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Water Security > CS : Murray-Darling Basin, Australia > Flashcards

CS : Murray-Darling Basin, Australia Flashcards

1
Q

What % of Australia’s land mass

A

14%

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2
Q

What % of Austrlia’s water does M-D provide?

A

75%

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3
Q

What % of Australia’s farm produce is dependent on M-D?

A

40%

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4
Q

What value of farm produce is dependent on M-D?

A

$13.6billion (AU dollars)

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5
Q

How many people live in MDB?

A

2million people

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6
Q

What has happened to the MDB population since the 1920s?

A

X5 fold

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7
Q

What is happening to MDB in terms of demand for water?

A

increasing 4% annually

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8
Q

What type of environment is the MDB?

A

comprises several natural environments

Queensland = sub-tropical

N-E edges are semi-arid

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9
Q

Why is there a preference for water intensive crops?

A

yield best return

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10
Q

What are the X2 water sources for the MDB?

A
  • Great Artesian Basin

- Murray Groundwater Basin

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11
Q

What is the average rainfall across the MDB?

A

480mm

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12
Q

What % of Australia’s rainfall falls in MDB?

A

only 6%

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13
Q

When does eastern australia experience drought?

A

During El Nino (like now)

= dry westerly winds

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14
Q

What additional inputs does the MDB receive?

A

diversions from Snowy Mountain and Glenelg River

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15
Q

How is water in the MDB regulated?

A

via National Plan for Water Security (2007)

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16
Q

Under the National Plan for Water Security what exists in terms of regulation infrastructure?

A

30dams, 3500 weirs

transfer systems between drier west areas to wetter headwaters

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17
Q

How much water is diverted for irrigation purposes?

A

11,500gigalitres

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18
Q

What % of the MDB uses 75% of Australia’s irrigation water?

A

under 2%

19
Q

Criticism of the National Plan for Water Security

A

‘piecemeal’ ‘top down’ approach to regulation

20
Q

X4 stakeholders within the MDB;

A
  • farmers
  • industrial users
  • local governments
  • environmental agencies
21
Q

How many power stations within MDB?

A

7

22
Q

$$$ positive of regulating river flow in MDB

A

farmers yields = $13.5billion ((2007)

public reliant on receiving income (e.g processing / packaging)

23
Q

economic negative of regulating river flow in MDB

A
  • $7mil (AU $) annually to dredge MDB mouth

- salinity of water corroding bridges and building foundations (e.g Wagga Wagga)

24
Q

social positive of regulative river flow in MDB

A

water security for farmers

leads to positive multiplier effect

25
Q

social negative of regulating river flow in MDB

A
  • marginalisation of Aboriginal population

- natural heritage site (Narran Lakes) lost from over abstraction

26
Q

environmental positive of regulating river flow

A
  • hardly any
27
Q

environmental negative of regulating river flow in MDB (x5)

A
  • total output down 80% at mouth
  • eutrophication via farming fertilisers
  • rise in water table via irrigation
    = water logging and plant growing
  • soil degradation form over farming
    = wind / water erosion and acificiation
  • 50-80% of native birds / fish extinct
28
Q

What was the regulation of the MDB until the late 1980s

A

individual states all try to secure individual water flow security

29
Q

When “The Cap” was introduced what did this limit basin extractions to?

A

those of 1994

30
Q

When was the Murray Darling Agreement?

A

1987

31
Q

What was the Murray-Darling agreement?

A

basin wide approach which assigned quotas and allowed trading of allocations

32
Q

what positives of ‘the cap’ being introduced?

A

allowed downstream flow of nutrients to habitats

allowed natural recharge to equal, if not exceed abstraction - so will in future replenish groundwater

33
Q

what negatives of ‘the cap’ and murray darling agreement?

A

some farmers believe it allocated water back to the riverside areas

34
Q

What did the National Plan for Water Security do to the cap?

A

lower it

35
Q

What was the Food Bowl Modernisation Project?

A

part of the National Plan for Water Security

a $1billion investment to reduce inefficient irrigation techniques

36
Q

How much was invested into the Food Bowl Modernisation Project?

A

$1billion

37
Q

How long will it take for rivers to fully replenish?

A

50-100years

38
Q

What is the snowy mountain project?

A

large hydroelectric engineering project in Austrlia

39
Q

How many major dams and power stations are involved in the snowy mountains project?

A

16 major dams

7 power stations

40
Q

Why this location for the Snowy Mountains Project?

A

collects and diverts water flowing into Murray and Murrumbridge Rivers to power turbines

41
Q

How many new jobs generated due to snowy mountains project?

A

80,000

42
Q

What % of Australia’s electricity does the snowy mountains project provide?

A

4.5%

43
Q

Environmental issue with Snowy Mountains Project; X3

A
  • storage lakes have destroyed wildlife habitats
  • in some places flow is now 1% of original discharge
  • salinisation due to low flow is bad for farming in lowlands
44
Q

social positive of Snowy Mountains Project X2

A
  • migration of thousands to the area

- storage lakes provide recreational activities

Water Security (18 decks)

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