Prologue – The danger of boredom
Conversations with Goyder’s ghost
(A context for talking about water)
Beyond sober thought
(Governments take control 1880s – 1920s)
Excluding lawyers from paradise
(Establishing a public policy framework 1900s – 1980s)
Alignment of the planets
(Another attempt at basin-wide management)
Talking sustainability dreaming production
(Contradictions within contemporary water management)
The chariot wheels of the Commonwealth
(Responsibility for reform – what should be done?)
Epilogue – Pragmatism, a philosophy of despair
Bibliography