The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has delivered a seasonal update on the basin during this year's River Reflections conference.
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The conference is aimed at hearing from the communities most affected by the status of the Murray-Darling, including the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
The MDBA's river management executive director Andrew Reynolds delivered an address, comparing the current state of the basins to previous years and making projections going forward.
He emphasised the importance of the coming months in ensuring water supplies are stable, and said that it was a bit early to make predictions on water availability for next year.
"Water availability next year is dependent on winter and spring ... our forecast for the inflows to the Murray are around median at this time of the year. While there is an indication of wetter conditions, we've got drier catchments at the moment so it will take a bit more to get them starting to flow."
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Key takeaways from the address included that while Menindee Lakes is at 62 per cent of its capacity, water availability is higher now than it was at this time last year. This was accompanied by good news about the Northern basins, which are beginning a recovery from a dry period and are sitting at around 50 per cent capacity.
The MDBA is currently preparing their annual operating outlook, which will be available in August.
Director of the Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solution at ANU Professor Mark Howden also spoke at the conference about the impacts of climate change.
"We've seen a sharp increase in the number and areas affected by extremely high temperatures and this trend is consistent with future projections ... Cold extremes such as late frosts have also been increasing in the southern Basin because of climate change," Professor Howden said.
"Higher temperatures and reduced rainfall during the growing season is pushing down on potential farm productivity even while improvements in technology and management are pushing them upwards," he added.
Registrations for in-person attendance to the conference are now closed, however registrations for viewing the livestream are still open online.
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