Policy and Regulatory Aspects of Water Banking in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia and California, USA

This project means to investigate the policies and rules that influence the ability and motivations to adopt water banking practice, and managed aquifer recharge (MAR) technologies. Practices and technologies that store river water in underground aquifers for use during drought. Individual states and territories maintain vastly different laws and policies governing water banking and MAR across the Murray-Darling Basin, which can make or break adoption of water banking and MAR across the region. 

About this project

MAR technologies and water banking techniques have the potential to deliver substantial benefits to stakeholders throughout the Murray-Darling Basin. This project, to investigate the policies and rules that govern MAR, is part of a larger effort to introduce new methods, such as water storage and drought endurance, which can benefit irrigators, urban water supplies, the environment and First Nations peoples. 

The adoption of water banking and MAR technologies is dependent on regulations and policies being conducive to these practices being legally viable, and MAR technologies being able to be deployed. This project means to enable the development of new practices and technologies that would provide alternative sources of water storage during drought, open new avenues for managing the strained riverine environments of the Murray-Darling, while enhancing international communication between regions under ever-increasing environmental and climactic strain. 

This project will pursue information on existing policies and regulations, their impacts, benefits and detriments, and adapting knowledge and information gained, for potential adaptation into the Murray-Darling Basin. This can draw upon experiences in the Northern Territory and West Australia, alongside international examples of MAR deployment, such as California and Arizona. The experiences, policies and regulations of these regions, can inform and improve the adoption of MAR across the Murray-Darling Basin, aiding states like South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in fostering MAR technologies and practices. 

Collaboration with the University of California Riverside will see the PhD candidate, Rory Wilson, travel to the United States to perform a comparative analysis of the policies and regulations of California, comparing them to policies and regulations in the Murray-Darling Basin. California, as a major centre for the development of MAR as a technology, and water banking as a practice, has many caste studies of MAR being used in urban, agricultural and environmental scenarios. With decades of experience and knowledge, California’s policy and regulations around MAR could form a font of knowledge, that would inform and benefit the development of policy and regulations across Australia. 

Expected Outcomes

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) technologies, and water banking practices, have the potential to grant unique opportunities and benefits for communities living in the Murray-Darling Basin. Yet the array of different laws and regulations governing these technologies can harm efforts to embrace these technologies. The analysis and synthesis of existing policies and regulations around MAR, both within and outside of Australia, will inform the next generation of Australia’s water infrastructure development, supporting new solutions to the Murray-Darling Basin’s problems.