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Governing water service provision: Lessons from Australia

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  • Cooper, Bethany
  • Crase, Lin

Abstract

Using the Australian and institutional policy experience, this paper considers the problems associated with water governance and seeks to draw some general lessons for public policy. The paper is used to specifically explore the governance challenges that arise because of (1) the proclivity to regard water as ‘special’; (2) the scope for political opportunism especially in drought; (3) the inherent uncertainty that attends water availability in some settings. We conclude that enhanced governance can be achieved, but diversions from cost recovery pricing can be difficult to reverse.

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  • Cooper, Bethany & Crase, Lin, 2016. "Governing water service provision: Lessons from Australia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(PA), pages 42-47.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:43:y:2016:i:pa:p:42-47
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2016.06.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Katrin Millock & Céline Nauges, 2010. "Household Adoption of Water-Efficient Equipment: The Role of Socio-Economic Factors, Environmental Attitudes and Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 46(4), pages 539-565, August.
    2. Pinto, Francisco Silva & Marques, Rui Cuhna, 2015. "Tariff recommendations: A Panacea for the Portuguese water sector?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 36-44.
    3. Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea & Campedelli, Bettina, 2015. "The new Italian water tariff method: A launching point for novel infrastructures or a backwards step?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 45-53.
    4. Bethany Cooper & John Rose & Lin Crase, 2012. "Does anybody like water restrictions? Some observations in Australian urban communities," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(1), pages 61-81, January.
    5. Gareth A S Edwards, 2013. "Shifting Constructions of Scarcity and the Neoliberalization of Australian Water Governance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(8), pages 1873-1890, August.
    6. Grafton, R. Quentin & Chu, Long & Kompas, Tom, 2015. "Optimal water tariffs and supply augmentation for cost-of-service regulated water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 54-62.
    7. Byrnes, Joel, 2013. "A short institutional and regulatory history of the Australian urban water sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 11-19.
    8. Nicholas Pawsey & Lin Crase, 2013. "The Mystique of Water Pricing and Accounting," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 32(3), pages 328-339, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Malcolm Abbott & Bruce Cohen, 2017. "Drawing a Line in the Sand: Valuing Regulated Assets of the Australian Water Industry," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 36(1), pages 32-48, March.
    2. Malcolm Abbott & My Tran, 2020. "The Price Elasticity of Demand of Australian Urban Residential Consumers and Water Restrictions," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(3), pages 153-153, March.
    3. Piubello Orsini, Luca & Leardini, Chiara & Danesi, Letizia & Guerrini, Andrea & Frison, Nicola, 2023. "Circular economy in the water and wastewater sector: Tariff impact and financial performance of SMARTechs," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Amaral, António L. & Martins, Rita & Dias, Luís C., 2023. "Operational drivers of water reuse efficiency in Portuguese wastewater service providers," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea & Senoner, Thomas, 2020. "Establishing a new water tariff method that complies with european principles and respects statutory autonomy: The case of South Tyrol," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

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