“There is more to fixing the Murray-Darling Basin than fixating on the amount of fresh water coming downstream,” writes Johnny Kahlbetzer in today’s The Australian…
“I am a Murray-Darling Basin food and fibre producer, and I’m very aware of how much water our operations use. My company, Twynam Agricultural Group, also invests in research and develoment constantly to improve water-use efficiency so we can produce more food and fibre with less water.
“But the bottom line is that food and fibre production requires water, so on average there is less water flowing to the Murray Mouth, Coorong and Lower Lakes. Food and fibre producers don’t take all the water. In fact because of upstream storages there is more water on average in the Murray River during drought, including the recent drought, than there was historically…
Read more here:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/commentary/free-flowing-estuary-vital-to-healthy-river/story-e6frgd0x-1226070473687
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.