37
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Westra et al. (eds.), Ecological Integrity in Science and Law,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46259-8_4
‘Thieves, Shady Deals and Murder’: Water
Theft, Buy-Backs and Fish Kills
in the Murray Darling Basin of Australia
Janice Gray
Abstract Effective water management in the Murray Darling Basin of Australia
has proved challenging. Water theft, problematic water buy-backs by the
Commonwealth and fish kills, particularly those in the Menindee Lakes, have
exposed weaknesses in the implementation and application of key legislation and
governance instruments such as the Water Act 2008 (Cth) and the Murray Darling
Basin Plan. Meanwhile, Basin health has continued to suffer. A more pro-active,
multi-pronged approach to governance, particularly in relation to monitoring, compliance and enforcement would be advantageous as would greater transparency in
the application of science-led or evidence-led research. Improvements in these areas
are likely to better serve ecological integrity objectives.
1 Introduction
The Water Act 2007 (Cth) (WA) and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan 2012 (MDBP)
were introduced with high hopes. It was intended that the Act and Plan would significantly improve water management in the Australian Murray-Darling Basin
(MDB) but achievements under these instruments have not lived up to expectation.
Logistical, implementational and practical weaknesses have dogged their
effectiveness.
This chapter focuses on three issues: (1) water theft, (2) water buy-backs and (3)
fish kills to expose some of the weaknesses that have emerged in MDB water law
and governance. It also reveals how those weaknesses are undermining ‘ecological
integrity’ (Bosselmann 2008) and are instead supporting the continued overexploitation of finite water resources, ultimately contributing to, ‘disintegrity’.
J. Gray (*)
Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
e-mail: j.gray@unsw.edu.au; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-1011
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Westra et al. (eds.), Ecological Integrity in Science and Law,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46259-8_4
‘Thieves, Shady Deals and Murder’: Water
Theft, Buy-Backs and Fish Kills
in the Murray Darling Basin of Australia
Janice Gray
Abstract Effective water management in the Murray Darling Basin of Australia
has proved challenging. Water theft, problematic water buy-backs by the
Commonwealth and fish kills, particularly those in the Menindee Lakes, have
exposed weaknesses in the implementation and application of key legislation and
governance instruments such as the Water Act 2008 (Cth) and the Murray Darling
Basin Plan. Meanwhile, Basin health has continued to suffer. A more pro-active,
multi-pronged approach to governance, particularly in relation to monitoring, compliance and enforcement would be advantageous as would greater transparency in
the application of science-led or evidence-led research. Improvements in these areas
are likely to better serve ecological integrity objectives.
1 Introduction
The Water Act 2007 (Cth) (WA) and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan 2012 (MDBP)
were introduced with high hopes. It was intended that the Act and Plan would significantly improve water management in the Australian Murray-Darling Basin
(MDB) but achievements under these instruments have not lived up to expectation.
Logistical, implementational and practical weaknesses have dogged their
effectiveness.
This chapter focuses on three issues: (1) water theft, (2) water buy-backs and (3)
fish kills to expose some of the weaknesses that have emerged in MDB water law
and governance. It also reveals how those weaknesses are undermining ‘ecological
integrity’ (Bosselmann 2008) and are instead supporting the continued overexploitation of finite water resources, ultimately contributing to, ‘disintegrity’.
J. Gray (*)
Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
e-mail: j.gray@unsw.edu.au; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4129-1011