How does variability in water affect communities in the northern basin? 

A One Basin CRC project, led by Mosaic Insights’ Dr Vicki Martin, is looking into existing studies about the effects that different levels of water flows – from floods to droughts – have on rural communities in the northern basin.

‘We started with a big literature review to look at existing evidence across the entire basin – we’ve narrowed it down from over 2,300 studies to 94 research papers and grey literature,’ Dr Martin says. She explained that while there is a lot of data on the southern basin, there hasn’t been as much research to date done in the northern basin. The main effects found in the literature on the northern basin include impacts on livelihoods, wellbeing, participation in decision making, recreational use, and places for socialising, learning, stewardship, and spiritual and cultural connection.

Furthermore, she says, ‘We looked at literature focussed on the extremes of water availability and access, from flooding to drought, and found that there has been a lot more research on the effects of drought across the entire basin, with comparatively little on flooding effects, particularly in the northern basin. We also looked at literature focussed on flow management and found the number of studies across the basin to be similar to the number of drought studies.’ 

‘We know there are gaps in the literature’, says Dr Martin, ‘and these will help identify areas that the CRC can explore further in future work to help communities deal with the positive and negative effects of variability in water access or availability.’

The project team is using this research to develop a conceptual model, the draft of which was recently reviewed by stakeholders in the northern basin. The team are also working with the project advisory committee and the Goondiwindi Hub Manager, Marti Beeston.

‘We also know that the amount of water available has been very different in the northern and southern basins, so our project is helping to highlight some differences in how communities in each region experience changes to water access and availability.’

To learn more about our project, contact Vicki Martin via our Goondiwindi Hub Manager Marti Beeston.