[CDU eNews] - WATER RESOURCES A HOT ISSUE

[Peter.Hurt at cdu.edu.au]

Water resources a hot issue

A new 'water market' is being created in Australia with serious
ramifications for consumers, especially rural property owners, a Charles
Darwin University expert said today.

Professor Donna Craig, chair of Desert Knowledge at Charles Darwin
University, said a new Commonwealth Government water policy was being
introduced, with funding to States and territories tied to the reforms.

"This policy, approved by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), is
designed to change the approach to the way people own, allocate and manage
water resources," Professor Craig said.

"The policy, or framework, is designed to end the degradation of our
natural resources and to minimise wastage of our precious water resources.
It seeks an integrated and consistent approach to water resource management
throughout Australia."

Professor Craig said the framework had been in the pipeline for several
years, but it was coming to closer to fruition.

"Whose water is it? We have never really come to terms with the fundamental
legal and regulatory issues related to the ownership and use of water.

"What of local users who need water to meet basic needs? What of Indigenous
people whose very belief system is inextricably bound up with water? Who
will get the benefit, and what social and economic obligations will follow,
from the new requirements for 'environmental flows' and the new property
rights created by water trading?"

Professor Craig will explore this legal swamp in a public lecture, Who Owns
The Water? at the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT on Tuesday May 10.
Admission is free, from 5.30pm for a 6pm start. There will also be music by
Brave New Works and refreshments will be served.

The lecture is the second in a Charles Darwin University series, Research,
Change and the Community. Speakers later this month will be Professor Bob
Wasson and Professor Bart Currie.

Professor Craig is the foundation Chair of Desert Knowledge which fosters
postgraduate research capacity and undertakes leading-edge research focused
on the scientific and social development needs of inland desert Australia.

A lawyer with 24 years experience teaching environmental law, Professor
Craig's academic experience is drawn from North American and Australian
institutions.

She has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Arizona's School of
Law and has also undertaken numerous national and international
environmental and Indigenous advisory roles.

Professor Craig is available for interview


Peter Hurt
Media Manager
Charles Darwin University
Tel: 08 8946 6019 or 0438 466 439

CRICOS Provider No: 00300K