How Environmentally Sustainable Are Australia's Water Plans?

This is the title of a presentation from Richard Davis from National Water Commission (NWC) I went today. In the last slide his answer to the question was,

"Difficult to assess, but actions now occurring."

Not exactly a soothing answer. As one audience pointed out in the Q&A session, Davis could come back in one year and still use this slide...

Davis gave two explanations for why it was difficult to assess. First, each state has its own definition on sustainability; and second, there is not enough science at broader scale, e.g. Murray Darline Basin level.

It seems both boils down to the issue of lack of coordination. I guess that's why the NWC was established. But it doesn't have much teeth as far as I can tell, and Davis also mentioned that NWC is not a planning body but a coordinating one. On the other hand they do have a $2 billion Australian government water fund that they can use to fund basin/watershed level research.

I have mixed feeling towards his final slide. On one hand, it is mind-boggling because you would think it Australians care anything about their environment water is probably the most important issue. If their answer to water crisis is not satisfactory then I don't know what I should expect for other issues such as diversity and biosecurity. On the other hand, back in the US the States of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida just could not stop fighting for water as well. So the lack of coordination of Australian water issue is not exactly unique.

But I remain optimistic. Perhaps hope lies in people like Davis who has a good understanding of the problem and willing to work on it. He seems to be also very knowledgeable about what is going on not only in the scientific world but also outside Australia. He cited the ecosystem service concept of Millenniums Ecosystem Assessment and also agrees that water conflicts is not an entirely science issue.

P.S. I got the figure from Australian water 2005 report, which Davis also used in his presentation. According to him that was a self-assessment by individual states, and Queensland wasn't even come up with a picture.