Murray-Darling

River

Jessica Shaughnessy
Gess I&S Class 9c

Table of Contents

1
2

5
6

INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW
2.1. Location and characteristics..
2.2. Agriculture and irrigation.
THE PROBLEM OF SALINITY.
3.1. How Salinity occurs in the river..
3.2. Effects of Salinity..
SOLUTIONS TO SALINITY
4.1. Salt interception..
4.2. On Farm solutions to dealing with salinity
Conclusion..
Works Cited

1. INTRODUCTION

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. This statement may only refer to the oceans and
the moment however, it may very soon
become true to rivers and any other water
source due to salinity as well. Salinity
seemingly came out of nowhere because it
is such a slow process and has only now
been realised to be a threat to the rivers
and everything that surrounds them. It is
unlikely for the problem of Salinity to be
solved in the foreseeable future, so for now
we must come up with ways to cope with it
Picture 1. Picture of Murray-Darling River
and continue our everyday lives whilst
coming up with affective solutions.
The Murray-Darling River is a large part of Australias agricultural industry. However, everything
has its consequences and it has been found that the industry that supplies Australia and other
countries with food, may also be destroying the river that makes it all possible.

2. Overview of the River

2.1. Location and Characteristics
The Murray-Darling Rivers total length is 2520 kilometres. It flows through three states and
contains: four major dams, sixteen storage weirs and fifteen navigable locks. The river basin drains
most of inland Victoria, New South Wales and Southern Queensland. The Murray-Darling river Basin
is home to at least 51 endangered species
Picture 2. Map of Murray River
of Mammals and Birds. It is also Australias
most important agricultural region,
supplying for almost 39% of Australias
agricultural value. The river is needed for
many things in Australia from farming to
water supply, however there are some
issues affecting it.
The Murray-Darling River contains
many geographical features and diverse
landscapes. These include: Subtropical
conditions in the far north, cool and humid

in the east, it has high alpine of the snowy mountains.

2.2 Agriculture and Irrigation
The Murray-Darling River has become an essential part of Australians everyday life. The products of
Murray-Darling River irrigation are consumed by Australians every day.
Irrigation is the process of transferring water to land or soil. It is must commonly done to assist in
the growing of crops, maintenance of land and to help revegetation of dry areas after droughts or
infrequent rainfall.
The Murray-Darling River supplies one third of National fibre food supply, exporting this to other
countries. The basin itself contains forty percent of Australias farms and seventy percent of irrigated
land area. The yellow shaded areas in picture three show where irrigation areas can be found in
Australia.
The Murray-Darlings contributes to the agricultural
industry means that, almost nine percent of people
employed in Australia work directly in the agricultural
business or indirectly supporting it. Almost three
percent work with the manufacturing process which the
river supplys for.
In a 2012-13 research survey it was found that in
Australia the Murray-Darling River farms supply fifty
percent of Irrigated produce. This includes:

Almost 100% of the rice

96% of cotton
75% grapes
59% hay
54% fruit
52% of livestock
45% Dairy products

Picture 3. Taken from Murray-Darling River

Authorities. Location of Farms on the Murray River.

3. The Problem of Salinity

3.1. How salinity occurs in the river
Salinity is the amount of dissolved salt in a water source. Salinity is naturally occurring however, if
left unchecked, high salinity levels can lead to: Damage of infrastructure, reduce of crop fields and it
can affect aquatic ecosystems and nearby vegetation.
The Murray-Darling River has low rainfall levels and a high evaporation level. This causes salt to
accumulate in one area raising the salinity. The Murray-Darling River has been found to have a
naturally high salinity due to the salt water coming into the basin through the sea. It has not been
found that the problem is the salinity levels rising in the river, rather that it is becoming more
concentrated in certain parts of the river. This is because of human activities such as the removal of
deep rooted plants.

The removal of deep rooted plants is necessary in order to continue planting crops to assist in the
agriculture which Australia and other countries rely on. However, the removal of these plants lead to
rising groundwater and salt collecting on the surface.
Irrigation also promotes salinity in the river. Over irrigation and irrigating on unsuitable soils will
cause seepage into the groundwater system. This will cause the groundwater levels to rise, whilst
accumulating any salt which may be stored within the soils. This now salty water will be transported
to the river increasing the salinity.
3.2. Effects of Salinity
High salinity can affect the water quality (making it unsuitable to drink), affect the ecosystem
surviving of the river, and it can cause a loss of crops.
The plants surrounding the Murray-Darling River have little rainfall. This means that they must be
watered using irrigation. The water used for irrigation to water the plants will be high in salinity
because of past human activity. Plants need salt in order to survive, although too much could prove
fatal to them, since they have no easy way to rid of it. This means that if around two meters of salty
water is placed on these crops it would not be keeping them alive but rather killing them instead.
Irrigation cannot be stopped because it is such a large part of Australian agriculture and without it
there would be no way to water the crops that they, and other countries, need.

4. Solutions to Salinity
4.1. Salt Interception
Authorities have begun to set up salt interception schemes
around the Murray-Darling River, there are currently eighteen
(see picture 4). The goal of salt interception is to intercept the
saline groundwater before it reaches the river or any of its
tributaries.
In 2010-11 using salt interception schemes authorities were able
to remove 324,162 tons of salt before it reached the river or its
tributaries. Table one shows the effectiveness of salt
interception.








Table 1

Picture 4. Taken from Murray-Darling River

Authorities. Locations of salt integration
sites.

4.2. On Farm Solutions to Dealing with Salinity

Farmers should begin to change their methods and adapt to the change of river salinity. To start off,
farmers should begin to plant native plants and not plants which have been imported from other
countries. This is because, native plants are more accustomed to Australias environment, meaning
that they will be able to handle saline conditions better than other plants. In dry land farm areas
farmers should begin to use deep rooted plants which are able to access the groundwater meaning
that less irrigation would be necessary. Since it would be impossible to tell farmers to cease using
irrigation, they should re-use water from the dams instead of directly from the river. This water has
a lower salinity level and will be better for the crops.

5. Conclusion
If steps are not taken to deal with Salinity then the Murray-Darling River and its ecosystem will be at
stake. Methods such as salt integration, which have proven to successfully remove the salt from
groundwater, are a step in the right direction. Australia must work together to maintain the MurrayDarling River in order to keep the agricultural industry in Australia, which many rely on, alive.

6. Works Cited
"Irrigation Salinity." Irrigation Salinity. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
"Murray-Darling Basin Authority." Murray-Darling Basin Authority. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
"Murray Darling Basin." Murray Darling Basin. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. Image 2.
Pigram, John J. (2007). Australia's Water Resources: From use to management. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO
Publishing. p. 160162.

"Publications." How Plants Cope with Salinity. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
"Thirsty India Looks to Murray-Darling Model." The Sydney Morning Herald. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec.
2015. Image 1.

7. Action Plan

Research Action Plan

MYP Assessment Criteria B: INVESTIGATION

Limited attempt to / partially / satisfactorily / effectively follows an action plan to

investigate a research question
Uses methods to collect and record limited / some / appropriate / appropriate & varied
information in line with the research question
Limited attempt to / partially / satisfactorily / effectively addresses the research question
Limited / reflection / detailed evaluation of the research process and results.

To help you successfully implement a research action plan you need to follow the steps below:


The main research
question

How do conflicts involving the Murray Darling River System affect

the surrounding ecosystems and human population?

Sub questions
By answering these
sub-questions, you
will enable
yourselves to answer
the main research
question.

Where can the Murray River System be found?

Which conflicts surround the Murray River System?
Why are these conflicts an issue?
How are people and animals affected by these
conflicts?
How is the River affected by these conflicts?

Check your task

sheet and brainstorm
additional questions
with your group.
Include them all here.
Methods to be used
in the investigation

e.g. describe the

capture sheet. How
will it be laid out? Will
you include your subquestions? How
many websites will
you access per subquestion? Why?

Where will you gather the information? (e.g. library)

I will gather my information from the internet by finding
government websites and other websites aimed at my age group.
I will also gather information from the library. I can also gather
information from Blue Planet documentaries about Rivers.

How/where are you going to record any relevant information?

I will record any information that I collect on a word document,

which I will regularly save on a thumb drive.

Identify the relevant

sources/evidence
that you will use
Record the works
cited.

Please check the Information Literacy Guide to do this correctly.

Easybib formatting is not appropriate.
"Irrigation Salinity." Irrigation Salinity. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec.
2015.
"Murray-Darling Basin Authority." Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
"Murray Darling Basin." Murray Darling Basin. N.p., n.d. Web. 08
Dec. 2015. Image 2.
Pigram, John J. (2007). Australia's Water Resources: From use to
management. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. p. 160
162.
"Publications." How Plants Cope with Salinity. N.p., n.d. Web. 08
Dec. 2015.
"Thirsty India Looks to Murray-Darling Model." The Sydney
Morning Herald. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. Image 1.

What steps will you

follow to address/
answer the
research question?
Develop an action
plan for the main
stages of the
investigation. The
action plan should be
framed by the subquestions but should
be treated like a
check list of thingsto-do.
Include what needs
to be done and
when you aim to
have it completed by

Insert table that outlines: task, completion date and checklist

Reaserch first sub question.
On web.

Due Date: 4.12.15

Completed: Yes

Research second sub

question. On web, include
documentary research as well.

Due Date: 5.12.15

Research third sub question.

Infer from information found to
write answer.

Due Date: 7.12.15

Research fourth sub question.

Use web.

Due Date: 7.12.15

Completed: Yes

Completed: Yes

Completed: Yes
Research fifth sub question.
Use web and a book.

Due Date: 8.12.15

Completed: Yes

Proof read work.

Due Date: 8.12.15

Completed: Yes

Check work cited list.

Due Date: 8.12.15

Completed: Yes

Evaluation
Questions to follow

In this project I found that I experienced many difficulties. Most of

them involved the formatting of a report and what to include, since
this is the first official report which I have ever written. However
once I got the hang of it all seemed to flow more smoothly from
then on out.
I did fall behind on my deadlines for personal reasons meaning
that I finished slightly later then I would have liked, making some
of my work slightly rushed.
I was happy with the information that I had found to use in my
report. I found it easy to find different sites which were very
informative. Unfortunately I never had the time to look at a river
documentary like I said that I would above. This is simply because
I ran out of time.
If I were to do this project again I would try to manage my time
better and get through everything that I said that I would do above.
I would also keep the same river which I did for this report, only I
would have a look at the four major dams which can be found on
the river and focus on the conflicts which those dams cause.