The One Basin CRC is investigating ways to increase the resilience and productivity of agricultural regions within the Murray-Darling Basin. As climate variability and climate change stretch the reliability of traditional surface water supplies in the basin, finding alternative water sources that are less climate dependent is one way to manage the potential risks and maintain agricultural productivity. One example of an alternative water source is brackish groundwater. Brackish water is broadly defined as having a salinity between that of freshwater (500 mg/L total dissolved solids, TDS) and seawater (35,000 mg/L TDS). Various more specific definitions for brackish water exist, with these generally falling in the range of 1000 to 15,000 mg/L TDS. 

It is estimated the sum of the sustainable brackish groundwater yield in NSW, SA, QLD and VIC is over 2000 GL/year. While this is an overestimate of the sustainable groundwater yield across the Murray Darling Basin (MDB), it highlights brackish groundwater in the MDB is a significant, underutilised potential resource for growers. To use this resource, the groundwater salinity needs to be reduced through desalination. This project aims to investigate the potential for brackish groundwater desalination to augment traditional surface water supplies to enhance the resilience of agriculture in the Murray-Darling Basin.