2000 words, excluding abstract, bibliography and references (please note an abstract must be included with your essay – max 200 words) 1) Resource management and power Power is not simple, it is compl

Resource Management

Name:

Institutional Affiliation:

Date:

Murray-Darling Basin

Abstract:

The Murray-Darling Basin is tainted with maladministration, unlawful behaviour and

misuse of power. Reports doubt the authority can do their job and this, to some extent, means

that there is some unlawfulness and abuse of power by those in the Murray-Darling Basin

Royal Commission. In the lower Darling, an environmental factor unfolds leaving the body to

govern the river system. With the critical issue being how much water the plan should return

to the environment, the Royal Commission ruled that the decision put into consideration has

social and economic concerns. To them however, this is not a scientific determination, but

rather a decision made by senior management, the authority’s board, and an unlawful

approach that sums it up to maladministration (Bormann, 2009). The Royal Commission

recommends a complete overhaul of the plan by considering weather change. Such

assessment, however, has caused anguish within the farming communities. The Royal

Commission refutes and states that the negative impacts are either being overstated or do not

exist. Though the findings are damaging, the question remains if anyone will listen. The

Royal Commission, which was enacted under a former South Australian Government and the

new one, does not seem to have the appetite for another water fight (Ostrom, 2000). With the

original plan being ripped up, there is the danger of missing the current position and States

might walk out of the project.

Introduction:

Power was one of Michel Foucault’s significant interests, and he maintains that there

is a difference between ‘Power’ and ‘exercising’ it. To him, Power is the multiplicity of force

relations, imminent in the sphere in which they operate. It constitutes their organization, as

the process through which constant struggles and confrontations either transform, strengthen

or reverse them. It is in the support that these force relations find in one another, that form a

chain or system. Focus here is on power as an everyday practice and its connection to being

exercised.

According to Royal Commissioner Bret Walker, the Murray-Daring Basin Authority

has proved to be unwilling and incapable of acting lawfully in the basin-plan administration.

It has seen the once mighty Darling come to ruin. The 1472 kilometre long dying river is

struggling with the threats of greed, mismanagement and leaders not exercising power in the

managing of this natural resource. It is alleged that cotton farms have misused public lands

allocated to improve the river's health. It comes after water pump meters have been tampered

with or not connected at all, pumping during embargoes and the stealing of water set aside for

environmental purposes (Green, 2005). With the surrounding cotton irrigation plants around

the Darling River, public officials and other inquiry are in search of answers on whether

compliance officers were stopped in investigation allegations for the widespread water theft.

Effects of the mismanagement and misuse of official power in exercising the set rules

and regulations on theft and water mismanagement have been felt over the past years. Effects

include those as wrecked environment, hurt floodplain graziers, anxiety to communities and

farmers, death of famous birds and fish, and has decreased the amount of economic and

recreational development in the area (Olson, 2015). The river people are appalled that the

river is now a trickle due to upstream irrigation. No doubt power and resource management

are very complex. Vast amounts of money, however, is involved and this increases the

chances of corruption and frauds that sneak in.

Thesis:

Adding to the fact that climate change will intensify the drought and floods, a

continuation of water mismanagement in this age of climate change will lead to a disaster.

This essay will, therefore, delve deeper into understanding power in such a situation as

resource management, the implications it has and why understanding power is essential for a

clearer running of management systems.

Topic sentence 1:

A body, organisation or sector becomes a useful force only when it is both productive

and subjected. Disciplines that control and train these bodies face threats implied by power

regimes, which in turn kills other individuals. With bio-power systems, the main aim is to

organise and manage life in an entire population. It means not one single issue or thing be

searched, but things under the whole facade need to be investigated. It also means that power

needs to be exercised within and through these bodies to protect the individuals and the

population.

Unlike the management in the Darling River, power should not be repressive but

should instead act through and create or better the population and other involved bodies,

transforming them into the body of society. It is not the enacted law, as they allow illegally

constructed works that divert water into irrigation dams and away from natural waterways to

become legalised. It does seem appropriate to say having the Nationals in charge of water is

similar to having a fox in charge of a hen’s house. They cannot be trusted, and some issues

still need to be addressed as well as questions to answer. Things like how people steal water,

if it is indeed necessary to irrigate so much cotton in such an arid continent as Australia, and

what can be done to ensure that natural resources are not sucked into irrigators pump are

issues that need to be deeply discussed to re-challenge these implications felt by the country

(Green, 2005).

Though it is a daunting task, managing water in the river means more work to avert

any potential disasters. It is, however, what the National Party have been doing. In 2004, the

New South Wales government passed legislation, which cut off water data set to exclude the

Millennium Drought. It means data collected over the past 13 years should be excluded

because it used less water for these big cotton farms.

Also, Australia needs a Royal Commissioner into the Murray-Darling Basin

administration. It will enable the firms and communities, as well as the environments,

depending on this once healthy and mighty river to be well-secured into the future.

Topic sentence 2:

The thinking of power in a repressive form is the traditional way of reasoning.

According to Foucault, he suggests that the most important kind of power in our modern

society should not repress at all. It instead should work less subtly and visibly, and it is what

he calls normalising power. When we think of power, it is more violent, like a judge

sentencing an offender or an angry boss commanding his employees to do as they are told.

Control as repression is associated with actual, threatened, physical or mental strength or

brutality. Though it might seem useful as seen in the Darling River case, it implies that there

is some form of failure, which is mostly in its mismanagement. Had the administration not

been corrupt or theft had not occurred, then there would be no need for the use of such

repressive power.

As with the Darling River case, the farmers and river people rely on the water to feed

their communities and run their daily lives for now close to two decades. They want to

continue using the water, but the authority uses its power to use the same resources for

something else. Giving the cotton farmers the freedom to pump water upstream to their large

irrigation farms left the community to suffer as the cotton farms, which amounted to

thousands in acres, used close to billions in litres of water from the Darling River. The theft

and corruption used to get water to these farms have left many people, both within and

outside the area, affected by the administration’s greed that still festers more corruption.

Notwithstanding, the Australian government have in place systems that regulate the

amount of waters to be used by companies, controlling of diseases within the country, laws

that protect the agricultural sector and the population and so on. They are put in place to

safeguard the nation’s resources and care for its people. Instead, these laws, because of a

malfunctioning administration, are not making these resources available and safe for the

country and its people. These deep stake players, however, have received billions of money

to harbour these cotton farmers in Australia and have them carry out their farming using the

country’s now dying resource.

Also, the cotton is not theirs for use, and this makes the people more aggravated. As a

lot of water is being used to irrigate these lands, some communities have come up with

solutions as planting hemp (Olson, 2015). As it is a viable solution to clothing and for other

industrial purposes, it does not use as much water as cotton does. Despite that, it prevents

land degradation and can is used for building material as well as whatever products cotton or

wool makes. It also enriches biodiversity. Cod died in vast numbers, the water dried due to

the pumping of water upstream, and this caused the oxidation of the water, thus the death of

the variety and variability of life.

Suppose the government was patriotic and not working on its interest with other

outside countries, or suppose it was powerful, then they would normalise their power. By

repressing power, they force the community to do what they do not want to. Should the

government and the administration standardise its power, it makes people do what they have

to, and automatically turns people, who by their own will, do what society wishes them to do.

Had they been serious about normalising their powers, the Chinese and other cotton farmers

would not have in the first place moved to Australia to carry out cotton farming. Had they

also been successful at maintaining their non-oppressive power roles then they would

implement rules that stop or curb issues, as the cotton farmers and the misuse and

mismanagement of the Darling River water. Their values when it comes to managing power

and resources, is seen and felt by others, who in turn respect the authority and rules set in

place for the people and farmers in Australia. For them to better understand the role of their

power in management or resources, they need to understand the importance of authority and

what power means for the nation’s population as it constructs the people views.

Topic sentence 3:

Understanding power and its relationship to resource management mean that the

Australian government will have to embrace other adaptive management techniques to treat

all resource management as a process needing constant revision and a willingness to learn

from experience (Ostrom, 2000). It might also mean sacrificing short-term goals for the sake

of long-term goals and objectives. For stakeholders, it is means participating in such adaptive

approaches, which requires an engaging commitment, which places considerable demands on

them. By being involved in the Murphy-Darling River case, they build knowledge, which not

only increases their competencies but also increases their understanding of this topic. This

further works to their advantage as it strengthens their commitment to change and in better

managing procedures and processes needed to restore and stop the mismanagement of the

natural resource. It will also mean the provision of appropriate structures necessary for the

community and the population’s growth and health before the approach and management

processes take effect (Bormann, 2009). Such arrangements might include dams and other

water bodies for their use as the administration works on getting a long-term solution to

revive the dying basin.

In as much as work is being done to right this wrong, it is essential to know that

information and the understanding of the management processes should be ensured,

maintained and retained to provide these people and the local communities with a foundation

in which they participate and are engaged in the planning process.

Also, it will be more useful for the administration to have the necessary skills and

resources needed to manage these resources better. By having a schedule of their resources,

the government can quickly determine their workload and get to see how far they are when it

comes to achieving success or in identifying possible conflicts. Building a strategy that will

better address the Darling Basin and the water shortage as well as the effects as drought, may

work to define what efforts are needed for the tasks. Also, capacity tracking reports act to

bring more visibility to the staffing or strategies used in this project. By prioritising resources

and categorising them into various easier to manage components, can get the most out of the

team, resources used and the project a hand. But all this needs contingency plans put in place

which allows for a ‘Plan B’ in case there are unexpected changes. In the end, a forecasting

strategy should be put in place to implement these recommendations for plans or projects. In

this time and age, technology should be utilised in making processes faster and more

accurate. It can be used to automate processes or strategies for a more streamlined approach

to resource management and planning.

Though the Darling Basin looks dry and brown, its soil is alive. There are solutions to

beat the drought as a means to supplement the areas and bring water before a long-term

solution is found. By using their power and their position in the administration to show

farmers how to survive and thrive during the drought, acts a way that enables the society and

the farmers to intervene in resource management. By having in place systems that tell where

and how the water flows or how the system works and how to slow down the drought and use

water from Mulloon Creek to hydrate the land, will add more to manage the property and its

resources better. As the government is in charge, it should work and put effort into

reconstructing the landscape. By channelling this water to at least get the system running, is

all they need to let nature take its course in the journey to rejuvenating the Darling River.

Should this be done, in a couple of years, the land should turn into a flourishing, rich

and vibrant landscape. As they are in power, they ought to get water back into the area, just

as before. It means planting things as reeds and willows to understand the hydrology well.

Also, being in management means that they see what needs to be done and find the right

people to do it. By triggering the areas' fertility means its ecosystem will come to be. Such

results, despite the drought, will be evident, as the area continues unleashing its abundance.

With moisture, results will be abundant, and production will be as before or even better, and

this will mean a restored ecosystem.

But for this to be possible, those in power need to exercise their roles with extreme

caution and care so as not to let in things as corruption, mismanagement or wasting these

resources find their way again into the system. Also, other viable solutions could have a long-

lasting solution to water and drought problems in the area by working together with the

community and the farmers. Normalising their power and making their stand and authority

know will ward off corrupt people and intentions not aligned to their goals. When leaders use

repressive power as they have, but now to the advantage of the people, then that means they

are solving a problem. For them to use threats in chasing the cotton growers means that the

cotton growers are at fault. They otherwise would not have been there if the government had

made it clear they were unwelcome. The authority should use their power to ensure that

people do what as expected of them in the first place.

Conclusion:

In summary, though power is not smooth and managing resources can get

complicated, not managing the effects mismanagement has is far more detrimental than

trying to manage resources. Though situations can be managed and controlled, avoiding such

situation saves time and enables the government to focus on other pressing issues. By using

their power and understanding what their role means in managing resources enables them to

come up with better plans for managing and utilising these resources for all to benefit. It is

crucial for those in authority to make rules and laws. If not, serious consequence ought to be

put in place for those who do not adhere to them.

Reference

Bormann, H. (2009). Crisis as a positive role in implementing adaptive management after the

Biscuit fire. Vol. 12(3), p. 143–167

Green, P. (2005). Disaster by design, British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 45(4), p. 528–46

Olson, M. (2015). The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups.

Vol. 33(2), p. 343 – 349

Ostrom, E. (2000). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective

Action. Vol. 6(3), p. 32 – 43