For the Barkindji people, the Darling River has been a symbol of Aboriginal survival since colonial times. Now, the once busy NSW town of Wilcannia is in danger of losing its water.
Articles on Irrigation
Displaying 101 - 120 of 126 articles
It’s full steam ahead for bringing vast increases in farming to northern Australia. In fact, probably too fast to adequately consider the environmental impacts.
South Africa has been hit by a severe drought and will not be able to produce enough maize - its staple food - in 2016. This will prompt a rise in imports and therefore food prices.
A government for the 21st century needs to work out how we can grow our food, manufacture goods and dispose of waste without making such a huge mess.
Water isn’t straightforward. And by putting the Nationals in charge of policy for water assets like the Murray-Darling Basin, the government will trigger a complex round of bureaucratic musical chairs.
The White Paper on Developing Northern Australia represents the most comprehensive attempt yet to think through the development possibilities of the north.
The majority of water that people use goes to agriculture. In a drier, hungrier future, we’ll need to use what water we have with less waste. Technologies being developed now will help.
Smart dirt is made up of those germs clinging to the surfaces around us that have become resistant to the chemicals normally used to get rid of them.
The Queensland government wants companies to use waste water from coal seam gas extraction for useful purposes such as recharging aquifers. New CSIRO research shows that, with careful monitoring, it can be done.
The agricultural green paper released last week proposes 27 new water and irrigation projects, which the government claims will be necessary for Australia’s agricultural expansion. The emphasis is firmly…
Some 27 irrigation and dam projects are highlighted in the green paper for agricultural competitiveness released this week by agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce. Six of the projects – five in Tasmania…
It’s perhaps fitting that mining magnate Andrew Forrest is in the vanguard of a move to position Australia as a major food supplier to China. Fitting, because if the plan is to work, Australian agriculture…
We are used to the idea that modern technological inventions can have unforeseen consequences on health. Infamous examples include the anti-nausea drug thalidomide, which caused limb defects in unborn…
There is a possibility for irrigated crops to be grown in southern Gulf pastoral areas of north Queensland by maximising…
The Commonwealth Government’s decision to sell up to 10 billion litres of its water allocation in the Murray-Darling Basin back to farmers could prove to be a win-win for irrigators and the river. On the…
A nation that destroys its soils, destroys itself — Franklin Roosevelt It is a worthy objective to sell more food to Asia, but we should not conflate pursuing export income with improving regional food…
After two and a half years, the embattled Japanese government and Tepco, the company responsible for the Fukushima nuclear power plant, have sought the world’s assistance in tackling the three damaged…
Water demand and availability will be the most critical sign of future agricultural productivity in Australia. More Australian…
Australia has some of the world’s most ancient soils, many of which grow delicious produce. In this series, “The good earth”, soil scientist Robert Edis profiles some of those soils and the flavours they…
With the recently leaked discussion paper by the Coalition reigniting old passions for a northern irrigated food bowl, Australia must again contemplate its vision for the north. Is this our chance to learn…
Top contributors
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Australian Laureate Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University
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Managing Director, Triple Helix Consulting; Honorary Professor, ANU Fenner School for the Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW
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Matthew Flinders Professor in Water Economics, Flinders University
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Regents Professor Emeritus and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy Emeritus, University of Arizona
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Professor of Economics and Head of School, Adelaide University
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Adjunct Associate Professor, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, Deakin University
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Adjunct Professor Environment and Natural Resources, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Senior Research Associate and Director, Western Water Policy Program, University of Colorado Boulder
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Professor, Department of Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan
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Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Boise State University; United Nations University
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Professor, Business School, Adelaide University
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Director of the Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), United Nations University
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Professor, Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona