Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia
Abstract
The current approach to water management in Western societies, including Australia, is based on allocating water between different users. Appropriate for commercial uses, this commodity view of water has proved difficult for the inclusion of environmental and social concerns. Issues, such as which aspects have precedence, how much water should be allocated to each and how to make trade-offs in cases of insufficient water, pose problems that are yet to be worked out. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the identification of environmental as well as social water needs. The latter has prompted the writing of this thesis. A closer look at the neglected social water needs reveals the complete permeation of water into all areas of human life, from the basics of survival and health to the ethical and spiritual spheres. All these social aspects, or values, of water, should be integral to water management
