The final report from the CSIRO Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project has now been released by the Australian Government. The project is the most detailed study of water availability in the Murray Darling Basin, and was the biggest research contract at $11 million ever undertaken by the CSIRO.

The key findings from the report are:

• Total flow at the Murray mouth has been reduced by 61 per cent and the river now ceases to flow through the mouth 40 per cent of the time, compared with one per cent in the absence of water resource development;
• The median decline for the entire Basin is projected to be 11 per cent by 2030 – nine per cent in the north and 13 per cent in the south;
• Under the median 2030 climate, diversions in driest years would fall by more than 10 per cent in most New South Wales regions, 20 per cent in the Murrumbidgee and Murray regions, and from around 35 per cent to 50 per cent in the Victorian regions;
• Under the dry extreme 2030 climate, diversions in driest years would fall by around 40-50 per cent in New South Wales regions, over 70 per cent in the Murray, and 80-90 per cent in major Victorian regions;
• By 2070 the median climate under high global warming is expected to be broadly similar to the dry extreme 2030 climate; and
• Current groundwater use is unsustainable in seven of the 20 high-use groundwater areas in the Basin and will lead to major drawdowns in groundwater levels in the absence of management intervention.

Download the reports from the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project…

Related Links

Australian Government Sustainable Yields Website

National Water Commission’s Sustainable Yields Profile