Focus Area 5A3 Issues in Australian Environments

1. Focus Area 5A3 Issues in Australian Environments Land and water management

2. Syllabus: Land and water management • Students learn about: At least TWO geographical issues affecting Australian environments, (one study must include fieldwork): • the geographical processes relevant to the issue • the perceptions of different groups about the issue • individual, group and government responses to the issue • decision-making processes involved in the management of the issue • management of the issue and implications for sustainability, social justice and equity

3. Syllabus: Land and water management • Students learn to: • explain the interaction of the physical and human elements of the environment • recognise the responsibility of the levels of government to the issue • propose actions that promote: • sustainability • social justice • equity • evaluate the success of individuals, groups and the levels of government in managing the issue

4. Water Management

5. Introduction • Every person on Earth depends on land and water. • Water is essential for life, there are no substitutes. • Land is: • Where we live • Provides us with most of our food • Provides products like minerals, metals and timber. • People’s social and economic well-being and their health are dependent on land and water ecosystems. • It is essential for our quality of life that these two resources are managed sustainably so that they will be available for future generations to use.

6. Lingo List • Algal bloom • Catchment • Desalination • Great Artesian Basin • Grey water • Ground water • Hydroelectricity • Per capita • River regulation • Salinity • Total catchment management • Underground water • Water catchment • Water quality • Water quantity • Water table

7. What's Your Water Footprint? • Read http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/resources/articles/waterfootprints.html • Then go to http://www.waterfootprint.org/index.php?page=cal/WaterFootprintCalculator to calculate your own water footprint

8. Land Resources • Australia has a land area of about 7.6 million square kilometres. Source Sue van Zuylen, Glyn Trethewy, Helen McIsaac Geography Focus 2 Page 178 • A large percentage of the land is arid or semi-arid and not suitable for intensive agricultural production, urban development or industry. • Regions with wetter climates and good soils suitable for agriculture and supporting populations have consequently experienced intensive use and degradation.

9. Land Diversity

10. Activity – Skills - Water and its Management worksheets 2 & 3. Water Resources • In Australia, water management is an important issue due to the low and unreliable rainfall combined with high evaporation rates • Little water collects in rivers, lakes and storage areas compared to other continents. Rivers have highly variable flows and droughts are common. • Many Australians are concerned about the overuse, degradation and management of water. • Inappropriate management strategies have contributed to issues like salinity, pollution, algal blooms and water shortages. • There is an imbalance in the availability of water in Australia. • Water resources are concentrated in northern Australia and Tasmania, which have high rainfall, whereas most of the population lives in the south eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and southern Queensland. • Freshwater supplies include rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes, groundwater and springs • Australia has the highest water storage capacity per capita in the world at 4000 kilolitres per person • There are 447 large dams that contain 79 000 gigalitres of water when they are full. • Eighty per cent of the water used is surface water. .

11. Murray Darling Quick Facts • The Murray-Darling river system is a key source of fresh surface water. 3.3 million Australians in SA, Victoria, ACT and NSW depend on it for water • Catchment area for the Murray and Darling rivers and their tributaries • Total of 23 river valleys • Basin area over 1 million square kilometres • 14% of total area of Australia • Annual average rainfall 530,618 gigalitres • 94% of rainfall evaporates; 2% drains into the ground; 4% ends up as runoff • Basin generates 39% of the national income derived from agricultural production • Produces 53% of Australian cereals grown for grain, 95% of oranges, and 54% of apples • Supports 28% of the nation’s cattle herd, 45% of sheep, and 62% of pigs. http://www2.mdbc.gov.au/about/basin_statistics.html

12. GAB (Great Artesian Basin) • Twenty per cent comes from underground sources, particularly the Great Artesian Basin (GAB). • The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest underground water reservoirs in the world. It underlies approximately 22 per cent of Australia — occupying an area of over 1.7 million square kilometres beneath the arid and semi-arid parts of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory. • Problems with the use of groundwater include declining water availability, rising and falling water tables and salinity. • On 21 February 2011, ABC Four Corners revealed that significant concerns were being expressed about depletion and chemical damage to the Great Artesian Basin as a result of coal seam gas extraction. In one incident, reported in the program, the Queensland Gas Company (QGC) 'fracked' its Myrtle 3 well connecting the Springbok aquifer to the coal seam below (the Walloon Coal Measures) in 2009, in the process releasing 130 litres of a potentially toxic chemical into the Great Artesian Basin Ref: http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/water/w68.pdf

13. Sustainability, Social Justice and Equity Issues • Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions • Social Justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being • Equity is a perception of satisfaction in terms of fair/unfair distributions of resources

14. How do these apply? Activity • Given some of the issues explored via the Murray Darling and GAB write down one example of a social justice, equity and sustainability issue for each region

15. How is it used? • 80 per cent of Australia’s water is used in the agricultural sector each year. • The bulk is used in irrigating food crops including rice, vegetables, fruit, grapes, sugar, wheat and other grains. • Water is used to improve pastures and provide stock water for dairy cattle and other livestock. • Settlements may have limited water supply if: • Located in low rainfall areas, • Have inadequate storage or • Experienced extended periods of drought.