A new report released by the University of New England (UNE) has found government bureaucracy is preventing improvements in the use of water in Australia.
The inter-governmental National Water Initiative was created in 2004 to provide a simplified approach to water management.
But UNE researchers have found too much red tape is stifling sustainable water practices in regional and rural communities.
Dr Jacqueline Williams says there are too many government policies and they need to be reformed.
She says there needs to be a system that harmonises the market and regulatory instruments.
The results of the study, which was funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures, are presented in a report titled “Transaction costs and water reform: the devils hiding in the details”.
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