Australian Development Gateway

The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) strives to support members of the development community in their efforts to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. The site has been created with participation from members of government, private, academia and non-government organisations. User feedback mechanisms have been incorporated to guide future directions of the site. The site is optimised for low bandwidth access to enable the widest participation throughout the Asia Pacific region.

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Community management

Water trading - managing the water resources of the Murray-Darling Basin

The Murray-Darling Basin is the catchment for the Murray and Darling Rivers and their many tributaries.

The irrigation industry is the major user of freshwater in Australia, consuming between 70 and 80 per cent of all water used. It provides many benefits to the nation, but there are also a number of challenges facing the industry. These include:

  • infrastructure decline (with insufficient public funds to pay for refurbishment)
  • low profitability in the industry generally; and
  • natural resource and environmental degradation such as declining water quality, rising watertables and increased river and groundwater salinity.
 

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