Murray Darling Essay
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In Australia, the Murray Darling Basin is a unique, rich natural and cultural resource. The basin itself supports more than twenty cities, three million Australians and a wide range of product industries. The Basin covers just over one million square kilometres, around 14% of the area in Australia and spans over four states, New Shout Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
The basin's cultural heritage, scenic beauty and natural assets are part of many Australians leisure time lifestyles. Clearly, the development and use of the basin's resources have resulted in important economic and social benefits over many years.
It is equally evident, however, that this development has come at a considerable cost. Some of the many problems confronting the Murray-Darling Basin have become well known and are of great concern for people in Australia who depend on the river's resources, especially those in South Australia. Rising salinity in many of the basin's waterways has been an ongoing problem, and is of particular significance to South Australia at the "bottom end" of the Murray-Darling system.
The development of agriculture in the Murray Darling Basin has been associated with a range of environmental issues. These include land degradation, river water salinity, water quality problems, extensive loss of native birds, fish and mammals, and more frequent algae blooms...