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Water

water.jpgACCI Stands For:
Sustainable Water Resource Policies

That promote security of access & supply

Policy Objectives:

  • Carefully considered water reform that guarantees
    the improved health of Australia’s river systems and
    ensures that all Australians have access to clean usable
    water
  • No 'rush to reform' by government which leads to less
    integrity of  the  reform process. Reform that is ill-
    conceived may be costly to the Australian taxpayer,may
    result in significant unintended/inadvertent transfers of
    wealth and may not achieve the desired long-term
    environmental outcomes
  • An integrated approach to reform of both groundwater
    and surface water conservation and management
  • Recognises that the management of groundwater supplies
    (the aquifer) is as important as surface water management,
    as there is a risk to the long-term health of ecosystems if
    the aquifer supplies are depleted and mismanaged
  • Recognises that as a consumer of water, and a party dependent
    on sound environmental flows, especially in regional Australia,
    business will be a significant stakeholder in the reform process
  • Policy reforms that allow industry to actively respond to
    water reform but do not place an unreasonable burden on business. Business, as a member
    of the Australian community, has a role to play in addressing the issues. But reform should
    not unnecessarily impede the competitiveness of Australian trade-exposed industries, should
    attempt to minimise cost differentials between and across jurisdictions and should be
    commensurate with industry’s contribution to the problem
  • Governments to provide an institutional framework conducive to improved water conservation
    and  management.  Governments should  introduce incentives such as grants and subsidies
    and provide general demand-management information to encourage the uptake of new technology,
    greater innovation and to promote the commercialisation of improved water management
  • Recognises that governments will need to determine targets or levels for water quality and flows
    for catchments, but that the principal responsibility for managing and meeting those targets
    should lie with the local community
  • The development of re-use strategies in the short-term that promote safe re-use and
    recycling of waste water for non-drinking purposes, such as irrigation, residential garden
    watering, toilet flushing, fire protection and industrial uses including  cooling water and for
    drinking purposes in the longer term.  Any strategies must address the purpose and standards
    for re-use, the costs and any subsidies, and how those subsidies are allocated
  • Arrangements for stable, well-defined water access entitlement regimes to create
    certainty, promote investment in water consumption and to achieve the maximum potential
    economic gains from a nationally-consistent water-trading regime.  These arrangements
    should contain sufficiently long terms for entitlements to encourage security in tenure (ACCI
    proposes 10 years), a general presumption that they will be transferable and clear specifications
    so entitlement holders are fully aware of their obligations and the processes that determine and
    influence their allocations
  • Water access allocations to be initiated from a planning process that determines
    the balance between ‘consumptive use’ and the quantity of water that needs to be allocated for
    environmental purposes
  • An approach whereby the amount of resource to be allocated for consumption in a
    particular catchment or zone is reassessed in light of changing environmental conditions. 
  • The amount of resource that an entitlement holder takes from the ‘consumptive pool’ should
    move proportionally to the increase or decrease in the size of this pool over time
  • Governments to determine the size of the ‘consumptive pool’ and ‘environmental
    pool’ through quality economic and scientific analysis and extensive community consultation
  • Governments to consider the sequencing of water policy reform.   The transition to a
    nationally-consistent system for specifying water access entitlements, water use conditions
    and trading must be properly sequenced to mitigate against unnecessary costs
  • Flexible water trading arrangements that take into account the unique
    conditions of different environmental zones in Australia and as a means of facilitating the
    movement of water to its highest value use.  However, there must be common principles that
    underpin a nationally consistent approach.  Any trading price should take into the account the
    true value of water consumption (including all associated externalities) and the price that is
    paid for water equates to the opportunity cost of additional water for the environment
  • Water reform to complement other broad government policies, notably regional development,
    innovation and climate change.