CS : Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Question 1

What % of Australia’s land mass

Answer 1

14%

Question 2

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

Answer 2

75%

Question 3

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

Answer 3

40%

Question 4

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

Answer 4

$13.6billion (AU dollars)

Question 5

How many people live in MDB?

Answer 5

2million people

Question 6

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

Answer 6

X5 fold

Question 7

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

Answer 7

increasing 4% annually

Question 8

What type of environment is the MDB?

Answer 8

comprises several natural environments

Queensland = sub-tropical

N-E edges are semi-arid

Question 9

Why is there a preference for water intensive crops?

Answer 9

yield best return

Question 10

What are the X2 water sources for the MDB?

Answer 10

• Great Artesian Basin

- Murray Groundwater Basin

Question 11

What is the average rainfall across the MDB?

Answer 11

480mm

Question 12

What % of Australia’s rainfall falls in MDB?

Answer 12

only 6%

Question 13

When does eastern australia experience drought?

Answer 13

During El Nino (like now)

= dry westerly winds

Question 14

What additional inputs does the MDB receive?

Answer 14

diversions from Snowy Mountain and Glenelg River

Question 15

How is water in the MDB regulated?

Answer 15

via National Plan for Water Security (2007)

Question 16

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

Answer 16

30dams, 3500 weirs

transfer systems between drier west areas to wetter headwaters

Question 17

How much water is diverted for irrigation purposes?

Answer 17

11,500gigalitres

Question 18

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

Answer 18

under 2%

Question 19

Criticism of the National Plan for Water Security

Answer 19

‘piecemeal’ ‘top down’ approach to regulation

Question 20

X4 stakeholders within the MDB;

Answer 20

• farmers
• industrial users
• local governments
• environmental agencies

Question 21

How many power stations within MDB?

Answer 21

7

Question 22

$$$ positive of regulating river flow in MDB

Answer 22

farmers yields = $13.5billion ((2007)

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

Question 23

economic negative of regulating river flow in MDB

Answer 23

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

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

Question 24

social positive of regulative river flow in MDB

Answer 24

water security for farmers

leads to positive multiplier effect

Question 25

social negative of regulating river flow in MDB

Answer 25

- marginalisation of Aboriginal population | - natural heritage site (Narran Lakes) lost from over abstraction

Question 26

environmental positive of regulating river flow

Answer 26

- hardly any

Question 27

environmental negative of regulating river flow in MDB (x5)

Answer 27

- 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

Question 28

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

Answer 28

individual states all try to secure individual water flow security

Question 29

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

Answer 29

those of 1994

Question 30

When was the Murray Darling Agreement?

Answer 30

1987

Question 31

What was the Murray-Darling agreement?

Answer 31

basin wide approach which assigned quotas and allowed trading of allocations

Question 32

what positives of 'the cap' being introduced?

Answer 32

allowed downstream flow of nutrients to habitats allowed natural recharge to equal, if not exceed abstraction - so will in future replenish groundwater

Question 33

what negatives of 'the cap' and murray darling agreement?

Answer 33

some farmers believe it allocated water back to the riverside areas

Question 34

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

Answer 34

lower it

Question 35

What was the Food Bowl Modernisation Project?

Answer 35

part of the National Plan for Water Security a $1billion investment to reduce inefficient irrigation techniques

Question 36

How much was invested into the Food Bowl Modernisation Project?

Answer 36

$1billion

Question 37

How long will it take for rivers to fully replenish?

Answer 37

50-100years

Question 38

What is the snowy mountain project?

Answer 38

large hydroelectric engineering project in Austrlia

Question 39

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

Answer 39

16 major dams | 7 power stations

Question 40

Why this location for the Snowy Mountains Project?

Answer 40

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

Question 41

How many new jobs generated due to snowy mountains project?

Answer 41

80,000

Question 42

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

Answer 42

4.5%

Question 43

Environmental issue with Snowy Mountains Project; X3

Answer 43

- 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

Question 44

social positive of Snowy Mountains Project X2

Answer 44

- migration of thousands to the area | - storage lakes provide recreational activities