Institutional Arrangements for Water Management in South East Queensland

[摘要] South East Queensland (SEQ) is currently the fastest growing region in Australia. With population growth set to continue, and with the growing recognition of climate change-related impacts on the reliability of rainfall in the region, water resources in SEQ will continue to be placed under extensive pressure. To ensure that water resources are managed sustainably, the Queensland Government has committed to a total water cycle management approach, which recognises the interrelationships between the human uses of water and its role in the environment. The Queensland Government’s response to the ‘water crisis’ occasioned by the Millennium Drought has included a regional demand management program, a number of infrastructure projects and major institutional reform.The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the institutional reforms related to urban water resource management in SEQ introduced between 2000 and the Queensland State election in March 2009. To place such reform in context, recent water policy initiatives at the national level, and their influence on the Queensland Government’s water reform agenda, will first be outlined. The regional scheme for reform in SEQ, and related changes to the roles of the State Government and local governments in the provision of water and sewerage services under the new institutional arrangements, will then be described. In particular, the paper will focus on the roles and responsibilities of the Queensland Water Commission, relevant State government agencies, and local government. The final section will canvass the water supply and demand initiatives developed in SEQ to March 2009.

[发布日期] 2010-11-29 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)