Centralized vs Decentralized Water Systems: An Australian Analysis

This essay provides a comparative analysis of centralized and decentralized systems, primarily focusing on water management in Australia. It begins by defining centralization and decentralization, illustrating each with examples such as Melbourne's 'Our Water Our Future' plan and Queensland's rainwater tank initiatives. The essay then introduces the concept of hybrid systems as a balance between the two, using South East Queensland's rainwater system as an example. Finally, it discusses energy regulation in Australia, highlighting Sydney's Sustainable Sydney 2030 initiative and the promotion of decentralized energy solutions like solar panels, while also acknowledging the challenges and the potential role of hybrid governance in supporting these projects. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of adapting to climate change through innovative and sustainable resource management strategies.

1.
Centralization is a process in which the authority of the power of decision-making is with some
persons. The top management approves all the crucial decisions and actions, which are subjected
to it at the lower level. The centralized system of technology is capable of enhancing the
adaptive capability for altering the patterns for utilizing the land on a wide scale. The examples
are insurance practices, management of coastal zones, and the development of flood plans. It can
also be explained by illustrating the example because of low rains in 2007, Melbourne declared
an emergency of water and the state government declared its plan known as ‘Our Water Our
Future ‘. It facilitated for a new desalination plant in the state of Melbourne, expansion of water
grid in Victoria, the transformation of the irrigation system in the food bowl in the Northern area
of Victoria, evaluation of the sustainable water strategies and recycling and conservation of
water (Kiem, 2013). It illustrated the example of centralization plan pertaining to water supply in
the state of Victoria. Therefore, the centralization system creates long-term benefit and
immediate advantage to the host society. Although Barnet & amp; O’Neil (2010) stated that the
maladaptation of the system like the disproportioned burdening of the most susceptible increase
in the emission gases of the greenhouse, increase in the economic, social and environmental cost
and the increase in the unnecessary dependency prove to the disadvantages of the centralized
system.
Decentralization, on the other hand is the organized delegation of the responsibility at all the
stages of the management and company. In the context of the decentralized organization, the
power is by the retrieved by the upper management so that it can take all the major decisions and
frame policies pertaining to the entire organization. All the other powers may be a substitute for

the lower and middle management. It can be stated with the help of the following example. In the
year 2007, the government of Queensland had introduced the targets for saving of water, which
was mandatory for all the residential buildings to be formulated as a part of the Queensland
Development Code (Sharma, 2012). More than 200 000 domestic tanks were mounted by
utilizing the Water-wise rebates of the State government between August 2006 and August
2008(Gardiner, 2010). Rainwater tanks have been a significant alternative for local supply of
water in South East Queensland (SEQ). It has helped in reducing the demand for the SEQ Water
Grid and delayed the necessity for the infrastructure of additional bulk water supply (Sharma,
2012). Therefore, the advantages of this mechanism are that the tank owners have the chance to
adjust and alter the reservoir itself along with the conditions of its installing for matching their
own objectives as well. It can diminish the burden of the senior and reduce the interdependence
on the supply of water along with posing less damage to the environment. The tank users have
the decision making power for the optimum utilization of the limited supply of the tanks and
evaluation of the maintenance routine of the infrastructures. If they want the tank systems to
function in an optimum manner, they have to modify the water utilization behaviors so it is
expected to use most of the water before rainfall. Therefore, the major disadvantage of the
system is the financial burden to the individuals (Gardiner , 2010).

Q2.
A hybrid system is the mixture of two distinct mechanisms like dispersed and centralized. Well-
formulated socio-technical regimes and sunken investments establish the dependencies of the
ways, which approve the dominance of the current centralized model (Krozer et al., 2010).
Additionally, there are some other issues like the institutional obstructions, supply safety and
issues relating to public health, which obstructs the implementation of the decentralized
systems . Therefore, the hybrid systems can create a balance between the centralized and
dispersed systems and can act as a change for more sustainable systems (Sapkota, 2015).
Hybrid water supply systems are creative methods for responding to the scarcity of water. They
can be explained as mechanisms formulated for services of water with the help of centralized
water supply systems in integration with decentralized water supply options like reservoirs for
rainwater , water recycling and harvesting of stormwater (Sapkota, 2015). The customary
centralized water servicing system delivers drinking water, which is clean, safeguarding from
urban flooding and sanitation facilities. They are cost-efficient and trustworthy. In contrast to
this, the decentralized systems are based on the laws of ecological sustainability and regulate the
water cycle by safeguarding the natural environment. There are distinct sources of supply in the
decentralized system which facilitates the systems by making them flexible. It can be illustrated
by giving an example such as Gardiner (2010) described the rainwater system in South East
Queensland (SEQ). The rainwater can be utilized for maintaining the supply of water for the
gardens and pools during the time of restriction and as personal security as contradictory of the
running dry of dams of South East Queensland (SEQ) (Gardiner 2010). So, reservoirs of

rainwater can prove to be an alternate water source thereby decreasing our dependency on the
supplies of the main water.
Q3:
Regulating the use of energy is a significant issue in the Australian context and the Government
of Australia has formulated many programs, which have facilitated the community, industry and
individuals for the management of the use of energy and its cost (Department of Environment
and Energy). Customarily , the coal-fired power plants generate electricity. These plants emit a
huge quantity of waste heat and greenhouse gas releases thereby contributing to the climate
changes happening around the globe (Kinesis, 2013). In the year 2008, the city of Sydney has
initiated the Sustainable Sydney 2030-The Vision and contributed for making Sydney a greener ,
global and interconnected place (Kinesis, 2013). The development of a solar panel technology,
which is the example, associated with the adaptation of climate change. As per Ma. (2017), the
major objective of the plant is to generate the enough energy which meets the local demands
with the help of solar energy. If this is executed then no energy is to be generated remotely or
imported. The elimination of importation of energy can decrease the addition of energy to the
system (Ma. 2017). So, Sydney has promoted the decentralization of energy like the storage of
solar energy into batteries through eliminating the barriers of the market and formulating rules
which are reasonable for sharing of energy (Inside waste,2018).
The above-mentioned case study illustrates an example of the decentralized technology
regarding the adaptation of change in the climate as the individual household can control their
own solar systems along with their utilization and selling. As per Parkinson (2016), cities such as
Sydney cannot rely on the centralized energy networks while the projects pertaining to

decentralized energy are not capable of recovering funds for the value they have contributed to
the network. It makes them costlier to make a successful start. Therefore, the hybrid
governments can facilitate technical and financial assistance for the decentralized energy
projects.