High And Dry

Key Points on Water Policy:

Measured per capita, Australia is the third most water rich nation on earth. Water is not a private good but a mixed good, with many public good characteristics. Its price curve is inelastic. Both FAO and World Bank research strongly argues that the primary allocation of water between sectors has to be done by governments and that it cannot be one by markets. Trading water from low to high value agriculture is a flawed concept Permanent water trade must be restricted to within irrigation regions, to avoid stranding of assets and collapse of regional economies. The science on the health of the Murray River is so poor that a Federal inquiry recommended that there be no allocation of environmental water until the necessary research is thoroughly completed. The National Water Commission must nclude experts on irrigation agriculture, so that the National WAter Initiative can be properly and profesionally overhauled. Governments must build new reservoirs.