CASESTUDY Water issues in the Murray–Darling Basin region
FIGURE5 Mouth of Murray River near Goolwa at confluence of Mundoo and Goolwa Channels, with Hindmarsh Island and Lake Alexandrina in background, South Australia • The Murray–Darling Basin spans one million square kilometres with over 20 rivers. It includes diverse landscapes from alpine areas to plains and produces 43% of Australia’s food and 40% of its agricultural income. Covering 14.3% of the continent, its annual water flow equals a day’s flow of the Amazon River. • Severe problems affect the basin: – Only 20% of its water reaches the sea; the rest is used for agriculture, industry, and domestic purposes. – The Murray supplies 50% of Adelaide’s drinking water, but quality declines due to rising salinity. – 50–80% of wetlands are damaged or destroyed, over a third of native fish species are endangered, and the number of water birds has halved. – Average river system inflows dropped from 9030 GL to 4820 GL annually over the last 20 years, with 2023 recording 1756 GL. – Climate change predictions suggest a 25–30% reduction in flow to the Murray River mouth by 2030 and 40–50% by 2050, drastically impacting water availability.
308 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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