Water authorities need to prove the efficacy of water delivered to the environment, rather than just focus on the amount of water delivered, according to the Productivity Commission.
The commission says there is limited and inconsistent reporting, monitoring and transparent accounting for environmental water outcomes in most jurisdictions.
“Where it does occur, reporting often focuses on the amount of water delivered, rather than the environmental outcomes that were sought or achieved (for example, a wetland inundated to facilitate a bird or fish breeding event).”
The comments were made in a report prepared by the commission for the updating of the National Water Initiative.
The commission, in its draft findings, argued that environmental and other public benefit outcomes are inconsistently specified
“There remain inconsistencies between jurisdictions about how environmental outcomes are defined in water plans, their level of detail and indicators,” it said.
“Other public benefit outcomes continue to be undefined or defined only at a high level.
“While the achievement of environmental outcomes can also contribute to other public benefit outcomes, such as recreational opportunities, amenity benefits and public health, the commission has found no has found no clear long-term performance indicators specified linking these outcomes.”
The securing of environmental water has become a major national issue, with the Federal Government pushing to recover more water from Murray-Darling river system.
“Jurisdictions generally report on how much environmental water was delivered, and there is reasonable reporting of outcomes by some environmental water holders,” the Productivity Commission found.
“However, there is very little reporting on what both held and planned environmental water achieved in terms of outcomes, the counterfactual — that is, what would have happened if the water hadn’t been delivered, and whether the environmental water allocations are sufficient to achieve environmental outcomes specified in water plans.”
The commission also found that governments must renew and update the National Water Initiative to address the effects of climate change and growing and changing demand for water.
Commissioner Joanne Chong said the foundations of the NWI should be retained and expanded to better address the effects of climate change.
A renewed NWI should also better support the unique role of water in the lives and livelihoods of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.