The Murray-Darling Basin in south-eastern Australia is one of the world’s largest rivers, draining an area of just over 1 million square kilometres. The basin drains about one-seventh of the Australian land mass and is the 16th longest river in the world. However, being located on the driest continent on Earth, its discharge is relatively small, averaging just 767 m3/s, far smaller than the discharge from any other similarly sized river worldwide.
Like much of southern Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin is already feeling the impacts of climate change, with the observational record showing more hotter days, fewer cold days, and a reduction in cool-season precipitation. These changes are likely to continue into the future leading to a consequent increase in the intensity and duration of droughts. These longer and hotter dry periods will lead to increased stress for both the ecology and significant agricultural production of the region. Understanding the likely changes in climate as well as the impacts of these changes is essential to properly manage a healthy and productive basin.
This presentation will summarise the climate change projections for the region as well as assess the impacts of these changes on basin ecology and communities. Potential adaptation options to offset the negative impacts of these changes will also be considered.