The Australian state Victoria has finally agreed to sign the Murray-Darling Basin national water plan. Victoria agreed to the plan in return for a $1 billion (us $0.9 billion) to upgrade its

Wet Runs: There are 32 ongoing water projects with private sector participation, as also 22 hydro power projects with private participation. Some 20 states are undertaking water sector reforms.
Farm Woe: Net irrigated area in India is 55 mn ha against a net crop area of 142 mn ha.

Fast Dwindling: Forest cover has gone down by 1,409 sq km between 2003 and 2005.

The Canadian government is being urged not to sell huge volumes of water to the parched USA as NGOs warn that, despite appearances to the contrary, the northern neighbour is not a 'great green sponge'. The USA faces severe water shortages in three distinct regions - the South west, Midwest and South East. Canada, on the other hand, has a water resource comparable to that of the USA but only 10% of the population.

IF THE Victorian Government is the main tenant in La La Land, then the Productivity Commission's latest report, Towards Urban Water Reform: A Discussion Paper must be the rent book. Its drift is plain. There is no problem with water supply that a competitive market couldn't fix. "Ultimately, it is possible to envisage an evolution to a fully decentralised urban water market involving many retailers and wholesalers offering different forms of product (for example price and security). However, an important caveat is that such arrangements do not operate elsewhere in the world."