Assessing adaptive water governance for Lake Eyre Basin and linked portions of the great artesian basin in Australia

Abstract

The Lake Eyre Basin in the heart of the outback of Australia is a place in which the social-ecological system is not only highly dependent on but is also defined by the intermittent presence and absence of water. Tributary rivers of this hydrologic system arise in Queensland and the Northern Territory and feed the landlocked Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in central Australia. Due to decadal cycles of rain, the basin has one of the most variable flows in the world; in any given year, the lake may be a vast expanse of blue against the red soils of the arid lands or a white salt flat. The Great Artesian Basin that underlies portions of the Lake Eyre Basin has been an important source of fresh water for humans, initially serving Aboriginal inhabitants, then the railroad system, and today large pastoral farms of the basin. The setting provides an opportunity to consider the link among resilience, governance, and law outside the North American context yet within a federal system. The efforts of the Australian Commonwealth and state governments to engage in catchment planning and involve both scientists and local stakeholders can be characterized as a governmental effort to achieve adaptive governance across jurisdictions. This much more formal and intentional approach has indeed enhanced the adaptive capacity of Australian water basins and moved them beyond their North American counterparts in which emergence of adaptive governance remains ad hoc in response to a social or ecological disturbance. At the same time, the Australian approach is top-down and, without both greater authority and capacity at the local level, may not achieve the level of adaptive governance needed to navigate the changes to come.