Current news

Draft Australian Water Stewardship Standard Due in April

Revisions to the pioneering Australian Water Stewardship Standard have progressed through a review by the WSA Technical Advisory Committee and a stakeholder workshop held at Melbourne University in early February.

WSA advisor Matthew Wenban-Smith is currently preparing a draft that includes stakeholder comments for review by the WSA Board of Directors later this month. When the WSA Board has approved the standard it will be released for field-testing. It is hoped users will find the standard easier to use with less clutter and a focus on what water users can do to establish that they are responsible water users.

During the review by the Technical Advisory Committee a new Principle was proposed dealing with water infrastructure as well as elements relating to risk management. The standard also benefited from input by the First People’s Water Engagement Council on cultural water issues. The standard development process has been supported by the MDBA while the stakeholder workshop was supported by the NWC.

NWC Chair Speaks at WSA-AWS Dinner in Melbourne
The Chair of the National Water Commission, Chloe Munro, was guest of honour at a special dinner in Melbourne on 1 February jointly hosted by Water Stewardship Australia and the global Alliance for Water Stewardship. Chair of the First People’s Water Engagement Council, Phil Duncan, was a special guest.

The dinner was attended by participants in the WSA stakeholder workshop on developing a revised Australian Water Stewardship Standard and members of the AWS International Standards Development Committee who held a regular meeting in Melbourne to coincide with the workshop.

Phil Duncan stressed the opportunity of multi-stakeholder processes to address First People's concerns with water use and in particular cultural issues. Chloe Munro discussed the considerable history NWC has with supporting WSA as an independent multi-stakeholder platform to resolve water conflict and promote best practice.

Ms Munro’s full speech can be viewed here

AWS: International Standards to be released in Marseilles following successful meeting in Melbourne

The International Standards Development Committee (ISDC) of the global Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) held a successful three-day meeting in Melbourne in late January prior to joining the WSA stakeholder workshop. The crucial ISDC meeting was the last face-to-face opportunity for committee members to establish an approach for the international standard prior to release of their Draft 1 on Tuesday 13th March, at the World Water Forum in Marseilles. As a result of interaction with Australian colleagues the international team gained greater insights into issues such as management of riparian zones and cultural water issues of indigenous peoples. The ISDC comprises 15 people from different regions of the world representing the interests of water users, civil society and the public sector.

WSA Secretary and AWS Co-Chair Michael Spencer will help launch the global standard in Marseilles.