Australia’s life blood
The Murray-Darling Basin is the home of the largest river system in Australia. It is the lifeblood for eastern Australia, stretching 1,061,469 square kilometres through Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The three main river systems that make up the Murray-Darling Basin include the Darling River, the Murrumbidgee River, the Lachlan River and Billabong Creek; and the Murray River itself.
As you can guess, the problems facing the river system directly affect hundreds of cities and towns, not to mention countless species of fauna and flora. 3.2 million Australians rely on the Murray Darling for their every day drinking water. The basin also provides about 41% of the country’s agriculture with water for crops like cotton, rice and wheat.
Many plant and animal species rely on the Murray-Darling Basin for survival. These include the River Redgum forests and about half of Australia’s native fish species. Native vegetation is currently being threatened by rising salinity (salt) levels; human-made changes to flooding and drying areas; and careless campers, boaters and land-developers.
The water crisis
As you might know, the Murray-Darling Basin has reached record-low levels. The main reason for this is that Australia is experiencing its worst drought in possibly a thousand years. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, drought is part and parcel of life in Australia, simply because of its geographical location. Nevertheless, with climate change threatening to make matters worse, finding a solution to the water crisis is becoming more urgent.
Industrial and domestic use
The industrial and domestic needs for water have meant that regulation and control of the river’s natural flow has affected its wetlands fauna and flora. The use of locks and dams interrupts the geological course of the river, restricting water in some areas where it is urgently needed, while other areas receive more water than they normally would in a heavy rainfall season. This has affected the breeding cycles of animals and plants adding to a decrease in water quality.
The rise of salinity
The river system already has serious problems with salinity. Agriculture is mostly to blame for this—land clearing increases the amount of naturally occurring salt rising to the river’s surface and irrigation uses groundwater with high saline levels. It is estimated that salinity costs the users of the Murray River $47 million each year. This is due to lower productivity; loss of recreation; and the impacts on biodiversity caused by poor water quality and shrinking floodplains and wetlands.
Chemical pollution
Apart from pollution in the form of salt and clay particles, the water quality of the Murray-Darling Basin is threatened by sewage and storm-water pollution, and fertilizer and pesticide runoff. Pollution from irrigated dairy pastures has also produced faecal bacteria in the water. There has been a reduction in pollution over the last decade, however there are still concentrations of some chemicals.
Government in action
Who’s in charge on the Murray-Darling Basin, and how anything ever gets done is quite a confusing issue. After a lot of arguing and promises, a new collaboration between the state governments (NSW, ACT, VIC, QLD and SA) and the federal government was initiated in 2007. Then Prime Minister John Howard promised $10 billion to help implement a unified management plan. Some have welcomed the Commonwealth’s involvement, while other states (especially Victoria) have been very reluctant to give up their state responsibilities in favour of a federal ‘take-over’. These bodies work with the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) to deliver environmental programs. Proposals and initiatives must be collectively agreed upon through the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council.
Murray-Darling initiatives (2008)
- The Living Murray – a project which aims to return 500GL to the Murray-Darling water system
- Cap on irrigation diversions – this is a statutory limit on how much water can be diverted from the Murray-Darling for human uses each year
- Native Fish Strategy – an ongoing initiative which aims to restore the Murray-Darling fish population to 60% of what it was before European settlement
- Basin Salinity Management Strategy – an effort control the levels of salinity in the Basin
To find out more about these projects, and their varying success rates, visit the
MDBC Website.
This page was updated by Chadorama and kate elise
How do I know this?
Australian Conservation Foundation
http://www.acfonline.org.au
Craik, Wendy & Cleaver, James, ‘Modern Agriculture Under Stress – Lessons from the Murray-Darling’
http://rosenberg.ucanr.org/documents/II%20Craik.pdf
Murray-Darling Basin Initiative
http://www.mdbc.gov.au
River Murray region: supporting a healthy working river
http://www.csiro.au/csiro/content/standard/ps50.html
PM calls water summit on Cup day
http://www.smh.com.au/news/scorchedearth
Australian State of the Environment Report 2006 – Investments in inland waters
http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications
Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, Investment (Save the Murray),
http://www.dwr.sa.gov.au/murray/save/index.html
Murray Care,
http://www.murraycare.com.au
National Archives of Australia, Just add water: schemes and dreams for a sunburnt country,
http://www.aa.gov.au/exhibitions/just_add_water/ja.. .
River Murray Catchment Water Board, Water quality,
http://www.rivermurray.sa.gov.au/major/risk_assess...
Savethemurray.com,
http://www.savethemurray.com
