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2018 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

Environmental Water Transactions and Innovation in Australia

verfasst von : Katherine Owens

Erschienen in: Reforming Water Law and Governance

Verlag: Springer Singapore

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Abstract

A process of water distribution is underway in the water-stressed and over-allocated Murray-Darling Basin. It remains to be seen, however, whether the Murray-Darling Basin Plan 2012 (Cth) can gain enough momentum to restore the Basin’s health. Large-scale government buybacks have also proven to be unpopular politically, and will play a more limited role in water recovery strategies going forward. In this context, models of impact investment provide a potentially effective option for improving system resiliency for the benefit of a range of uses. Through an examination of the Murray-Darling Basin Balanced Water Fund, the chapter will analyse the benefits and risks of this approach in the legal context of the MDB, as well as the legal supports and safeguards required to support these initiatives in meeting their environmental objectives. The analysis will draw on theories of innovation, governance perspectives on social learning and the concept of smart regulation in order to evaluate the potential of the Fund within a market-based water allocation framework. It will argue that, when accompanied by appropriate legislative safeguards, private initiatives of the kind represented by the Fund have the potential to function as an effective complementary measure, and improve system resiliency for the benefit of a range of uses, including the environment.

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Nächstes Kapitel Water Entitlements as Property: A Work in Progress or Watertight Now?

See also the Productivity Commission, which considers water buybacks to be the most cost-effective and precise mechanism for water recovery in the Murray-Darling Basin (Australian Government 2010b).

The Fund is open to ‘wholesale clients’ within the meaning of s 761G of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and investors to whom a product disclosure statement is not required to be provided under Div 2, Pt 7.9 of the Corporations Act (Kilter Rural 2015, p. 3).

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Titel: Environmental Water Transactions and Innovation in Australia
verfasst von: Katherine Owens
Verlag: Springer Singapore
Buch: Reforming Water Law and Governance
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-8976-3

Electronic ISBN: 978-981-10-8977-0

Copyright-Jahr: 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8977-0_4