Evolution of the societal value of water resources for economic development versus environmental sustainability in Australia from 1843 to 2011

Societal values are generally seen as leading to changes in human decisions and behavior, but have not been addressed adequately in current water management, which is blind to changes in the social drivers for, or societal responses to, management decisions. This paper describes the evolution of the societal value of water resources in Australia over a period of 169 years. These values were classified into two groups: those supporting economic development versus those supporting environmental sustainability. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper was used as the main data source to track the changes in the societal value of water resources. Content analysis was used to create a description of the evolution of these societal values. Mathematical regression analysis, in combination of transition theory, was used to determine the stages of transition of the societal value, and the co-evolved social-ecological framework was used to explain how the evolution of societal values interacted with water management policies and practices, and droughts. Key findings included that the transition of the societal value of water resources fitted the sigmoid curve – a conceptual S curve for the transition of social systems. Also, the transition of the societal value of water resources in Australia went through three stages: (1) pre-development (1900s–1962), when the societal value of water resources was dominated by economic development; (2) take-off (1963–1980), when the societal value of water resources reflected the increasing awareness of the environment due to the outbreak of pollution events; (3) acceleration (1981–2011), when the environment-oriented societal value of water resources combined with the Millennium Drought to trigger a package of policy initiatives and management practices focused on sustainable water resource use. The approach developed in this study provides a roadmap for the development of new disciplines across social and natural science.