Identify TWO water management strategies that are currently in place.
How do water management strategies promote sustainability?

A water management strategy is a method which is used to secure, save, or improve access to water and is essential to ensuring we secure our water supply for future generations and the environment.

1. Desalination

The first water management strategy we currently see in place is desalination. Desalination works by removing the salt in the seawater through the use of electrically charged membranes to trap the salt ions in the water therefore allowing fresh water to be extracted, making it now available for drinking.  This water management strategy promotes sustainability by allowing states such as Victoria the ability to produce billions of litres of water a year.

Before Victoria built a desalination plant, they experienced the Millennium Drought, this lasted from 1997 to 2009. During this time Victoria experienced extreme hardship, this drought sparked the interest in building a desalination plant which now produces 444 million litres of water a day.

NSW also opened the Sydney Desalination Plan in 2010 which was only due to work during drought but it has been open and operational since 2019.  It helps reduce the reliance on filtration plants and dams.

Although desalination has short term benefits some long-term implications include, increased fossil fuel use, as it can make the water unsafe to drink. Therefore while desalination provides a short-term solution to water scarcity it can have negative impacts in the future.

Timeline Sydney Desalination Plant

2. Drip Irrigation

Another water management strategy we see in action at the moment is drip irrigation. Firstly, drip irrigation is known as one of the most effective irrigation methods with a 95-100% efficiency compared to sprinkler systems with an 80-85% efficiency. This shows us drip irrigation is promoting sustainability through increasing water efficiency while also giving the ability to meet 50% of the increased water demand.

Drip irrigation was placed in North-West Victoria and South-West NSW, being looked over by Troy Richman who is Almas Almond Generator. Troy reconstructed the drip irrigation of approximately 730Ha of the almond orchard, this was due to the drainage system. The reasoning behind this was prior to the readjustment they experienced trees death due to rise in water tables in the low points of the landscape, and finding out the emitters were applying up to four times as much water than intended. Since then 400 Ha have been developed with correct drainage.

However, long term implications include high cost of material, labour costs and maintenance of the surface area which can be very expensive.  Drip irrigation is also very high maintenance, with the need to constantly ensure there are no piping issues to make sure your crops aren’t affected. 

Overall, drip irrigation is a useful and effective water management as long as you are willing to spend the money and take the time to stay on top of issues.

Therefore, water management strategies promote sustainability through using water responsibly, effectively and efficiently.

The above diagram shows how a typical drip irrigation works