INTHEBLACK November 2023 - Magazine - Page 28
F E AT U R E
Above: A dry riverbed of the Darling Barka River in February 2020 in Louth, Australia. Recent rains across
eastern Australia have increased the flow to rivers feeding the Murray-Darling Basin, bringing much needed
waters to Louth, a community that has struggled with a dry waterbed and sustained drought.
Fargher believes that improved accounting
is fundamental to the stewardship of water
resources.
“By accurately measuring and valuing
water use for different purposes, we can help
ensure water is allocated and used efficiently,
equitably and sustainably,” says Fargher.
“The question is, how do we balance these
competing demands and trade-offs? How do
we reach rational decisions that appreciate
the value of water in its different uses and for
different users? And then how do we use this
knowledge to improve water management by
governments and business?”
THE AUSTRALIAN CASE STUDY
In 2004 in Australia, the National Water
Initiative (NWI) established a blueprint for
national water accounting standardisation
reform. Its purpose was to ensure all
jurisdictions had adequate measuring,
monitoring and reporting systems in place.
It also aimed to support public and investor
confidence in the amount of water being
extracted, recovered, traded and managed.
28 INTHEBLACK November 2023
One outcome of the NWI was the
development of Australian Water Accounting
Standards (AWAS). The AWAS guide the
preparation of water accounting reports and
set out the requirements for the recognition,
quantification, presentation and disclosure of
water usage.
Professor Jayne Godfrey FCPA, from the
Australian National University’s College of
Business and Economics, says the AWAS
cover not just water rights and entitlements,
but water quality as well.
“It is information you need to improve
stakeholders’ confidence in evaluating and
making informed decisions about how to
allocate and manage water resources,” she
explains.
The AWAS aim to provide a global
baseline of sustainability disclosures,
enabling companies to better assess and
manage related financial risks.
THE BLUE ECONOMY
Demand management strategies are a factor
in the growing monetisation of water. Brokers
