Cultivating Community

Amanda Shankland

In the face of escalating water scarcity, effective water management has become a central concern globally. The Murray–Darling Basin, spanning over a million square kilometres across four states and one territory, is a lifeline for Australian agriculture and rural communities.

Cultivating Community: How discourse shapes the philosophy, practice and policy of water management in the Murray–Darling Basin dissects the prevailing environmental discourses shaping water policy in the Murray–Darling Basin and assesses their implications for both the environment and for farming communities.

Drawing on five months of extensive field research among farmers and Murray–Darling Basin Authority officials, Dr Amanda Shankland presents a nuanced understanding of farmer perspectives within the broader policy discourse. By examining the interplay between environmental discourses and farmer knowledge, Shankland sheds light on how different ideologies shape policy decisions and, subsequently, impact water management practices.

Central to the book’s contribution is the identification and analysis of four key environmental discourses prevalent in the Murray–Darling Basin: administrative rationalism, economic rationalism, democratic pragmatism, and green environmentalism.

Against the backdrop of looming water scarcity and the declining health of the Murray–Darling Basin, Cultivating Community challenges these dominant discourses by highlighting a new perspective, community centrism, which emphasises community-based cooperation and engagement in water management. By amplifying farmer voices and advocating for a more inclusive approach to policy deliberations, Cultivating Community paves the way for alternative futures in water management that prioritise social values alongside economic and environmental considerations.

Cultivating Community is a timely and indispensable resource for charting a path towards a more resilient and equitable water future in the Murray–Darling Basin and beyond.