A new report into the nation's overarching water policy has concluded that taps in some of Australia's regional and remote communities still do not run with safe and reliable drinking water.
In a report released on Friday, the Productivity Commission also took aim at a lack of transparency around major government-funded rural water, or irrigation, infrastructure projects that were slugging taxpayers for "large private benefits" and "potentially distorting trade and investment decisions."
Meanwhile, the Commission said while the 2004 National Water Initiative had served Australia well, it called on governments to urgently renew and update it to better protect water security and prepare for climate change that was increasing the variability of rainfall and incidence of extreme weather.
With inflows into the nation's largest river systems, including the Murray-Darling Basin, dropping up to 50 per cent and the population having boomed over the past two decades, the Commission also said the NWI must be adjusted around the "growing and changing demand for water."
The initiative aligns the water policies of federal, state and territory governments and sets out principles from water sharing and management to access rights, pricing principles and investment in infrastructure to harmonisation with trade and other government policy settings.
Productivity Commission Commissioner Joanne Chong said a renewed NWI must include a commitment from government to "ensuring safe and reliable drinking water for all Australians."
"Communities in some regional and remote areas still do not have access to safe drinking water," she said.
The National Water Reform 2024 interim report said some of these issues revolved around chemical health standards and unacceptable taste and colour "exceedences of aesthetic parameters."
It said the situation, where access to quality water supplies consistent with the Australian drinking water guidelines "remains problematic" both during and outside of drought conditions, was leading to public health risks and a loss of confidence in providers within the impacted communities.
The report also highlighted issues around the detail, consistency and availability of drinking water quality reports continuing to vary for regional and remote areas.
And while it pointed out this situation could improve from July 1 when service providers with under 10,000 connections will be forced to report quality risk management details, "further development is required" to centralise the reporting around microbiological and chemical compliance and the number of boil water alerts issued.
The report said also said the participation of First Nations peoples in water management must be boosted by recognising their "reverence and ongoing cultural responsibility" for rivers and groundwater systems.
"And their desire to participate in all significant processes and decisions informed by this Initiative," it said.
The interim report also sets out the Commission's preliminary assessment of jurisdiction's progress towards meeting the outcome and objective of the 2004 document.
Meanwhile, it took aim at a continued lack of transparency in processes used to assess the ecological sustainability and economic viability of major government-funded rural water, or irrigation, infrastructure projects.
"In response to requests for information about major government-funded rural water projects, governments indicated that they (or the relevant water utility) had assessed these projects as providing net benefits," the report said.
"However, the underpinning analyses were not published and were unavailable for public feedback or scrutiny.
"The Australian, state and territory governments have continued to fund irrigation infrastructure projects that have large private benefits, likely imposing costs on taxpayers and potentially distorting trade and investment decisions."
The findings follow a 2021 PC review of the NWI that also called for it to be overhauled and rewritten.
However, the April 4 PC report was preempted by an announcement by Water Minister Tanya Plibersek who last week flagged that the government would look to update the NWI by strengthening the connection between climate science and water planning.
"As water becomes an increasingly contested resource, it is vital we have plans in place to support our communities, industry, and the environment that relies on it," she said.
"A renewed NWI will provide an extra level of confidence for communities that our precious water resources are efficiently managed in the face of climate change."
