Author(s)

H. Bjornlund

Abstract

How to share scarce water resources is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century and presents one of the greatest risks to global societies. Governments have found it problematic to resolve these complex issues using traditional top-down approaches. Many jurisdictions have therefore made a transition from government to governance in water management as this approach integrates all sectors of civil society in the process of finding solutions with minimum socioeconomic and environmental impacts, which are widely accepted within the affected communities. This process has proven difficult and conflict ridden in most places. Australia is one of the jurisdictions in which this process has been most aggressively promoted and therefore provides a good opportunity to learn lessons for other jurisdictions.

Keywords

sustainable irrigation, water sharing, Alberta, Canada, Australia