The Murray-Darling Basin: How drought is affecting the native Murray Cod and depriving agricultur...

1. Fast Facts

1.1. The Murray-Darling Basin covers 14% of Australia (Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), 2019).

1.2. Agricultural national output accounts for approximately 40% (MDBA, 2019)

1.3. Majority of the Basin’s water use is for agriculture, specifically cropping (MDBA, 2019).

1.4. The highest consumers of water in the Basin area in 2005/06 were cotton growers, dairy farmers and irrigation crop farmers (accounting for 20% of agricultural water usage) (MDBA, 2019).

1.5. The Basin is the most highly regulated river system in Australia and straddles four states and one territory (MDBA, 2019).

1.6. The Murray Cod is the icon fish species of the Basin and has recently been listed as a threatened species due to a high number of fish deaths caused by drought (Koehn, 2004).

2. Areas of Enquiry

2.1. What are the main threats to the native Murray Cod?

2.2. How does water allocation from the Murray-Darling Basin affect farmers and crop growers?

2.3. How do agricultural water usage levels impact the Murray Cod's ecosystem and contribute to their threat?

2.4. What is being done on a government level to manage the sustainability of the basin through drought?

3. Australian Curriculum Links (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2018)

3.1. ACSSU032: Earth’s resources are used in a variety of ways (ACARA, 2018)

3.2. o Describing how a resource such as water is transferred from its source to its point of use

3.3. o Considering what might happen to humans if there were a change in a familiar available resource such as water

3.4. ACSHE035: People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things (ACARA, 2018)

3.5. o Monitoring information about the environment and Earth’s resources, such as rainfall levels and temperature

3.6. o Identifying the ways humans manage and protect resources, such as reducing waste and caring for water supplies

3.7. o Recognising that many living things rely on resources that may be threatened, and that science understanding can contribute to the preservation of such resources