Water a Scarce Resource in Australia

Question: Discuss about the Water a Scarce Resource in Australia. Answer: Introduction Water has diverse uses in all economies. In most cases, it acts as a basic need for human survival. In Australia, it is essential for the operations taking place in all sectors of the economy (Chang, 2015). Plant growth requires sufficient of water amongst other factors. Water is mostly consumed by households for drinking and homes use. Despite this primary use, in Australia, the economy of low levels of rainfall, farmers in most areas depends highly on water for irrigation. This explains why the highest proportion of Australian water is used for irrigation. Water scarcity is causing an increase in food scarcity which is becoming a major concern in the world (Aph.gov.au, 2016). Good climate and water availability favors the food production. The paper by Unisa.edu.au (2016) noted that Australia has a high food production capacity to meet the growing demand owing to its fast population growth. However, there exist the challenge of constrained water and soil resources and also the fluctuations in the climatic conditions. In 2015, the global water crisis as noted by the Australian Research Council Future Fellow was the biggest risk postulated to hit Australia and cause huge impacts (Chang, 2015). The scarcity issue in the area of water is increasing, and it may end up causing disagreements internally or between countries. The control of water in Australia is under competing interests from the farmers, environment and cultural interests and the recreational users. Usage of Water Regulations For some past years, it has been observed that the problem of water shortages have persisted in Australia. Rivers have dried up, while the level of water on the large rivers such as Murray-basin has been greatly reduced. Some private water consumers spend up many liters of water every day for their daily operations. The increased overconsumption of water for irrigation has raised a need for the government to take control over the water usages. To make such large farmers consume low volumes of water, the government uses the tools of taxation. The government sets the maximum water consumption level; beyond this level, the firms are charged some extra dollars which consequently raises their marginal cost of production. This makes them reduce their consumption levels so as to reduce the production costs. Handing over the Authority to the Government In 2007, the Murray-Darling which is the longest river system in Australia did not carry enough water to support its carving to the sea. This river flows into four states. The prime minister of Australia, John Howard, urged the authority over the river by these states to be handed over to the federal government. The degeneration of the river continued degenerating further even after the change in control. This made Howard to announce that, if significant rainfall doesnt fall in the next few months, irrigation would be ruined as farmers wont be allowed to use water for irrigation at all (Mouth, 2007). Bearing the fact that 85 % of Australian food production is dependent on irrigation, food production would have been greatly affected. The Future of Australian Water In future, the water scarcity would be impacted by three factors noted by Dr. Wheeler. These factors include; climatic changes, the increase in population growth and diet changes owing to increased wealth. I.e. the consumption of meat will rise, and its production requires more water. Wheeler suggested that the price of water should be raised so as to instill a sense of conservation on the households. Less water will be demanded at the high prices considering the fact that water has no substitutes. Reforms on Water Management The introduction of ground-breaking reforms by the government on water management was as a result of so many water crisis and its shortages (Water.worldbank.org, 2016). Since the rivers were heavily exploited, the three states, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales agreed on the capping of the amount of water consumed by each, and in addition, to keep clear records of its use (Mouth, 2007). Plans were also made between them to increase environmental flow and the reduction of salinity. The Murray-Darling Basin Commission is the body that managed all these initiatives. Some principles were agreed to be set by the Australia's politicians on the management of water. One of the principles was the abolishment of the irrigation subsidies. The other one was to ensure that the cost of maintaining dams and channels was paid by the farmers. Australias future water supply is under uncertainty. Owing to this fact, there has been a need of creating large dams reservoirs which will hold large volumes of water. The government has introduced a business platform where it has encouraged international private investors to carry out some investment activities in the dry Australia areas. This will involve drilling of boreholes in such areas. The following is the distribution of rainfall in the Australian cities. Annual Average Rainfall and Daily Temperatures in the Australian Selected Cities Rainfall mm Daily maximum temperature C Daily minimum temperature C Sydney 1 276.5 22.3 14.4 Melbourne 654.4 20.1 11.2 Brisbane 1 194.0 25.3 15.7 Adelaide 563.0 22.1 12.1 Perth 745.3 24.5 12.5 Hobart 576.4 17.2 8.8 Darwin 1 847.1 32.1 23.4 Canberra 630.0 19.7 6.7 Alice Springs 325.6 28.8 13.2 Source: Bureau of Meteorology, https://www.bom.gov.au, last viewed 6 September 2016. The average rainfall received in some of the Australian cities is too low to support agricultural activities this, therefore, raises the water demand in such areas. Conclusion Australia is a dry continent and for years it has been struggling with the drought issue facing it. Water that was traditionally perceived as a free resource is currently a challenging issue in Australia. The levels of water in its rivers are falling. Therefore, the unregulated taking of water from these rivers will have great economic and environmental consequences. The increased population growth has raised pressure on water usage both directly and indirectly. The high population poses the need for increased food production which in turn creates a need for more water in irrigation. There need to be more action-based reforms to be able to curb the problems facing the water system in Australia. References Abs.gov.au. (2016). 4613.0 - Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends, 2007. [Online] Available at: https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/9e1dd9680bdd9821ca257090002029cc/330bc8fdfd50bee4ca2573c6001049f9!OpenDocument [Accessed 7 Sep. 2016]. Aph.gov.au. (2016). Resource scarcityfood Parliament of Australia. [Online] Available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Browse_by_Topic/ClimateChangeold/effects/security/resource/food [Accessed 6 Sep. 2016]. Chang, C. (2015). The precious resource well all be fighting over. [Online] NewsComAu. Available at: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/conservation/why-everyone-suddenly-has-a-thirst-for-water/news-story/0a2ff10c8914f47b68fb513ecf8f743c [Accessed 5 Sep. 2016]. Mouth, M. (2007). The big dry | The Economist. [Online] Economist.com. Available at: https://www.economist.com/node/9071007 [Accessed 6 Sep. 2016]. Unisa.edu.au. (2016). Scarce Resources - Research - University of South Australia. [Online] Available at: https://www.unisa.edu.au/Research/Themes/Scarce-Resources/ [Accessed 6 Sep. 2016]. Water.worldbank.org. (2016). Lessons from Australia's Struggle with Water Scarcity | World Bank Water. [Online] Available at: https://water.worldbank.org/news/lessons-australias-struggle-water-scarcity [Accessed 6 Sep. 2016].