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In this section you will find detailed information, including national overviews and state and regional level assessments, from the 2000-2002 National Land and Water Resources Audit theme assessments.
Water - Water Resources in Context
Managing surface water and groundwater availability in an integrated natural resources context
This report on Australia?s water availability and quality is a key input towards improved water resources management. Natural resource management requires integrated solutions and hence integrated assessments. Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000 assesses Australia?s water resources and provides data and information to the broader natural resources issues assessed in other Audit activities.
Water is essential to support an increasing human population, and to sustain ecosystem health and biodiversity. Its sustainable management-both water quality and quantity-is critical to Australia?s economic development. One of the greatest challenges for natural resource managers is to strike a balance between these competing needs.
- The status of river condition, estuary condition and catchment health will be presented as part of the Audit?s Ecosystem Health theme report.
Water delivers impacts from land uses in the contributing catchment and transports materials. Integration of water quantity and quality, sediment and nutrient movements, and minimisation of downstream impacts of land use is a key issue for natural resource management.
- Sediment and nutrient load and movement to and down Australia?s river systems and estuaries will be presented as part of the Audit?s Ecosystem Health theme report.
Australia has major opportunities to increase economic activity, and at the same time enhance environmental and social benefits generated by water resources. These opportunities exist through water resource development and improved water use efficiency.
- Assessment of irrigated agricultural productivity and economic returns will be presented as part of the Audit?s Capacity for Change theme report.
Increasingly, calls for resource protection across Australia are important policy issues. ?Resource protection? (used separately here from conservation) deals with the protection of natural resources as they are used in a catchment. As an example, if we are to address dryland salinity, Australia will require major changes in water balance in many catchments and therefore changes in land use pattern and land use activities to meet targets for protection of downslope land and water resources.
- Assessment of the extent of, and management options for, dryland salinity are presented as part of the Audit?s Dryland Salinity theme report.
Government and public alike continually seek improved and more accessible information on our natural resources. Access to information increases opportunities for informed debate. As part of the Audit, access to natural resources information has been much improved through internet and database technology.
- The Australian Natural Resources Atlas presents the key findings, data and information summaries on water resources prepared as part of integrated natural resource information at scales from regional through to national.
To track progress and ensure natural resource management activity is effective and cost efficient Australia needs to adopt comparable approaches to water resource assessment, link monitoring of water quantity and quality with land use pattern and practices, and progressively upgrade and make accessible management orientated information on Australia?s water resources.
- Database maintenance and information provision will be reported as part of the Audit?s Information Management Report.
Table of Contents for the Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000
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