Problems and Prospects for Water Reallocation in Australia

The misallocation of water supplies and the pressures for reallocation in Australia are well-recognized. Suggestions to achieve more efficient use of the very limited water supplies of the nation through pricing or through water markets have been raised. However, such approaches appear to have little chance of implementation because of established legal practice and political reality. If more efficient use of limited water supplies is a pressing social priority, a more practical approach to achieving such ends may be to consider reallocative mechanisms which will operate within the existing institutional structure. One approach which fits these criteria is the irrigation land buy-back.