Dipping in the well : how behaviours and attitudes influence urban water security

Water security poses one of the greatest challenges to urban life as water scarcity not only threatens the desires and aspirations of society, but also its survival. The Australian population is relatively small compared to that of other land masses across the globe, but the particular combination of low and variable rainfall combined with rapidly expanding urban areas means that Australian society frequently faces the problem of insufficient water supply. In particular, a prolonged and widespread drought affecting the southern and eastern states during the first decade of the 21st century (now known as the ‘Millennium drought’) had a profound impact upon the way Australian people perceive the role of water in their cities and the wider environment.