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  • © 2018

Reforming Water Law and Governance

From Stagnation to Innovation in Australia

  • Develops general principles and practical tools, based on more than two decades of Australian water reform experience, to advance theory and practice across a range of international contexts

  • Offers a systematic, rigorous, and sophisticated inquiry into hybrid water law and governance approaches

  • Addresses cutting-edge trends and current debates in modern water law, policy, and governance theory

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. The Murray-Darling Basin—Progress and Challenges in Multi-jurisdictional Water Governance

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 33-33
  3. Water Markets—Property, Regulation and Implementation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 99-99
    2. Regulatory and Economic Instruments: A Useful Partnership to Achieve Collective Objectives?

      • Adam Loch, C Dionisio Perez-Blanco, Dolores Rey, Erin O’Donnell, David Adamson
      Pages 123-139
    3. Water Markets and Regulation: Implementation, Successes and Limitations

      • Cameron Holley, Darren Sinclair
      Pages 141-168
  4. Collaboration and Participation—Litigation, Coordination and Water Rights

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 169-169
    2. Lessons from Australian Water Reforms: Indigenous and Environmental Values in Market-Based Water Regulation

      • Elizabeth Macpherson, Erin O’Donnell, Lee Godden, Lily O’Neill
      Pages 213-234Open Access
  5. Future Governance Challenges—Cumulative Impacts, Resource Industries and Climate Change

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 235-235

About this book

This book identifies the most effective water policy tools and innovations, and the circumstances that foster their successful implementation by taking a comparative look at a world-leading ‘laboratory’ of water law and governance: Australia. In particular, the book analyses Australia’s 20-year experience implementing a hybrid governance system of markets, hierarchical regulation, and collaborative integrated water planning.

Australia is acknowledged as a world leader in water governance reform, and an examination of its relatively mature water law and governance system has great significance for many international academics and jurisdictions. This book synthesises practical lessons and theoretical insights from Australia, as well as recommendations from comparative analysis with countries such as the United States to provide useful guidance for policymakers and scholars seeking to apply water instruments in a wide range of policy contexts. The book also advances our understanding of water and broader environmental governance theory and is a valuable reference for scholars, researchers and students working in law, regulation and governance studies – especially in the field of water and environmental law.

Chapter “Lessons from Australian water reforms: Indigenous and environmental values in market-based water regulation” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Editors and Affiliations

  • UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Cameron Holley

  • University of Canberra, Bruce, Canberra, Australia

    Darren Sinclair

About the editors

Cameron Holley is an associate professor of law at UNSW Sydney. He publishes widely in the areas of environmental law, natural resources law, and water law, with a focus on regulation and governance. An empirical researcher, he has worked closely with Australian and international government and non-government organisations on a range of environmental and natural resource management research projects. His current research agenda is centred on the legal and governance aspects of water compliance and enforcement, the Anthropocene and the energy, water, food nexus.

Darren Sinclair is an associate professor at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra. His expertise lies in the fields of environmental policy, regulation and governance, and occupational health and safety regulation and governance in the mining sector. He has published widely on these topics and has also been a consultant to various government agencies and industry. Currently, he is engaged in research on water regulation and governance, the regulation of mercury emissions and climate change governance in the financial sector.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access