Water is the most relied upon resource on earth and if it disappeared life could not and would not exist on this planet. So if one of our main sources of water in South Australia, The Murray Darling-Basin, becomes unusable then we would need to find the problem and do everything possible to stop it or counteract it. This report investigates on salinity in the Murray Darling-Basin, using the issue question “Is there enough being done to counteract the effects of salinity in the Murray?” as the focus. Salinity is a key significant environmental challenge which the Murray faces and if left unmanaged it could cause serious implications for water quality, plant growth, biodiversity, land productivity, infrastructure and could lead to a loss of a water source that’s critical to human needs. In this investigation five different aspects of this salinity issue are presented and these aspects include what Salinity is and how it has become an issue, what the effects are, how salinity affects the rest of Australia, what can be done and is anyone doing anything and finally what the visions are for the future of the Murray and its salinity levels.
To collect my information I used a variety of sources and methods. These consisted of:
• Emails, I sent out emails to well-known support groups (MDA, MDBA, and Save the Murray), CSIRO scientists and government organisations.
• Personal Observations, I was a part of an expedition where we kayaked along Ral Ral Creek and was able to observe what the Murray is going through and what it’s like now.
• Online research, looking for documents and journals directly linked to government websites, organisations based around saving the Murray and scientists whose job is to monitor salinity and counteract it...
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Tapas Biswas, A. K. a. J. A., 2012. Recent Floods and Salinity of the Murray River. [Online]
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CSIRO, 2013. CSIRO Land and Water. Salinity, pp. 1-4.
Manager, S. P., 2013. Save The Murray. Salinity, pp. 1-3.
Newman, B., 2012. Australian Regolith and Clays Conference. River Murray Salinity Management and Irrigation, pp. 163 - 166.
Water Resources Group, D. o. E. a. N. R., 2013. fact sheet 1. Whats What About Salinity and the River Murray, pp. 1-4.
Anon., 2007. Murray-Darling Basin Authority. [Online]
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On Monday 5th of July we went and conducted a survey of the river Alyn
Sedimentary rock from the older Silurian Period is further from the river banks (Geological map of Victoria, 1973). Mudstone, inter-bedded shale and greywacke depositions indicate the Maribyrnong River may have previously taken a different shape, and younger sediments have replaced the older sediments in more recent geological periods.
...ric Science (2010). A summary of the hydrologic cycle. Retrieved from http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hyd/smry.rxml. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The essential use of irrigation in Australian Vineyards to maximize the productivity of vines has the detrimental effect on the surrounding waterways my contributing to water pollution. The use of irrigation in Australia has become a primary
Currently, over half of the world’s population lives in urban based areas (Owrangi et al, 2014), and this increase in population is expected to contribute to further increases in flood risks (ibid). Vancouver has achieved rapid socioeconomic development due to the increased employment opportunities and growth rates, directly stressing local natural resources by increasing population and urbanization (Owrangi et al, 2014).
Overview of the Issue: The Great Lakes Basin comprising of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario make up the largest surface freshwater system on Earth and holds one-fifth of the world's supply of freshwater. To visualize this, " if only the Earth were flat and the lakes adaptable as buckets, there'd be enough H20 here to flood all the land of the Western Hemisphere under two feet of water" according to J. Mitchell. Each day, four trillion litres of water are pumped from the Great Lakes. As natural influences as well as human factors are putting tremendous pressures on this water system, the water levels are dropping at an alarming rate. The falling water levels present an enormous environmental impact to thousands of species of plant and wildlife and to the 45 million inhabitants who dwell in the Great Lakes area according to the Council of Canadians. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are the two lakes that have been the most affected.
The Murrumbidgee River is the 3rd longest river in Australia and in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), after the Murray and Darling rivers. The area of catchment is 8% of the total area of the MDB Basin and provides almost 16% of inflow for the Basin (Burrell, 2017). In Murrumbidgee regulated river, water source is defined as the water between the banks of all rivers, from the upper limit of Burrinjuck Dam water storage (being the Taemas Bridge crossing) and Blowering Dam water storage (being the dam wall and spillway for Jounama Pondage), downstream to the junction of the Murrumbidgee River and the Murray River
The system on a whole has been affected as the surrounding Coorong and Lower Lakes areas are encountering declining environmental conditions including: degradation of swamps, receding riverbanks and irrigation banks, disruption of irrigation usage and the irregularity of ferry services. These environmental issues have an effect on the provision of portable water to Adelaide and regional towns who rely on this water source. This means the government is having to find other sources of water so that it can be provided to Adelaide and the regional towns, putting extra stress on the
Water is the dominating force of life; it has etched, carved and determined the fate of humanity itself since the beginning of time. All living organisms are reliant on water; forced to migrate or adapt at a turn of events as simple as a drought. Despite pipes, wells and most other man made engineering, even humans still spend their days chasing clouds. So for once on this planet there are no arguments, no debates, as to the fact that we need water to survive. We even depend on the undrinkable oceans coating the earth; that act as a shelter for tens of thousands of ecosystems, food chains, and organisms. Some of which have achieved such a precarious balance, that the loss of any creature in a food web may lead to the downfall of the planet itself. “We are already well into a new geological era… where human interference is the dominant factor in nearly every planetary ecosystem, to the detriment of perhaps all of them” (Lynas, 49). So why exactly are humans shifting such an important balance for the sake of excess? We’re tipping the scale; and might not be able to tell when the water starts to burn. Ocean acidification is a process that disrupts some of the most important biological functions and processes that all living organisms are dependent on.
One of the largest geographic physical structures in the United States is the Colorado River. Human activity and its interaction with this great river have an interesting history. The resources provided by the river have been used by humans, and caused conflict for human populations as well. One of these conflicts is water distribution, and the effects drought conditions have played in this distribution throughout the southwestern region. Major cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the southwest depend on the river. It provides water for over 20 million people, irrigation for 2 million acres of land, four thousand megawatts of hydroelectric energy, and over twenty million annual visitors for recreation purposes. Also, once in Mexico, the river provides water to irrigate half a million acres of farmland, and municipal and industrial water for 2 million people living in this delta region. The river distributes its flow from lakes and canals along its journey as well. Due to climate change, human demand, natural forces like evaporation and human-induced climate change this water supply is in conflict. Also, a recent change that began in March of 2014 will bring a temporary water surge to the delta of the Colorado River for the first time in many years to help restore this region, and it’s possible it could reach the Sea of Cortez once again.
As can be seen from the map (Figure 5), the Maribyrnong Rivers begins when the two major tributaries- Deep Creek and Jackson’s creek merge together, and then the river go through the Brimbank Park, downstream flows through suburban Melbourne before joining the Yarra River estuary on its way out to Port Phillip Bay. Therefore, because of the hydrology, there is erosion can be found in the Site 2 area.
Unfortunately, these beautiful and diverse ecosystems are in trouble from a large variety of sources. These sources being everything from natural water temperature fluctuations to being mined for building materials.
"Water Crisis." World Water Council. 7th World Water Council, 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/library/archives/water-crisis/
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