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By John Radcliffe A ustralia is a federation of six states and two territories, each with its own government, independent of the Australian government. Water is constitutionally a states/territories matter. In most states, water supplies are undertaken by state-owned corporations, though in regional New South Wales and in Queensland, these services are generally provided by the third tier of government — local government. Wastewater services are usually operated by water supply organizations. Stormwater systems are universally separated from wastewater systems. Over the years, the Australian Federal and state/territory governments have jointly agreed on a series of innovative water policies that have provided a firm foundation with a common understanding among governments. National Strategy Australia commenced developing its National Water Quality Management Strategy over 30 years ago. The strategy has resulted in the production of 24 guidelines encompassing drinking water; freshwater and marine water quality; groundwater protection; sewerage systems, including effluent management, trade wastes, and biosolids; effluents from agricultural industries (dairies, piggeries, wool scouring, tanneries, wineries, and distilleries); and water recycling (managing health and environmental risks, augmentation of drinking water supplies with recycled water, the use of stormwater, and managed aquifer recharge). All these guidelines are then able to be adopted into states/territories legislation and regulations for enforcement by Environment Protection Authorities and Public Health Departments. Local Agreements Uniform policies for Australia's urban and rural water resources were brought together between the Federal and states/territories governments in the Intergovernmental Agreement on the National Water Initiative in 2004. This encompasses clauses on water entitlements and the equitable sharing of water allocations in proportion to those entitlements, water markets and trading, water pricing, management of environmental water, national water accounting, urban water, and community partnerships, together with knowledge and skills. It has objectives of ensuring healthy, safe and reliable water supplies; increased domestic and commercial water use efficiency; facilitating water trading between and within the urban and rural sectors; encouraging innovation in water supply sourcing, treatment, storage and discharge; achieving improved pricing for metropolitan water and establishing a national water accounting system. As a result, there is virtually no litigation over water rights issues in Australia. The agreement included the development of national guidelines for water-sensitive urban development in housing subdivisions and high-rise buildings, incorporating the integrated design of the urban water cycle, water supplies, wastewater, stormwater and groundwater management, urban land use design, and environmental protection. Historic Drought From about 1996, Australia entered a long period of below- average rainfall, known as the "millennium drought." The drought reached an apogee around 2006 when harsh water restrictions — accompanied by community awareness programs — were in place in all mainland capital cities and for most of irrigated agriculture. Most of the community responded positively to these challenges and per capita consumption has remained lower since the end of the drought. The importance of the water market was demonstrated when rice growers, rather than planting their rice, found it more profitable to sell their annual water allocations to farmers growing more valuable crops in horticulture. An established and consistent policy framework served Australia well. Solutions That Worked The drought encouraged widespread uptake of water recycling from urban wastewater treatment plants for use on high-value irrigated crops in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. In some cases, the recycled water was mixed with limited supplies of mains (public) water, stormwater, or groundwater to reduce the salinity of the recycled water. Dual reticulation systems were installed in new suburbs, the first being Rouse Hill in Sydney. Similar developments followed 16 wateronline.com n Water Innovations Down Under On Top: Lessons In Water Recycling From Australia More than a decade before the U.S. West's historic drought, Australia had to solve an even longer, drier spell. What can we learn from their experience?