Source ABC NEWS
Scientists find groundwater ‘flaw’ in Murray plan
Updated
The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists says it has found more flaws in the Murray-Darling Basin draft plan.
It has made a detailed analysis of the plan’s increased use of groundwater and says extracting an extra 2,600 gigalitres from the ground almost cancels out what will be put back into the river system as surface water.
Environmental engineer Tim Stubbs said that would be bad news for South Australia in particular on the Murray’s lower reaches.
“That’s water that will no longer be there to move through the ground and actually provide the base flow or the flow in dry times, through the rivers and the creeks,” he said.
“If you’re an irrigator or the environment or anyone that relies on that downstream flow, if it’s taken before it reaches you then your not going to see it.
“There’s a good chance you’ll see the reliability of your entire entitlement grossly eroded away as this water’s taken out of the system upstream.”
Topics:murray-darling-basin, rivers, water-supply, water-management, water, environment, federal—state-issues, irrigation, rural, research-organisations, research, activism-and-lobbying, government-and-politics, sa, adelaide-5000, goolwa-5214, renmark-5341, australia
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