Policy and regulatory aspects of water banking in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia and California, USA

By October 7th, 2025

Project overview

Project title

Policy and regulatory aspects of water banking in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia and California, USA.

Project description

This project investigates the policies and rules that influence the ability and motivations to store river water in underground aquifers for use during drought. The expected outcome is information that can be used to design policies and regulations that allow greater uptake of water banking techniques. These practices can provide cost effective water supplies during drought conditions for Murray-Darling Basin communities, irrigators, First Nations peoples, and the environment.

Supervisory team

University

Name of university supervisorProfessor Neville Crossman
Name of universityFlinders University
Email addressneville.crossman@flinders.edu.au
FacultyCollege of Business, Government and Law

CSIRO

Name of CSIRO supervisorDr Declan Page
Email addressdeclan.page@csiro.au
CSIRO Research UnitEnvironment

Industry

Name of industry supervisorDaniel Pierce
Name of business/organisationOne Basin CRC
Email addressdaniel.pierce@onebasin.com.au

Further details

Primary location of studentFlinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park SA 5042, Australia
Industry engagement component locationOne Basin CRC Limited, Griffith Research Hub, Research Station Rd, Hanwood NSW 2680

One Basin CRC Limited, Mildura Research Hub, Mallee Regional Innovation Centre (MRIC) Building T/453 Benetook Avenue, Mildura VIC 3500, Australia

One Basin CRC Limited, Loxton Research Hub, Bookpurnong Road, Loxton SA 5333, Australia
Other locationsUniversity of California Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, United States of America
Ideal student skillsetCandidates with a qualification equivalent to an Australian H1 Honours degree (a prior research thesis that was at least six months of full-time credit and received an excellent mark, or a first author publication in a peer-reviewed international journal).

Candidates with Masters or honours degrees in the following disciplines, or with equivalent research or work experience will be favourably considered: water economics, social sciences, public policy, water resource management, hydrology.

Candidates must be able to spend 6 months across the industry engagement locations.
Application close dateOpen until position filled
ApplyContact Professor Neville Crossman