Options for the environmental future of the River Murray ecosystem in South Australia

Judy Goode
SA River Murry Environmental Manager

SA Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resource Management Board

Judy provides a brief overview of the River Murray's past to help explain how the river has changed from a natural state of seasonal and often extreme flooding events to a highly regulated river with greatly reduced flows.  She describes factors that are affecting the current health of the river system, including changes to flood frequency, timing and duration caused by regulations and over-allocation of water licenses.  The role of the CSIRO Sustainable Yields Project in providing government departments with estimates of water availability in the Murray Darling Basin on an individual catchment and aquifer basis is explored and Judy concludes her talk with a case-study of the Chowilla regulator.