feature article
Sustainable Water Management Securing Australia’s future in a green economy by Brian Spies, Deputy Chair, ATSE Water Forum The principles of ‘green growth’ – balancing improvements in productivity and economic prosperity with environmental and social outcomes – provide a framework for sustainable water management, resilient and adaptable to future challenges. As Australia enters the 21st century, it faces a multitude of challenges. Changing demographics, an ageing population, a decade-long slowdown in productivity, environmental degradation and increased susceptibility to climate variability and climate change, combined with the incessant demand to expand Australia’s exports of natural resources and food, put strain on the ‘business as usual’ approach. There will be renewed focus on reversing environmental degradation and improving the quality of life, including making our cities and towns more liveable. Government and decision makers will need to balance competing social, economic and environmental issues in order to assure Australia’s wellbeing for future generations. Water, a critical yet often under-valued resource, underpins Australia’s economy, society and environment. Many factors influence water security – population growth, environmental condition, climate change and variability, rainfall, land use, pollution, institutional arrangements and demand for Australia’s exports, notably natural resources and food. Sustainable and effective water management will require renewed flexibility and innovation in order to adapt quickly to changes in climate (which impacts on rain-fed supply) and changes in demand caused by economic and demographic transitions. Sustainable Water Management: Securing Australia’s Future in a Green Economy, a study supported by the Australian Research Council and recently published by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), explores a framework for sustainable water management in Australia that is able to adapt to future challenges through fostering the principles of green growth.
What is Green Growth? The term green growth refers to a process for sustainable economic development that recognises the inter-relationship and interdependence of elements of the economy, the environment and society as a whole. A green growth strategy harnesses the economic opportunities provided by new technologies and advanced products, while reducing the environmental impact and social disruption from such changes.
Climate Farm dams, etc
CO2e Concentration Forestry Hydro power
GHG emissions
Soil moisture Water for power stations Groundwater Commodity prices
Temperature Population Rainfall Water for mining & industry Runoff Salt in wastewater
Waste water from mining and gas
Soil health
Energy use
Stored water Agricultural water use
Agricultural Farming production practices Extent of water trading Economic health
Desalination
Community Drinking water health & amenity quality WSUD Holistic, integrated planning
Degree of water treatment
Institutional arrangements Demand management Urban water price
Urban water use Per capita consumption
Security of urban water supply
Health of rivers & wetlands
Stormwater Recycled water harvesting use incl. nutrient recovery & biosolids Environmental flows Cultural flows
Socio-political stress
Demographic shift Extent of MAR
The arrows descibe links and feedbacks between different parts of the system.
Source: Based on ATSE, 2010
Figure 1. Influence diagram showing some of the interdependencies between water and other components of the Australian economy.
Interdependencies Water cannot be considered in isolation, as there are complex feedback mechanisms and interdependencies between water and energy, food and the carbon cycle (Figure 1).
For example, water is required for a broad range of energy systems – recent droughts severely impacted electricity production across much of eastern Australia. Energy in turn plays a number of key roles in the water sector, as it is needed for construction and operation of water infrastructure, transport, treatment and distribution. Approximately 30 per cent of Australian household energy consumption is used to heat water, and irrigation for agriculture consumes a substantial amount of energy. The development of alternative sources of water (such as desalination) often leads to significant increases in energy consumption. Biofuel production has led to competition for water resources, although next-generation biofuels offer opportunities for improvement. Population growth puts pressure on all resources, including land, water and energy. Technological improvements in energy and water efficiency, waste processing and recycling can help ameliorate potential ecological pressures from increasing population.
The Value of Water
Green growth principles provide a comprehensive framework for management of Australia’s water resources and prioritising investment decisions. Green growth describes the process of improving productivity and economic prosperity while optimising environmental and social outcomes. The concept encompasses sustainability, prosperity, resilience and adaptability.
Water makes a substantial contribution to the economy and related environmental goods. Ecosystem services supported by water can further boost economic output. Assessing the true value of this contribution is a challenge. Green growth outcomes could be measured through the provision of metrics from the integration of national water, economic and environmental accounts into a uniform accounting framework, as advocated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Major water utilities are adopting sustainability strategies, based on triplebottom-line analyses, which provide a useful starting point.
Green growth has been strongly sponsored in the AsiaPacific region through the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and is most evident in economies such as the Republic of Korea and China. In March 2011, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao spoke of the need to shift its measure of economic success from GDPfocus towards a broader set of sustainability metrics to save energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Statistics on the added value of produced goods per volume of water consumed highlights the large variation in the economic value of water – from $700 per megalitre for dairy farming to $18,000 for grapes and $50,000 per megalitre for electricity and gas supply. But water also has value in supporting ecosystems, biodiversity and recreation. How can environmental values be estimated and compared with financial returns from industrial use? Some people attempt to express
38 AUGUST 2012 water
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