Some facts and figures

The Murray-Darling basin:

• extends over three-quarters of New South Wales, more than half of Victoria, significant portions of Queensland and South Australia, and includes the whole of the Australian Capital Territory. Well over half of the Basin is in New South Wales and almost a quarter is in Queensland.[1]
• sustains 10.94 percent of the nation’s population.[2]
• constitutes over 40 percent of the total value of Australian agricultural production, and some 50,000 farmers depend on the system. Annually, agriculture generates A$103 billion in production for the nation underpinning 12 percent of GDP, $30 billion in exports, and supports 1.6 million Australian jobs across our cities and regions and responsible for most of the food on Australian supermarket shelves.[3]
• is where two million people live and work, or depend on it for their water supply. Another one million people living outside the basin are also heavily dependent on its water;[4]
• houses at least fifty active mining operations with many more in exploration stages or pending government approval[5]
• includes 84 major dams and reservoirs: 40 in NSW; 27 in Vic; 7 in Qld; 7 in SA; 3 in ACT[6]