In January 2007, the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, announced a $10 billion plan to reform rural water management. Most of the effort will focus on the Murray-Darling Basin. In this book, Daniel Connell explains why there is a crisis in the Murray Darling. He highlights the disastrous consequences of a century of fitful, reluctant "co-operation" between the six governments responsible for the region.

Connell argues that a new institutional system is essential, but a Commonwealth takeover is not the best answer. Instead, the Commonwealth government should use its constitutional and financial power to force the States to adopt national policies—and stick to them, whatever the local politics. The States would continue to play a substantial role but the controls would be tighter and the framework more comprehensive. He also shows how the National Water Initiative, the great blueprint for water reform, has stalled with many of its most important recommendations ignored.

So far, the public debate about the future of the Murray Darling Basin has concentrated on new technical projects and increased water trading. Connell argues that unless institutional change is given priority, hundreds of millions of dollars of annual investment will be frittered away—and the crisis will continue.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The danger of boredom
CHAPTER 1: Conversations with Goyder’s ghost (A context for talking about water)
CHAPTER 2: Beyond sober thought (Governments take control 1880s – 1920s)
CHAPTER 3: Excluding lawyers from paradise (Establishing a public policy framework 1900s – 1980s)
CHAPTER 4: Alignment of the planets (Another attempt at basin-wide management)
CHAPTER 5: Talking sustainability dreaming production (Contradictions within contemporary water management)
CHAPTER 6: The chariot wheels of the Commonwealth (Responsibility for reform – what should be done?)
Epilogue: Pragmatism, a philosophy of despair
Bibliography