How serious is the water shortage in Australia and what measures are used to restrict its use?
CITY residents with well-watered gardens should pay more for their water than flat dwellers who use less, under a proposal by a leading business group. In a paper released today, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) says shortages with the nation’s water supply system were largely man-made but acting as a major brake on economic growth. The study, titled “Water Under Pressure: Australia’s man-made water scarcity and how to fix it”, argues that urban Australians are being offered water restrictions instead of sustainable solutions. At the same time, outdated policies were stopping rural Australians from getting the most value from their water, the paper says. BCA policy director Maria Tarrant said reliance on reducing water use through water restrictions was unsustainable. “We are saying that we should have the Productivity Commission have a look at pricing strategies for urban water and that at some level there will need to be an adjustment to the price paid for water in our cities
