Water Rights Arrangements in Australia and Overseas
Commission Research Paper
The commission research paper, Water Rights Arrangements in Australia and Overseas, was released on 3 October 2003. The paper compares the legal, organisational and regulatory arrangements for managing water rights, against accepted best practice principles. It reveals significant differences among the benchmarked jurisdictions in the way that water rights are defined, allocated, regulated and administered. In some jurisdictions, water rights are the personal property of water users; in others, they are vested in the State. Such differences have implications for both the management of water rights and the efficiency of resource allocation.
Twelve case studies were prepared to assist the understanding of the complex legal, organisational and management arrangements of the jurisdictions studied. Case studies were prepared for the Murray–Darling Basin, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Colorado River Basin, California, Colorado, Chile, Mexico and South Africa. These case studies should be read in conjunction with the main report.
Related publications include:
- Financial Performance of Government Trading Enterprises, 1997-98 to 2001-02
- Financial Performance of Government Trading Enterprises, 1996-97 to 2000-01
- Arrangements for Setting Drinking Water Standards
CONTENTS
Preliminaries
Cover, Copyright, Foreword, Contents, Abbreviations, Glossary, Overview
1 Introduction
1.1 The study
1.2 Processes
1.3 Report structure
1.4 Terminology
2 The water sector
2.1 The water cycle
2.2 Water supplies
2.3 Water use
2.4 Water and land impacts
2.5 Economics of water use
2.6 In summary
3 Legal framework
3.1 Evolution of water law
3.2 Current legislative framework
3.3 Water rights
3.4 Inter-jurisdictional arrangements
3.5 In summary
Attachment 3A
4 Organisations involved in the water rights system
4.1 Overview of organisations
4.2 Coordination of resource management
4.3 Separation of functions
4.4 Reporting requirements
4.5 Resourcing
4.6 In summary
5 Definition of water rights
5.1 Universality
5.2 Predictability of volume and enforceability
5.3 Certainty of title
5.4 Duration
5.5 Exclusivity
5.6 Detached from land title and use restrictions
5.7 Divisibility and transferability
5.8 In summary
Attachment 5A
6 Government involvement in water allocation
6.1 Acquisition programs
6.2 Resource plans
6.3 Inter-jurisdictional arrangements
6.4 Agencies
6.5 Processes
6.6 In summary
Attachment 6A
Attachment 6B
7 Administering water rights
7.1 Organisations
7.2 Functions
7.3 Comparisons
7.4 In summary
Attachment 7A
8 Distribution management
8.1 Distributors and their reporting requirements
8.2 Water accounting
8.3 Water distribution
8.4 In summary
Attachment 8A
9 Pricing
9.1 Pricing infrastructure services
9.2 Pricing conveyancy losses
9.3 Pricing water rights management
9.4 Pricing environmental third-party effects
9.5 In summary
Attachment 9A
10 Monitoring and enforcement
10.1 Enforcement agencies
10.2 Monitoring procedures
10.3 Enforcement procedures
10.4 In summary
Attachment 10A
A Participants
Glossary
References
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