ABSTRACT
River Basin management (RBM) can be characterized by sets of trade-off decisions, where the potential (or very real) benefi ts from one choice are relinquished in favor of another choice perceived to be more desirable or benefi cial. The incidence of RBM varying decisions have been given further weight in recent decades by public policy requirements to satisfy triple-bottom-line (i.e., economic, social and environmental) objectives, particularly in regard to the sustainable development of resources (Hacking and Guthrie 2008). The list of management objectives can be expanded to include community outcomes as an important management requirement. This chapter examines these trade-off requirements by considering dimensions of people and place through a discussion of RBM outcomes in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). Specifi cally, we characterize people as the economic, social and community aspects of the MDB, while place is comprised of environmental attributes. Using the MDB as a basis for discussion provides useful insights into how early RBM in the MDB emphasized people issues; the gradual recognition of place relevance in the MDB; examples of the transitional RBM approaches adopted, and their effectiveness. The more recent MDB Plan approach now seeks to entrench sustainable RBM across people and place; and despite acknowledging that Basin managers often fail to learn from one another (Campbell et al. 2013), we still believe that lessons might be learned by RBM practitioners internationally.
