Australia placed to be world water leader

Improved water productivity and increased export incomes are at the heart of a new National water management blueprint launched at the University of Melbourne today.

The Blueprint for Regional Water Productivity launched by Minister for Environment, The Hon Greg Hunt will position Australia as a world leader in water resource management.

The Blueprint will provide an innovative and collaborative framework relevant from the farm scale to the national level and will guide efforts to tackle a range of water management issues.

The Blueprint was developed as part of the Carlton Connect Initiative led by Professor Peter Scales from the Melbourne School of Engineering.

"We have some major objectives in mind. We want to look at irrigated and rain-fed agriculture that takes maximum advantage of variable water availability. We need to move towards environmental water management that is underpinned by a strong evidence-base," he said.

"The project will also look at efficient water distribution and markets that promote multiple benefits and planning that will enrich regional communities."

Achievement of the objectives will result in a more sustainable approach to economic development and help create more resilient regional communities.