Water Reform and Planning in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

摘要

This special issue on the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) brings together multiple perspectives from different disciplines. It includes an overview of what has occurred in terms of water planning in the Basin, a critical evaluation of key aspect of water reform in the Basin, the science behind key basin planning decisions, the hydro-economic modeling of the Basin and their deficiencies, the challenges of public policy making and implementing plans that adequately account for climate change and variability, the critical importance of stakeholders in delivering outcomes accepted by communities, and methods to link ecological responses to economic models to deliver on key planning objectives. In addition to highlighting the key findings of these contributions, this editorial examines key recent water reforms and changes in planning in the MDB, Australia. In particular, it reviews the important developments since 1995 and highlights the principal means by which the 2012 Basin Plan is expected to deliver reduced surface water diversions by 1 July 2019. Further, the editorial evaluates the Australian government-funded water recovery program intended to reduce water diversions and focuses on the effects on stream flows, cost effectiveness and the results to date. The editorial concludes with six key insights in terms of water reform and water planning at a basin scale.