King’s Water has a busy week – all are welcome to the various talks detailed below! Events are free and open to the public.
Just adding water? The Water Act, sustainable diversion limits and environmental health in the Murray-Darling Basin
Stefanie Schulte, Policy Manager at the New South Wales Irrigators’ Council
Tuesday 18 October, 4:30pm, War Studies Meeting Room (6th Floor of the King’s Building)
At the peak of Australia’s Millennium Drought, Australian lawmakers sought to amend the water management practices in the Murray-Darling Basin. Extremely low precipitation, high temperatures and a Federal election enticed the then Prime Minister John Howard to announce a $10 billion national water management plan to improve water efficiency in the Murray-Darling Basin, set a sustainable diversion limit for surface water extraction, recover water entitlements for the environment and introduce a range of Federal institutions tasked with managing Murray-Darling Basin water resources. What came next was a long list of Federal and State legislation rewriting water management in the Murray-Darling Basin starting with the passing of the Water Act 2007 and the Basin Plan in 2012. Among many initiatives, the Basin Plan proposed a 2750GL water recovery target for the environment.
While the early years of the Basin Plan focused on non-strategic water purchases for the environment, the most recent years have seen a change in how water for the environment is acquired and how environmental health is assessed. With a change in government in 2013, policy makers move away from straight water entitlement purchases and towards infrastructure investment as well as imposed a cap on water purchases which was enshrined in the Water Act in 2015 – recognising the wide-scale social and economic impacts in the Murray-Darling Basin through the water recovery process. Recently, Basin water ministers have agreed to consider non-flow related measures to achieve better environmental health.
After nearly 10 years of water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin, the ‘old mantra’ of environmental water recovery appears to be changing. The question is, have we found a better way to manage Murray-Darling Basin water resources or will we be moving in a yet different direction after the next Federal election in July 2016?
The Food-Water-Energy Nexus in the Middle East and North Africa
Mark Mulligan, Tony Allan, and others
Thursday 20 October, 6pm, B4 North Wing (Strand Building)
On Thursday 20 October 2016, a number of King’s Water members will speak at a Public Event on the ‘Middle East and North Africa Regional Architecture’ (MENARA-Project) exploring the water-food-energy nexus in the region.
Dr Mark Mulligan will give opening remarks and Professor Tony Allan will be the keynote speaker. The closing panel discussion will include contributions from King’s Water Research Associates Amiera Sawas and Martin Keulertz.
The event is free and open to the public but registration is requested. Please indicate your interest online: http://goo.gl/LiZD4
Questions about the event or the project should go to Dr Mark Mulligan.
Cous Cous the Elephant: Espionage, Diplomacy, and Cultural (Mis)Understanding in the Middle East
Becca Farnum, King’s College London
Friday 21 October, 1-2pm, Pyramid Room (4th Floor, King’s Building)
Next week’s
Intrepid Explorers lunchtime talk will be given by LWRG Member Becca Farnum and include reflection on personal and international hydro-diplomacy.
Becca is a doctoral researcher at King’s College London investigating environmental peacebuilding in the Middle East and North Africa. She partners with local activists in the region to explore how nature can be used to bring conflicting communities together. Over the course of her research, she has spent a year in countries like Morocco, Lebanon, and Kuwait engaging with fog-harvesting, conservation scuba diving, and war journalism. This talk will reflect on how the presence of a researcher creates moments of cultural learning, miscommunication, and change for everyone involved in a project. Come along for stories of mistaken identities, farcical shop vendors, and lifelong friendships.