Evaluation of causes of reduced flow in the...
URL: https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/evaluation-of-causes-of-reduced-flow-northern-mdb-with-errata.pdf
Authors: Francis H.S. Chiew, Tony R. Weber, Santosh K. Aryal, David A. Post, Jai Vaze, Hongxing Zheng, Jorge L. Peña-Arancibia, David E. Robertson, CSIRO
Date of publication: November 2022
This Murray–Darling Basin Water and Environment Research Program (MD-WERP) tactical project was initiated by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority to evaluate the causes of reduced flow in the northern Murray–Darling Basin. The project was undertaken by synthesising knowledge from previous reviews and technical reports and enhanced with data analysis supported by a project in the MD-WERP Hydrology Theme
Key findings/ recommendations
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Rainfall and streamflow in the past 50 years of living memory have declined across the Murray–Darling Basin, and south-eastern Australia generally.
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Historical water resource development has also contributed significantly to the reduction in streamflow across the Basin.
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Analyses of modelled and observed data indicate that the reduced streamflow in the Barwon–Darling River experienced over 2001–2019, relative to the wetter 1950–2000 period, can be attributed roughly equally to climate variability and to historical water resource development.
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Short and medium low flow periods (<6 months) are influenced by climate and development, and longer low flow periods (>1 year) are cause by prolonged dry periods over the region.
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Flows are highly variable in the northern Basin, resulting in the use of large on-farm storages to collect water when it is available. This provides visible evidence of water take on the landscape leading to more public scrutiny, particularly during dry periods when there are considerable volumes of water stored on-farm with little water visible in nearby rivers.
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Water resource development impact on low flows is largely caused by in-channel river extraction. Impact on overall flow volumes is caused by both in-channel river water extraction and floodplain harvesting
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