People living in the Murray-Darling Basin value and care about water in many ways. Beyond drinking water and food production, water shapes Basin communities and their futures.
We partnered with the University of Canberra's Regional Wellbeing Survey to ask residents about their connection to water. The project was funded through the Basin Condition Monitoring Program (BCMP). The goal was to improve understanding of the drivers, timing and scale of change in Basin communities as a result of water reform.
The Regional Wellbeing Survey examines wellbeing and quality of life in regional and rural Australia. This is the first time it has been expanded to ask Basin residents about water in their communities.
Responses from over 6000 Basin residents identified 10 overarching water related values:
- human health, wellbeing and safety
- environmental health
- liveable and viable communities
- First Nations peoples having water ownership, rights and access
- fair management and sharing of water resources
- effective and just governance of water resources
- spending time in and with nature
- residents' voices being heard and acted on in decision making processes
- living well with climatic variability and climate change
- having a strong economy that supports jobs and livelihood opportunities.
