Accountability in planning for sustainable water supplies in South East Queensland

Abstract

Providing a secure water supply for future population growth that accommodates climate change is a high priority of governments. Moreover, investing in such costly infrastructure must meet obligations for economic, social and environmental sustainability and high standards of governance. In this research, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability framework is used to assess alternative water supply options proposed in the 2009 draft South East Queensland (SEQ) Water Strategy. While it has become the norm for large companies to use the GRI to report on progress using economic, social and environmental sustainability indicators, this paper investigates the applicability of the GRI 2005 Public Agency Supplement designed for use by governments. By including indicators about public policy disclosures, efficiency and effectiveness, governments can be called to account for decision-making that affects future generations. The results illustrate the value of the GRI approach as a basis for improving transparency in governance and decision-making to achieve sustainability performance in water source options.

Keywords:

• sustainability
• water planning
• water infrastructure
• GRI, triple bottom line
• water supply