A new report on water availability in the Murray Darling Basin proves it can longer be "business as usual" in the ailing river system, according to Federal Water Minister, Penny Wong.
The report, compiled following extensive modelling and sustainable yield mapping throughout the basin, reveals total flow at the Murray mouth has been reduced by 61pc and the river now ceases to flow through the mouth 40pc of the time, compared with 1pc in the absence of water resource development.
It said the median decline for the entire Basin is projected to be 11pc by 2030 – 9pc in the north and 13pc in the south.
Senator Wong launched the report on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River outside Canberra today and said it makes for "sobering reading".
Senator Wong said it was a "stark reminder of why we need to act" on water reform and climate change, and also of the "enormous cost of inaction".
But Senator Wong defended the Government's pre-emptive action of buying water licences ahead of the report findings which detail over-allocation hot spots.
She said the Government took water reform to the community as an election commitment and was "getting on with the job" of purchasing water and investing in communities.
She said the days of "business as usual" simply can't continue.
While the report points to the drastic need for a reduction in water use for irrigation, Senator Wong said the Government would not begin telling farmers how and where they should farm or what they should be growing.
Other key findings from the report reveal:
- under the median 2030 climate, diversions in driest years would fall by more than 10 per cent in most NSW regions, 20pc in the Murrumbidgee and Murray regions, and from around 35pc to 50pc in the Victorian regions;
- under the dry extreme 2030 climate, diversions in driest years would fall by around 40-50pc in New South Wales regions, over 70pc in the Murray, and 80-90pc in major Victorian regions;
- by 2070 the median climate under high global warming is expected to be broadly similar to the dry extreme 2030 climate; and
- current groundwater use is unsustainable in seven of the 20 high-use groundwater areas in the Basin and will lead to major drawdowns in groundwater levels in the absence of management intervention.
The report can be found at the Department of Environment website.