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Building Up Resilience and Sustainability

Experiences, Strategies, and Prospects of the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Irrigation Communities in Adapting to Drought and Future Climate Change

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Abstract

This chapter reviewed the information relating to water use in the South Australian irrigation communities (especially the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin – mainly includes the Murraylands and Riverland region) and analyzed the data on irrigation water applied, changes in growing area, and crop mix from 2005–2006 to 2017–2018. It aims to understand the nature of irrigation water use, shifting production patterns, and extent of drought impacts and assess the key adaptive management options irrigators used in mitigating the impacts, especially the water infrastructure and water market. The experiences and lessons of governments, communities, and landholders’ response to climate change since the Millennium Drought (2001–2009) were summarized, followed by discussion of challenges and opportunities for the South Australian River Murray irrigators to build up resilience and adapt to potential impacts of reduced water allocations under future extreme dry conditions.

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Shi, T. (2020). Building Up Resilience and Sustainability. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Climate Resilient Societies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32811-5_55-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32811-5_55-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-32811-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-32811-5

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