MANAGEMENT OF DROUGHT IN THE SOUTHERN MURRAY-DARLING BASIN, AUSTRALIA, FROM 1996/1997 TO THE PRESENT

ABSTRACT The southern part of the Murray-Darling Basin covers parts of three States and all of the Australian Capital Territory. It supplies water to irrigators, towns and cities. Water sharing agreements between States have become more complex over time. 1997/1998 to 2009/2010 was dry, with average inflows about half the long term average. The drought led to examination of management policies, in particular: water allocation policies based on any design drought break down in a drought more severe than the design drought; it may not be possible to safeguard urban supplies under unprecedented conditions; water trade fails when 'river losses' to support the delivery of traded water cannot be met. In short the management policies required during severe drought may differ from those that are adequate in more normal times. The paper examines responses to drought at three levels: National - the National Government saw a need for a greater say in water resource management, constitutionally a State responsibility. Environmental versus irrigation demands became a hot topic; Regional - water sharing rules between States and individuals within States came under scrutiny; Local - irrigation practices, both delivering water to farms and efficiency on-farm can be improved, at a cost. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.