A controversial project in the Murray-Darling Basin was ‘misguided and poorly framed’, UNSW scientists say.
A study led by researchers at the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW Sydney has examined a large water-savings project at Menindee Lakes in News South Wales.
The Menindee Lakes are part of the Murray-Darling Basin – the largest basin in Australia, spanning one-seventh of the continent. 2.2 million people live across its area, and its surface water supplies about 40 per cent of Australia’s irrigated agricultural output.
“The Menindee Lakes project is among the key mechanisms devised by governments to deliver on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan – a major inter-government initiative to provide water for rivers and wetlands in the basin,” said UNSW Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science and co-author of the study.
The $151.8 million project’s goal is to save water for the Basin Plan by implementing infrastructure measures and rule changes to reduce water lost to evaporation from Menindee Lakes.