Federal Climate Change and Water Minister, Senator Penny Wong, has welcomed the release of two reports on the effects of climate change on water availability in the Murray Darling Basin.
CSIRO released the reports on the Condamine-Balonne and Moonie regions in the north of the Murray Darling Basin as part of the Murray Darling Basin Sustainable Yields project being done on behalf of the Australian Government and the Murray Darling Basin States.
The project looks at the impacts of climate change and land use change across the basin's 18 regions.
"The Rudd Government is tackling the effects of climate change through measures including our $12.9 billion Water for the Future plan," Senator Wong says.
"Water for the Future sets out four main priorities: securing our water supplies, using water wisely, tackling climate change and supporting healthy rivers.
"The Sustainable Yields reports will be important in developing a new and sustainable diversion limit for the Murray Darling Basin to help achieve on these priorities."
The Condamine-Balonne region contains the internationally significant Narran Lake Nature Reserve in North West NSW and nine nationally important wetlands. The Moonie River features valuable floodplain wetlands and waterholes.
The two regions account for about 14.4pc of the basin's total area and are home to almost 184,000 people. Land use includes pastures for livestock, sheep and cattle grazing, cotton and grain.
The reports found:
* Current permitted levels of surface water use relative to water availability are extremely high in the Condamine-Balonne region.
* Current planning arrangements permit high levels of use in the Moonie, although recent use has been much lower.
* Groundwater extraction in parts of the Condamine-Balonne region exceeds recharge and is unlikely to be sustainable in the long run.
CSIRO's median (or best estimate) of climate change by 2030 indicates the following changes compared with historic climate:
* In the Condamine-Balonne: an 8pc reduction in surface water availability, a 5pc decrease in surface water diversion and a 12pc fall in total end-of-system flow.
* In the Moonie: a 12pc reduction in average surface water availability, a 6pc reduction in diversions and a 13pc fall in end-of-system flows.
More information about the CSIRO Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields project can be found at www.environment.gov.au/water/mdb/yields.html