AUSTRALIA–INDONESIA JOINT SYMPOSIUM IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Jakarta, 13-17 September 2006

Community involvement in decision-making in urban water utilities in Australia
Dr Geoffrey Syme, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water, Wembley, Western Australia

As competition for water becomes more obvious in Australia the decisions relating to the supply, quality and reliability levels of service for urban consumers become more difficult. Water reform to this point has focused mostly on the rural scene but it will become increasingly pressing for urban utilities. Issues such as the environmental externalities caused to regions because of increased sources of supply, interregional transfer of water, the ethics and market ramifications of transfer of water between urban and rural users, and the introduction of competition within urban utilities will all add to the current needs for community involvement in decision making. Currently, utilities involvement with the urban consumer has been mostly limited to a consumer survey basically addressing issues such as the aesthetics of water supply. Comprehensive public involvement on the major decision making issues has in the main been quite limited. There are, of course, notable exceptions for key decisions. This is a pity as research in Australia has shown willingness for all ages and income levels to become involved in such decision making. It has also been shown that if public involvement has been seen to be 'just' there is an increased commitment to further involvement and partnership with the utility. Fortunately, there are a number of techniques that can be used to supplement the traditional survey such as experimental techniques, attitudinal behaviour modelling, futures methodologies and valuation techniques that can assist in providing meaningful input in a form that can be easily adopted by decision makers. Examples in regard to water quality, transfer of water between regions, dam safety, and levels of service associated the aesthetics of drinking water and reliability of supply are outlined.

Geoff Syme is a Chief Research Scientist at the CSIRO Land and Water and Research Director of the Society, Economy and Policy theme. Geoff has been involved with the theoretical and applied aspects of social research in water resources and other natural resources management such as mining for twenty eight years. He has developed an international reputation in the area of fairness in environmental decision making and planning, design and evaluation of methodologies for public involvement programs, public attitudinal surveys and social impact assessments of policies and specific developments.