Resumen de The water framework directive in perspective from a non-european context: The case of Australia
Emma Louise Plant, Susana Neto, Jeff Camkin
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) of 2000 was a change in the paradigm of water policy in Europe. The extended vision and economic, environmental and social dimensions that it added to considerations of water quality brought a new perspective to the traditional way of addressing the management of water bodies through scattered and compartmented approaches. This new framework gave all European Union States the possibility of improving their policies in water management and governance. From 2019 a review process of the WFD is previewed to start, and the opportunities for debate are therefore now open. In this presentation, we discuss the philosophy and principles of this umbrella instrument from a perspective other than its application context. Departing from different challenges, but similar problems, Australia started its route towards more sustainable water management under the water reform agenda that began in 1994 and accelerated with the 2004 National Water Initiative (NWI). Nowadays there are enough lessons and realistic views of both the successes and shortcomings of Australia’s water reforms over the past 24 years. In this paper we discuss, with an exploratory purpose, what would be done differently if the WFD principles were to be applied in the Australian water policy context. With the shared commitment to move towards sustainable water management, the WFD and NWI frameworks will be analysed and compared from an integrated water management perspective.
