Water Management and Healthy Ageing in Rural Australia

Abstract

Current Australian policy directives are aimed at building older people’s capacity to remain independent, healthy, and productive. However, in the context of increasing populations, climate variability, declining water supplies, and water price increases, there is concern that issues relating to water access and usage will impact capacity for healthy ageing in rural locations. Drawing on environmental gerontology, focus groups were used to explore the attitudes and behaviors of rural seniors relating to water use and management strategies in four rural communities located in north-east Victoria. Findings indicate that water is significant in the lives of rural seniors from both an aesthetic and resource-based perspective, and related to cultural and historical values. Thus, individual ability to manage water was a source of identity, with some water management policies seen as unjust and dissonant with current practices. These findings are critical in considering how macro-level policies impact human-environment interactions among vulnerable groups.