Salinity in the Murray Darling-Basin

1763 Words4 Pages

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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...d 10 September 2013].

Tapas Biswas, A. K. a. J. A., 2012. Recent Floods and Salinity of the Murray River. [Online]

Available at: http://riversymposium.com/wp-content/uploads/B3E_Asitha-Katupitiya.pdf

[Accessed 12 September 2013].

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]

Available at: http://www.mdba.gov.au/

[Accessed 12 September 2013].

Anon., 2008. Salinity and the Murray River. [Online]

Available at: http://www.murrayriver.com.au/about-the-murray/salinity/

[Accessed 12 September 2013].

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