A CHANGING climate that has the potential to turn the temperature in river communities to those common in outback towns highlights the need for action to ensure the long-term health of the Murray-Darling Basin.
This was one of the key messages from Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists member Bruce Thom, who was a guest speaker at the 73rd Murray Darling Association national conference held at Renmark last week. Prof Thom said the Wentworth group was planning to release a report on climate change issues.
“In 2030, Renmark could have a climate similar to Leigh Creek or Port Augusta,” he said. “It shows the need to start adaptive planning, on what the changing climate means for production along the basin and other things like tourism.”
Prof Thom said one of the major problems was a lack of research facilities planning ahead for climate change.
“There are less experimental research stations about,” he said. “With the old CSIRO stations, they’d look at problems like rising temperatures.”
Another speaker, M+S Group Accounting senior partner Pete George, whose company works with more than 300 farmers, said mental health was a major issue for struggling farm businesses along the basin.
“Advisers need to make sure they’re not just looking at figures, but also mental health aspects with any farming changes,” he said.
“With price crashes and drought, it can be hard to get finance from banks, and it can take up to four months to access Centrelink benefits, because it’s based on Newstart Allowance criteria.”