Water values

Bark, Rosalind; Hatton MacDonald, Darla; Connor, Jeffery D.; Crossman, Neville D.; Jackson, Sue

Water values

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Bark, Rosalind ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-9322, Hatton MacDonald, Darla, Connor, Jeffery D., Crossman, Neville D. and Jackson, Sue (2011) Water values. In: Water - Science and Solutions for Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, VIC, Australia, pp. 17-27. ISBN 9780643103283

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Abstract

People value water and water environments for a diverse range of reasons. Water is essential for human life and wellbeing, is critical to food production, and is a part of many manufacturing and industrial processes. Australians have a deep connection with the water environments of rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coasts, which are central to much recreation and tourism, and for Indigenous Australians water environments have a deep spiritual meaning. Perceptions of dryness of the continent have also shaped the Australian ‘psyche’.1 Many of the values for water are shared, but it is the contested values that are at the heart of conflicts over water, such as determining sustainable levels of use. Large-scale water use inevitably has some impact on water ecosystems, so setting sustainable levels of use inevitably involves weighing up competing values. This chapter outlines the many benefits obtained from water and how they shape the way water is managed in Australia. Although it is convenient to describe separate social, cultural, environmental, and economic values for water, they are in fact closely intertwined.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 2 - zero hunger ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/zero_hunger
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Science, Society and Sustainability
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	09 Jul 2026 11:50
Last Modified:	12 Jul 2026 23:00
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103804
DOI:

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