Murray Darling Basin is Dying

27 September 2008

Australia's food bowl in terminal decline

Murray Darling Basin Snapshot:

  • Australia's most important agricultural region (40% of all Australian farms)
  • produces one third of Australia's food supply and supports over a third of Australia's total gross value of agricultural production
  • Products: wool, cotton, wheat, sheep, cattle, dairy produce, rice, oil-seed, wine, fruit and vegetables for both domestic and overseas markets

What has happened:

The current state of the Murray is the endplay of the shameful history of the management of Australia's greatest river system and it brings into question whether our governments and our constitutional arrangements are capable of managing Australia's water resources.

Of the 23 rivers in the Murray Darling Basin, only one, the Paroo, is in good health.

Full article: click here

By Nicholas Bernhardt, GreenBizCheck



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