Murray-Darling basin sustainable yields project

Project details

Objective:

To report on current and future water availability in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Funding:

$11,975,000
Jurisdiction:

Multi State
Commenced:

March 2007
Completed:

June 2008

About the project

CSIRO has been contracted by the National Water Commission to report on current and future water availability in the Murray-Darling Basin considering:

  • climate change and other risks
  • surface-groundwater interactions
  • compare the estimated current and future water availability to that required to meet the current levels of extractive use.

The Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project is reporting progressively on each of 18 contiguous regions that comprise the entire Murray-Darling Basin.

Project benefits

There are three main deliverables of this project:

  1. development of a transparent, consistent and robust methodology for determining the extent of available water resources in each major catchment/aquifer, and the MDB as a whole
  2. application of the methodology to estimate the quantity and temporal distribution of the water resources that are available in each major catchment/aquifer, and the Basin as a whole, having made any necessary adjustments to assumptions about climate or other risks, and
  3. application of the methodology to estimate water availability and demand 20 years into the future in the light of climate change and other risks.

Progress

The project has delivered reports on each of the 18 catchments in the Basin and a final consolidated report. The reports are available for download.

Links to CSIRO reports (to open in a new window)

(Image courtesy of CSIRO)

Map of Murray Darling Basin 

Related information

Murray-Darling Basin sustainable yields project website