State of the Environment 2011 (SoE 2011)
State of the Environment 2011 Committee. Australia state of the environment 2011.
Independent report to
the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
Canberra: DSEWPaC, 2011.
4 Inland water
6 Risks to inland water environments
At a glance
It is almost certain that Australia’s climate is continuing to change, and that this will, if unmitigated, change water balances, flow regimes and inundation patterns of floodplains and wetlands. This is of great concern, because the implications will be major and widespread if the risk is not managed.
Continuing expansion of urban areas, resulting in increased diffuse pollution and loss of habitat, and continuing legacy effects of historical land uses are highly likely. These will have moderate, ongoing consequences at the national scale.
Surface water and groundwater overuse, with major consequences for local inland water environments, is likely to continue in many areas of southern Australia until the principles of the National Water Initiative are fully implemented and adjustments to abstraction levels are made.
For extensive areas with otherwise low levels of water resource development or intensive land use, such as much of northern and central Australia, the key risk is the ongoing damage caused by vertebrate pests and weeds.
It is important to separate the legacy of ongoing impacts on our inland water systems associated with historical land and water management decisions from risks posed by future pressures. Chief among these future risks are climate change, further development of freshwater resources, and future changes in land use, including those that give rise to additional pollution. In Section 3 of this chapter, we considered the current risks to the inland water environment from these pressures. In this section, we will look at the projected impacts into the future of unmitigated pressures.
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