Water for the Future

Government action

Council of Australian Governments water reform

Shepparton Weir, Victoria

Shepparton Weir, Victoria

Photo John Baker

Working Group on Climate Change and Water

In December 2007 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) established working groups to implement its work agenda on a range of priority issues. The Australian Government Minister for Climate Change and Water chairs the Working Group on Climate Change and Water (WGCCW). Other members of the WGCCW are officials from the states and territories and a representative from the Australian Local Government Association. The WGCCW was asked to provide COAG with proposals to ensure sustainable water use across Australia, as well as on climate change issues.

Progress reports from the WGCCW have been considered by COAG at four meetings during 2008, including a comprehensive stocktake report on the progress of water reform released by COAG in March. Further information is available on the COAG website:

At the November 2008 meeting, COAG agreed to a number of initiatives to improve water markets and trade, water information and research, and an enhanced urban national water reform framework, including the National Urban Water Planning Principles. These initiatives are designed to enhance and build on the National Water Initiative (NWI), agreed by COAG in June 2004:

The NWI builds on the 1994 COAG Water Reform Framework:

At its November meeting, COAG also released a report on environmental water recovery in the Murray-Darling Basin, which will be updated on a regular basis:

Intergovernmental Agreement on Murray-Darling Basin water reform

At the July 2008 COAG meeting, the intergovernmental Agreement on Murray-Darling Basin Reform (IGA) was signed. The IGA provides for the establishment of co-operative, efficient and effective planning and management arrangements for the Basin's water and other natural resources, and will enable the social, environmental and economic values of the Murray-Darling Basin to be protected into the future.

A key reform of the IGA was bringing the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Murray-Darling Basin Commission together into a single institution, to be known as the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

See also

Key

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