Water planning is the process by which the water resources of a given region are divided between a range of uses and purposes for the most beneficial allocation and sustainable management of water.

Water resource plans strive to achieve a sustainable balance between meeting human needs and those of the environment.

Water plans specify how implement the outcomes and strategies desired by the community are to be achieved. They detail the practical business of sharing and managing the water resources from day-to-day in a way that meets the values and aspirations of the community for the future use of the water resource.

In Australia, responsibility for water is with the State Governments. In some cases, the development of the water plan is done by designated catchment management authorities or regional natural resource management agencies. However, it is the State Government Minister who must ultimately sign off on the water plan.

Adaptive management is an approach to water resource management that uses a systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of existing management plans. We have consulted widely to develop the framework used in the water planning portal (see here for a list of references).