Institutional Overview from an Australian Perspective –With Particular Reference to the Murray-Darling Basin - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 305

Chapter 20.
Institutional Overview from an Australian Perspective -
With Particular Reference to the
Murray-Darling Basin

Wendy Craik 1

Water is especially precious in Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent. When
negotiating the Australian Constitution, the states chose to secure the sovereign right 'for
reasonable use of the waters of rivers for conservation or irrigation'. Each state
developed its own arrangements for sharing of the waters within its jurisdiction, and then
became aware of the interdependencies for shared river systems like the Murray-Darling,
which spans six jurisdictions.
The Murray-Darling Basin Commission exists to facilitate and promote effective planning
and management for the equitable, efficient, and sustainable use of the water, land, and
other environmental resources.
In the past, the sovereign governments have chosen to progress through the commission
the sharing of waters (including the implementation of the cap on diversions), salinity
management, and the introduction of interstate water trade.
Current priorities (in the context of the National Water Initiative and policies within
jurisdictions) include active management of water and works to achieve environmental
outcomes at internationally significant sites along the River Murray, and development of
policy to address emerging issues such as climate change and groundwater diversion.
In the future, the commission will continue to support the jurisdictions as they
contemplate evolution of water sharing arrangements, and the development of more
sophisticated integrated environmental management approaches, towards a more
sustainable basin.

Introduction
Water is a scarce resource in Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent.
Approximately one third of Australia is classed as arid, with an average annual rainfall of
less than 250 mm, and another third as semi-arid, receiving between 250-500 mm annual
rainfall. Rainfall distribution is highly variable and part of Australia is usually in
drought.

1. Chief Executive, Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra, Australia.