Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The National Water Initiative (NWI)
The NWI is Australia's blueprint for national water reform. The NWI Agreement
was signed by all governments at the 29 June 2004 Council of Australian Governments
meeting (with the exception of Tasmania, which signed the Agreement on 3 June 2005,
and Western Australia, which is yet to sign).
The NWI builds on the previous Council of Australian Governments (COAG)
framework for water reform signed by the Australian Government and all state and
territory governments in 1994.
Since 1994, national reform agreements of this kind have proved important in
Australia for guiding the
shape
of water reform and maintaining the
pace
of water
reform.
The NWI represents a shared commitment by the Australian Government and
state/territory governments to water reform in recognition of:
the continuing national imperative to increase the productivity and efficiency of
Australia's water use;
the need to service rural and urban communities; and
ensuring the health of river and groundwater systems, including by establishing clear
pathways to return all systems to environmentally sustainable levels of extraction
(paragraph 5, NWI).
The NWI is a comprehensive reform agreement containing objectives, outcomes and
agreed actions to be undertaken by governments across eight inter-related elements of
water management:
1.
water access entitlements and planning;
2.
water markets and trading;
3.
best practice water pricing;
4.
integrated management of water for environmental and other public benefit outcomes;
5.
water resource accounting;
6.
urban water reform;
7.
knowledge and capacity building; and
8.
community partnerships and adjustment.
It is important to note that action in each of these areas is necessary to achieve
comprehensive and lasting water reform; and that action in any one or just a few of these
areas is not sufficient to achieve that reform.
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