There are local, practical implications linked to failed advancement of infrastructure projects that rely on expertise in space. Protecting Australia’s water is just one example.
Under the proposal, irrigators would have to submit a statement that tallies with aerial images of their water use.
AAP Image/Cubbie Group
Allegations of water theft have thrown the Murray-Darling Basin Plan into crisis. The solution could involve users declaring their annual water use, subject to random audits - like a tax return.
The Murray-Darling Basin is an incredibly complex ecological system.
Mike Russell/Flickr
A recent report argues more water is needed to resurrect the Murray-Darling Basin. But simply increasing river flow alone could actually harm the Basin.
Turtle hatchlings could be released into the Murray River to manage the sudden influx of dead carp.
Ricky Spencer
Millions of dead carp will fill the Murray-Darling Basin after the government releases a targeted virus. Scavengers like turtles and crayfish might help – as long as we protect them.
Water markets are essential for many farmers to keep their crops alive.
Shutterstock.com
The market for water entitlements is worth tens of billions, encouraging investors to raise funds and get involved. But the data shows they aren’t having a big impact on prices.
The Murray-Darling is a complex freshwater ecosystem.
Murray River wetlands image from www.shutterstock.com
Malcolm Turnbull has promised key crossbencher Nick Xenophon closer monitoring of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
Malcolm Turnbull goes into this final parliamentary week of the year in need of compromises on both the ABCC legislation and the tax rate for backpackers.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Earlier this week, footage aired of George Brandis speculating that Queensland's Liberal National Party might demerge. But Barnaby Joyce says this won't happen.
Spangled perch are one of Australia’s strongly migratory native fish. After storms in January 2015 these fish were actively travelling up a flooded road in outback Northern Territory.
Jessica Brown
Toxic algal blooms were unheard of in Australia’s major waterways before 1991. Now the Murray River has been struck by four major events in less than a decade, with more likely in the future.
Barkindji protest outside Parliament in Canberra.
Murray Butcher
For the Barkindji people, the Darling River has been a symbol of Aboriginal survival since colonial times. Now, the once busy NSW town of Wilcannia is in danger of losing its water.
Northern rivers could increase Australia’s irrigated land by 50%. But we need to think about the environmental impacts.
Robin Hutton/Flickr
It’s full steam ahead for bringing vast increases in farming to northern Australia. In fact, probably too fast to adequately consider the environmental impacts.
The Murray River in 2007, at the height of the drought. Hopefully it will be more resilient next time around.
Scott Davis/Wikimedia Commons
As El Nino looms, the Murray-Darling is facing another drought. But after almost a decade of investment in water trading and other policies, its prospects are better this time around.
Imagine a future where the yearly flow into one of the largest water reservoirs of a major Australian city could halve within 70 years. This is a scenario that Adelaide could face if the world continues…
Australia’s north is home to many pristine rivers, but most national parks are focused on land-based conservation.
Carole Mackinney/Wikimedia Commons
R. Keller Kopf, Charles Sturt University; Nicole McCasker, Charles Sturt University, and Paul Humphries, Charles Sturt University
Freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, lakes and wetlands are precious. They contain several-times more vertebrate species per unit area than land and ocean environments, and they are more degraded. Protected…
Spending on water-saving infrastructure could expose Murray-Darling farmers to debt and drought.
Michelle Bartsch/Flickr
The federal government’s approach for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has shifted again, and now favours water-saving infrastructure over purchasing water rights. But is it the right move? The new scheme…
Part of Shoalwater Bay in Queensland, where the federal government blocked a major new coal port in 2008 over its “clearly unacceptable” environmental impacts".
Daniel E. Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Deep cuts to environmental programs and staff predicted in today’s federal budget aren’t the only “green” cuts that Australians should be concerned about. The federal government is currently holding an…
Executive Director and Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Gulbali Institute (Agriculture, Water and Environment), Charles Sturt University, Charles Sturt University