Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Message from Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
- Foreword by Charles Odidi Okidi and Nicholas Adams Robinson
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Challenges of Environmental Law – Environmental Issues and Their Implications to Jurisprudence
- ONE INTERNATIONAL ISSUES AND LEGAL RESPONSES TO SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT
- TWO NATIONAL APPROACHES TO LAND USE PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- 6 Community Rights to Genetic Resources and Their Knowledge: African and Ethiopian Perspectives
- 7 Easements and Wildlife Conservation in Kenya
- 8 Land Tenure, Land Use, and Sustainability in Kenya: Toward Innovative Use of Property Rights in Wildlife Management
- 9 The Development of Environmental Law and Its Impact on Sustainable Use of Wetlands in Uganda
- 10 EIA and the Four Ps: Some Observations from South Africa
- 11 From Bureaucracy-Controlled to Stakeholder-Driven Urban Planning and Management: Experiences and Challenges of Environmental Planning and Management in Tanzania
- 12 Strategies for Integrated Environmental Governance in South Africa: Toward a More Sustainable Environmental Governance and Land Use Regime
- 13 Environmental Law and Sustainable Land Use in Nigeria
- 14 The Role of Administrative Dispute Resolution Institutions and Processes in Sustainable Land Use Management: The Case of the National Environment Tribunal and the Public Complaints Committee of Kenya
- 15 Managing the Environmental Impact of Refugees in Kenya: The Role of National Accountability and Environmental Law
- 16 Environmental Impact Assessment Law and Land Use: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Trends in the Nigerian and U.S. Oil and Gas Industry
- 17 Managing Land Use and Environmental Conflicts in Cameroon
- 18 Environmental Law Reform to Control Land Degradation in the People's Republic of China: A View of the Legal Framework of the PRC–GEF Partnership Program
- 19 Urbanization and Environmental Challenges in Pakistan
- 20 ASEAN Heritage Parks and Transboundary Biodiversity Conservation
- 21 Land Use Planning, Environmental Management, and the Garden City as an Urban Development Approach in Singapore
- 22 The Law and Preparation of Environmental Management Plans for Sustainable Development in Thailand
- 23 Nepal's Legal Initiatives on Land Use for Sustainable Development
- 24 Environmental Law and Irrigated Land in Australia
- 25 Environmental Impact Assessment: Addressing the Major Weaknesses
- 26 Protection of Natural Spaces in Brazilian Environmental Law
- 27 Land Use Planning in Mexico: As Framed by Social Development and Environmental Policies
- 28 Argentina's Constitution and General Environment Law as the Framework for Comprehensive Land Use Regulation
- 29 Ecological Economics, Sustainable Land Use, and Policy Choices
- 30 The 2004 U.S. Ocean Report and Its Implications for Land Use Reform to Improve Ocean Water Quality
- 31 Historical Overview of the American Land Use System: A Diagnostic Approach to Evaluating Governmental Land Use Control
- Index
24 - Environmental Law and Irrigated Land in Australia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Message from Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
- Foreword by Charles Odidi Okidi and Nicholas Adams Robinson
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Challenges of Environmental Law – Environmental Issues and Their Implications to Jurisprudence
- ONE INTERNATIONAL ISSUES AND LEGAL RESPONSES TO SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT
- TWO NATIONAL APPROACHES TO LAND USE PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- 6 Community Rights to Genetic Resources and Their Knowledge: African and Ethiopian Perspectives
- 7 Easements and Wildlife Conservation in Kenya
- 8 Land Tenure, Land Use, and Sustainability in Kenya: Toward Innovative Use of Property Rights in Wildlife Management
- 9 The Development of Environmental Law and Its Impact on Sustainable Use of Wetlands in Uganda
- 10 EIA and the Four Ps: Some Observations from South Africa
- 11 From Bureaucracy-Controlled to Stakeholder-Driven Urban Planning and Management: Experiences and Challenges of Environmental Planning and Management in Tanzania
- 12 Strategies for Integrated Environmental Governance in South Africa: Toward a More Sustainable Environmental Governance and Land Use Regime
- 13 Environmental Law and Sustainable Land Use in Nigeria
- 14 The Role of Administrative Dispute Resolution Institutions and Processes in Sustainable Land Use Management: The Case of the National Environment Tribunal and the Public Complaints Committee of Kenya
- 15 Managing the Environmental Impact of Refugees in Kenya: The Role of National Accountability and Environmental Law
- 16 Environmental Impact Assessment Law and Land Use: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Trends in the Nigerian and U.S. Oil and Gas Industry
- 17 Managing Land Use and Environmental Conflicts in Cameroon
- 18 Environmental Law Reform to Control Land Degradation in the People's Republic of China: A View of the Legal Framework of the PRC–GEF Partnership Program
- 19 Urbanization and Environmental Challenges in Pakistan
- 20 ASEAN Heritage Parks and Transboundary Biodiversity Conservation
- 21 Land Use Planning, Environmental Management, and the Garden City as an Urban Development Approach in Singapore
- 22 The Law and Preparation of Environmental Management Plans for Sustainable Development in Thailand
- 23 Nepal's Legal Initiatives on Land Use for Sustainable Development
- 24 Environmental Law and Irrigated Land in Australia
- 25 Environmental Impact Assessment: Addressing the Major Weaknesses
- 26 Protection of Natural Spaces in Brazilian Environmental Law
- 27 Land Use Planning in Mexico: As Framed by Social Development and Environmental Policies
- 28 Argentina's Constitution and General Environment Law as the Framework for Comprehensive Land Use Regulation
- 29 Ecological Economics, Sustainable Land Use, and Policy Choices
- 30 The 2004 U.S. Ocean Report and Its Implications for Land Use Reform to Improve Ocean Water Quality
- 31 Historical Overview of the American Land Use System: A Diagnostic Approach to Evaluating Governmental Land Use Control
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Australia's waterways are at a crisis point. This is evidenced from the amount of water-related “reform” that the Australian Governments have embarked on over the past 10 years. Almost all of the country's capital cities are currently under severe water restrictions and experiencing a drought that has caused unprecedented shortages of water for irrigation.
Today, in Australia, irrigated agricultural land has a gross value of production of $8.6 billion/year. This land occupies 2.5 million hectares, which represents less than 0.5 percent of the country's land and yet uses 75 percent of all of the water harvested. Approximately two-thirds of the total agricultural production derives from the Murray-Darling Basin, which spans four Australian states: New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (Vic), South Australia (SA), and Queensland (Qld). Clearly, irrigation is important to Australia, but past practices have resulted in severe degradation of its water resources. It has been acknowledged in Australia that water resources are being used inefficiently, and overexploitation and unsustainable practices have resulted. The relevant legal framework has been far too complex with separate legislation in each state and no legal recognition of water sources crossing boundaries. There was no legislative limit on the number of water users in the irrigation schemes, so demand inevitably outstripped supply. The legislation was fragmented, with separate laws covering groundwater versus surface water. The laws required no consideration of environmental impact.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Land Use Law for Sustainable Development , pp. 433 - 450Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006