives to amend the
agreement as per the needs, demands and requirements. Mention can be made of schedules G
and H, which aimed to reduce the issues of drought (Rao, Tanton and Vidyattama 2015).
Backlash in the basin
Frustrated irrigators of Griffith, North South Wales intended to set fire to the
document, which they thought to be the plan for their destruction. They exposed their
frustration by shouting slogans. The organization in charge was against the current way of
business, which resulted in inadequate access of water around the areas (Qaiser et al. 2013).
Hot topics were discussed by the media, which snatched away the daily bread from the
common people. The agitated farmers were determined to get justice. Awareness of the
environmental changes reflect the concerns towards preservation of the environmental
diversity. The opposing comments brought fissures in the alliance between the Federal
government and the Murray Darling Authority (Kirby et al. 2013).
Declarations regarding producing the solution in 12 months’ time reflect the decision
regarding the recipients and the quantity of water. The emergence of a solution is unlikely
until and unless the government undertakes tough decisions. Here, the question lies that
would the reforms suffice political, social and economic needs of water?

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Media coverage about the backlash incident of the basin
Analysis of the interview by Chris Miller
Chris Miller is a professor in the School of Social and Political Studies at Flinders
University. As per his opinions on Murray-Darling basin incident, he does not seem
surprised. He gives the credit to the authority for managing the process in the desired way.
This contradicts the assumption that the process could have been handled with effective
communication from all sides. He thinks that the government was fully aware of the sensitive
sides of the people in terms of the drought consequences (Hossain 2017). One of the striking
facts here is the absence of patience and respect for the authority. Apart from this, not
involving the mass in the protection process excludes the “social” parameter from the
discussion.
Miller is of the opinion that the authorities have justified their efforts towards
researching the socio-economic impacts of the basin backlash. This research indicates the
consciousness towards the social welfare, which is necessary for the achievement of positive
results. Miller is concerned about the focus on transforming the process rather than planning
the mitigation strategies. This attached questions into the aspect of reducing the potential
risks related with the consumption of natural resource, water. This heavily affected the
lifestyle of the smaller communities, who are dependent on the basin water for fulfilling the
basic needs (Horne 2016). He opined that some changes are to be made in terms of making
the future satisfying. He stressed on building a comprehensive plan for restructuring the
vision.
His main focus was bringing the people with similar viewpoints together. He felt that
round table conferences or kitchen tables would suffice the aspect of discussions and open
forums. He thinks that creating community levels and gaining the opinions of the people

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helps in picturizing the future. This discussions are a means for enriching the skills,
knowledge and expertise of the people, who are resilient and adaptive towards the changes
taking place in their surroundings.
People benefitting from the backlash
Grazier said that people are profiting from legislations. Australia considers water as
precious and equates it with gold. Access to the resources makes the people assume that they
have gained some lucrative offer. This provides them with the thought that they can utilize
the resources as per their wish. This mentality contradicts the thought of conserving the
ecological diversity (Grafton et al. 2014). Billions and dollars have been invested for
safeguarding the rivers and streams from degrading. Five years after the Murray Darling
Agreement, people became furious with the reaction of the authorities. As a matter of
specification, the people encountered disappearing rivers, in spite of the promises of access to
clean and safe water. This negligence degrades true essence of the “social” parameter.
Inaction even after five years of the agreement indicates the lack of planning. This
conglomerates the social and the economic parameter. Countering this, the statements of the
former Murray Darling Basin Authority reflects the concern towards the distress of the
people. Disappearing water from the rivers is an obstacle in the execution of basic activities
for the people. The ecologists are completely unaware of where the waters are going. For
them, it is a strange incident (Bischoff-mattson and Lynch 2016). They only know one thing
that the authority needs to be blamed for exploiting the whole system. Four corners took the
charge of revealing the plan for rescuing the river system. Graziers uphold the way the people
have adjusted to droughts. The reporters have been entrusted with the responsibility of
investigating where the financial resources can go. As per the comments of the Mayor, the
people are not getting enough money, as they are saying. This creates discrepancies within

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the resources and the number of people, dividing the entire community as a whole. Along
with this, it also broadens the gap between rich and poor in terms of using the resources.
Graziers expresses the concerns regarding the share of water to the rural people for carrying
out the daily activities. These concerns reflect the existentialist struggles for these people,
who belong to the marginalized sections of the society (Garrick et al. 2012).
Economic and social impacts
The dairy industry in Victoria is heavily dependent on the services of the market.
Here, the marketers are aware of the potential risks in the prices. Purchase of large amount of
Water shares from the Victorian High Reliability Water shares reflects planned approach
towards the execution of the marketing activities (Bischoff-mattson and Lynch 2017). The
scientists predict that collapse of the shares by 40% would result in inadequate water supply
in the industries. This would stall the irrigational activities. As a matter of specification, the
inadequate water supply would adversely affect the future tariffs. This would, in turn, impact
the infrastructure of the industries. Mention can be made of the irrigators, who participated in
the Commonwealth buybacks (Bark et al. 2014). Here, the allocation witnessed an increase
from zero to 12%. In terms of participation, the allocation increased from 26 to 52.
Stalling the productivity of the industries reflects a compromise with the needs,
demands and requirements of the common people. This compromise aggravates the
complexities in the existentialist struggles of the public.
Environmental impacts
It can be argued that the health of the Murray Darling Basin has declined in the recent
decades due to droughts and over uses of water resources. As a matter of fact, the Basin is
comprised of 30,000 wetlands and rivers with a diverse flora and fauna (Garrick et al. 2012).

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In this context, due to droughts and drained out resources the ecology becomes a threat to the
species and migratory birds as well. Therefore, by initiating the Murray Darling Basin plan
the Australian government wants to preserve the environmental diversity in the region so that
it will become a hospitable place for both human and animals. As a result of that the
Australian government starts preparing a plan that enables to give back the water into the
river system through irrigation and cognate watering events (Horne 2016).
Recommendations
Here, the question also arises what the tax payers have been doing with billions of
money, which was invested for the national interest. Mere hopes failed the Murray Darling
Basin plan. Strategic planning was needed for achieving positive outcomes. Involvement of
the public in the planning process would have proved beneficial in terms of fulfilling their
needs, demands and requirements. Indulging in partnership with the clients would have
enabled the authorities to carry out programs. Sponsorships would have expanded the scope
and arena of the business, especially enriching the financial parameter.
Prior permission of the local authorities and the people would have averted the
agitations and protests. Herein lays the importance of adhering to the environmental
legislations, which enables the staffs in preserving the ecological diversity. Typical example
of this is Data Protection Act (1998), which would have helped the authorities in protecting
the confidential data and belongings of the clients and the customers. Environmental
Protection Act is the main legislation, which the authorities needed to adhere. The authorities
should have maintained consciousness towards the basin water being an important source of
living for the local people.
The interest of the common people have been trapped in between the political alliance
of the authorities and the federal government. This entrapment acts as a compromise for the

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needs, demands and requirements for the common people. This compromise contradicts the
parameters of social and economic, as proposed by the research subject. This contradiction
attaches questions towards the purpose of the basin plan. In terms of preserving the
ecological diversity, the “environmental” parameter is also contradicted. This contradiction,
in turn, attaches an interrogative parameter to the aspect of preserving the natural resources.
What was needed is a consent letter from the local authorities and government regarding the
execution of activities. This consent reflects the ethical approach towards the needs, demands
and requirements of the customers. Herein lays the appropriateness of the Code of Ethics,
which helps in the achievement of loyalty, trust and dependence.
Misutilization of the money invested by the people indicates the selfish attitude,
opposing the “social parameter”. This mentality does not lead to positive outcomes, as it does
not involve the opinions of the people. Instead, if group discussions and open forums are
conducted, it helps in gaining the awareness into the viewpoints of the people. If the experts
are involved in these talk shows, the authorities would get a direction towards executing the
activities in a systematic manner. The activities taking place needs to be tracked by the
authorities in terms of estimating the results. This estimation helps in assessing the impact on
the society as a whole. This assessment is crucial in terms of averting the natural calamities.
Most importantly, records need to be maintained in terms of the cash being flowed from the
internal to the external environment. These records would prove beneficial towards preparing
the budgets, which would enhance the awareness regarding the expenses. Using latest and
modern software would help the staffs to prepare the budgets in automatic manner. Market
research is beneficial in the achievement of positive outcomes. Typical example in this is
search engine optimization.
References

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meet environmental uses while sustaining irrigation: a case study of the Murray-Darling
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