Clearer picture of the Murray-Darling's future

The latest issue of ECOS reports on a massive research effort to accurately map the Murray-Darling Basin's surface water and groundwater resources.

The research is providing policy makers and planners with a sound basis for making decisions about future water allocations for agriculture, the environment and the wider community.

Through the CSIRO-led Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields (MDBSY) project, researchers have developed a hydrological 'supermodel' of Basin water resources by linking 40 separate computer models and a comprehensive dataset representing surface and groundwater flows and extractions.

The integrated model, which also takes into account connections between groundwater and surface flows, will give managers a clearer picture of how future water availability will affect agriculture, forestry, urban supplies and the environment, and allow them to assess different management approaches under various climate scenarios.

Issue 141 of ECOS is available at major newsagents or at www.publish.csiro.au/ecos.