Prologue. The danger of boredom -- 1. Conversations with Goyder7F 19s ghost (A context for talking about water) -- 2. Beyond sober thought (Governments take control 1880s 1920s) -- 3. Excluding lawyers from paradise (Establishing a public policy framework 1900s 1980s) -- 4. Alignment of the planets (Another attempt at basin-wide management) -- 5. Talking sustainability dreaming production (Contradictions within contemporary water management) -- 6. The chariot wheels of the Commonwealth (Responsibility for reform what should be done?) -- Epilogue. Pragmatism, a philosophy of despair
Summary
Saving the Murray Darling Basin has become one of the key environmental issues in Australian politics. But under the existing water management system the benefits of hundreds of millions of dollars currently invested each year being frittered away