Crazy northern schemes torpedoed by reality check

In late September, Australia’s leading scientific research organisation, the CSIRO, provided a much needed reality check to mad schemes to turn northern Australia into a giant irrigated farm.

For the past several years, a small number of politicians have spearheaded a push to dam and destroy the rivers of northern Australia in support of the massive expansion of irrigated farming across the north.

The supposed benefits of this scheme included the relocation of entire farm communities from the ecologically devastated Murray Darling river system and to turn the ‘north’ into Asia’s food bowl.

However, the CSIRO study of the suitability of northern Australia’s rivers to further water extraction tells a very different story. View this report here >>

The key findings of this important report included:

• Although northern Australia experiences high annual rainfall, almost all of this falls during the short wet season (November to April) whilst the remainder of the year experiences a long period of no rain.
• Much of this rainfall occurs close to the coast, not in the headwaters of the river systems, and is critical to the health of the extensive wetlands in the Kimberley, Kakadu, the Gulf and Cape York
  
• That remaining freshwater quickly evaporates during the long dry season, &
• As a result of the above, very few rivers flow all year round and those few rivers which do flow all year round (Jardine, Fitzroy, Ord and Gregory Rivers) have extraordinary ecological and cultural importance to both local communities and to Australia.

This new report provides a much needed reality check to counter those advocating the destruction of northern rivers and clearly points the way to a new form of economic development for northern Australia that works in sympathy, not competition with the incredible, but fragile natural wonder that is northern Australia.