The Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project

At the Murray-Darling Basin Water summit, convened by the Prime Minister on 7 November 2006, it was agreed to:
Commission the CSIRO to report progressively by the end of 2007 on sustainable yields of surface and groundwater systems within the Murray-Darling Basin, including an examination of assumptions about sustainable yields in light of changes in climate and other issues.

As a result, the CSIRO has been contracted by the National Water Commission to report on current and future water availability in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Project Methods & Terms of Reference | Regions | Technical Reports | Final Report
A subset of the data used in the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields project can be accessed via the CSIRO Data Access Portal

Whole of Basin Final Report

Water Availability in the Murray-Darling Basin
This report from the CSIRO Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project summarises the assessments for 18 regions that comprise the Basin.

• Lessons from the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project (PDF, 1.2 MB) May 2009
• Executive Summary 12 pp (PDF, 3.7 MB)
• Full Report 68 pp (PDF, 16.8 MB)
• Stakeholder briefing 39pp (PDF, 1.8 MB)
• An overview of the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project (Video 4:08) [external site]
• Murray-Darling Basins Sustainable Yields Project - Technical Workshop. Presentations made to the Technical Workshop, held 15th December 2008

Project Methods and Terms of Reference

• Project Methods [external site]
• Terms of Reference [external site]
• Overview of Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project methods (PDF, 1.9 MB)

Regions

The individual regions assessed as part of the CSIRO Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project are:

Technical Reports Basin-wide Data

• Potter N.J. , Chiew F.H.S. , Frost A.J. , Srikanthan R. , McMahon T.A. , Peel M.C. and Austin J.M. Characterisation of Recent Rainfall and Runoff in the Murray-Darling Basin.48pp (PDF, 3.5 MB)
• Chiew F, Teng J, Kirono D, Frost A, Bathols J, Vaze J, Viney N, Hennessy K and Cai W. Climate data for hydrologic scenario modelling in the Murray-Darling Basin 42pp (PDF, 3 MB)
• Chiew F, Vaze J, Viney N, Jordan P, Perraud J, Zang L, Teng J, Peña-Arancibia J, Morden R, Freebairn A, Austin J, Hill P, Wiesemfeld C and Murphy R. Rainfall-runoff modelling across the Murray Darling Basin 70pp (PDF, 10.9 MB)
• Barnett BG and Muller J. Upper Condamine Groundwater Model Calibration Report 58pp (PDF, 3.3 MB)
• Goode AM and Barnett BG. Southern Riverine Plains Groundwater Model Calibration Report 152pp (PDF, 8.5 MB)
• Crosbie R, McCallum J, Walker G and Chiew F. Diffuse groundwater recharge modelling across the Murray-Darling Basin 118pp (PDF, 7.1 MB)
• Goode AM and Daamen CC. Mid-Murrumbidgee Groundwater Model Calibration Report 48pp (PDF, 2.7 MB)
• Barnett BG and Muller J. Upper Lachlan Groundwater Model Calibration Report 66pp (PDF, 4.1 MB)
• Rassam D, Walker G and Barnett B. Recommendations for modelling surface–groundwater interactions based on lessons learnt from the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project 42pp (PDF, 2.9 MB)
• Gilmore R. The Upper Murrumbidgee IQQM Calibration Report.  28pp. (PDF, 2.4 MB)
• Kirby JM, Van Dijk AIJM, Mainuddin Md, Peña-Arancibia J, Guerschman JP, Liu Y, Marvanek S, McJannet DL, Paydar Z, McVicar TR, van Niel TG and Li  LT. River water balance accounts across the Murray-Darling Basin, 1990 – 2006 34pp (PDF, 3.3 MB)
• van Dijk AIJM, Kirby JM, Paydar Z, Podger G, Mainuddin Md, Marvanek S and Peña-Arancibia J. Uncertainty in river modelling across the Murray-Darling Basin 98pp (PDF, 3.8 MB)
• Hartcher M and Lemon D. Data Management for the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project 40pp (PDF, 2.9 MB)
• Richardson S, Walker GR, Barnett B, Daamen C, DaviesP, Evans RS, Evans WR, Goode A, Pritchard J and Waklawik V. Groundwater management unit prioritisation and assessment ranking 38pp (PDF, 2.8 MB)
• Parsons S, Evans R and Hoban M. Surface–groundwater connectivity assessment 28pp (PDF, 3.3 MB)
• Herczeg A. Background report on the Great Artesian Basin 24 pp (PDF, 3.4 MB)
• McJannet DL, Webster IT, Stenson MP, Sherman BS. Estimating open water evaporation for the Murray-Darling Basin 58pp (PDF, 2.5 MB)
• Guerschman JpP, Van Dijk AIJM,  McVicar TR, Van Niel TG, Li L, Liu Y and Peña-Arancibia J. Water balance estimates from satellite observations over the Murray-Darling Basin 102pp (PDF, 13.5 MB)

Further information on the Sustainable Yields Projects.