Focus Area 5A3 Issues in
Australian Environments
Land and water management
Syllabus: Land and water
management
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Students learn about:
At least TWO geographical issues affecting Australian
environments, (one study must include fieldwork):
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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
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management of the issue and implications for sustainability, social
justice and equity
Syllabus: Land and water
management
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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
Water Management
Introduction

Every person on Earth depends on
land and water.

Water is essential for life, there are no substitutes.
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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.
Lingo List
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Algal bloom
Catchment
Desalination
Great Artesian Basin
Grey water
Ground water
Hydroelectricity
Per capita
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River regulation
Salinity
Total catchment
management
Underground water
Water catchment
Water quality
Water quantity
Water table
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
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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
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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.
Land Diversity
Water Resources
Activity – Skills - Water and its
Management worksheets 2 & 3.

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.
.
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_statist
ics.html
2400 kilometres (km) from Cape York in the north to
Dubbo in the south. At its widest it is 1800 km from the
Darling Downs to west of Coober Pedy. With an area of
over 1.7 million square kilometres the basin underlies
approximately one-fifth of the Australian continent. (See
Figure 1).
GAB (Great Artesian Basin)
The GAB stores a huge volume of water that is estimated
to be 64 900 million megalitres. It is enough water to fill
Sydney Harbour 130 000 times.
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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.
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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
Figure 1—The Great Artesian Basin
How the basin was formed
Ref: http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/water/w68.pdf
Over many millions of years, the GAB was created by the
Sustainability, Social Justice and
Equity Issues
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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
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
How is it used?
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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.
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Settlements may have limited water supply if:
◦ Located in low rainfall areas,
◦ Have inadequate storage or
◦ Experienced extended periods of drought.