Australia: Water

Pastoralists should identify the water and operational assets that matter to the station before activity begins, then ensure any access or commercial agreement clearly deals with monitoring, disruption, rehabilitation, liability and review. The legal position will depend on the mining or exploration licence (as the case may be), the pastoral lease, government policy, approvals and proposed activity, but early preparation gives a family stronger footing in discussions.

Asia-Pacific data centre expansion is creating unprecedented insurance challenges as rapid infrastructure growth strains regional water and power resources. Could intensive resource consumption by data centres generate environmental liability claims from affected communities and regulators? And are traditional property insurance models adequately capturing the contingent business interruption risks created by concentrated digital infrastructure dependencies?

The Supreme Court has confirmed that the threshold for establishing nuisance remains high, and that factual causation will be difficult to establish when there are multiple factors contributing to an incident.

Could the legal validity of the Basin Plan, a statutory plan under the Water Act, be challenged on environmental grounds?

Australia and California both face increased drought, but they approach water rights via different legal frameworks.

The investment, technology upgrades and infrastructure needed for a truly sustainable global economy are not yet ready.

This newsletter links to media releases, reports, cases and laws relating to planning, environment & sustainability.

Background and interview with activist who aims to protect the fragile Kimberley from those who wish to exploit it.

The ABC Four Corners program 'Cash Splash' looked at the alleged waste of taxpayer money under the multi-billion plan.