How do we best divvy up water?

With everyone watching for news surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, with all its uncertainty and twists, it is easy to overlook the many other subjects that usually attract our attention.

One issue that is perhaps an exception to the rule is water.

It might be based on the dry climate in which we live, our experiences of drought in the past or even something we’re genetically hot-wired to, considering we need it to survive. Whatever it is, seeing and having access to and opportunity to use water consistently sits high on our ‘must have’ lists.

When it comes to regional allocation there are a couple ‘no-brainers’ in water-sharing formulas.

There is a basic need for domestic household ‘taps and toilets and emergencies’ supply management and we have a duty as short-term custodians of the land to look after the environment. So what else is there? We use the word a lot because it represents such a broad brush stroke, but ‘socio-economic’ is a third and no-less important need.

This includes using water to make communities healthy, vibrant and appealing places to live and play and covers off on sub areas such as industry support and development to generate economic growth, and social health to encourage ‘liveability’.

Added to this is an overlaying dollarsand-cents accountability corporate structure working alongside a requirement to meet basic community need. It all reflects the preciousness of this commodity.

Considering all this, just mention the term ‘recreation water’ and conversations can get a bit twitchy amid confusing sensibilities about what it all means or should mean.

Gwmwater has a dedicated schedule to provide piped water to 10 recreation lakes across the Wimmera-mallee, a system widely applauded by many isolated communities.

Yet Victorian angling peak body chairman Rob Loats believes the value of recreation water continues to fall well short of attracting the formal recognition it deserves as part of a sharing structure.

He argues that recreation supply, working ‘hand in glove’ with environmental supply, should have its own entitlement to avoid needing to rely on other entitlement holders for a share.

If so, the issue ultimately becomes the responsibility of government.

This all comes back to how we as a society want to divvy up a natural resource we all desire.

A formula that satisfies everyone would no doubt be elusive.

We don’t need to be scientists to understand that it has to rain and water has to run for us to have water at our disposal. And the wet stuff has on average also been a bit scarce in the past 20 years.