Don't be deceived by the water. It's just a pool in the Chowilla wetland of the River Murray that hasn't seen a flood for ten years or more due to the overallocation of its water. Floodplains, which are the vast majority of a river, are not seen as part of a river. The River Murray has changed in that decade from being a working river to an irrigation channel. Consequently, many of the redgums in Chowilla are just hanging on.

Gary Sauer-Thompson, Chowilla Rivergum, 2004, from the River Murray series

The director of CSIRO's Climate Program, Bryson Bates, appeared before the Senate Inquiry into Water Policy Initiatives earlier this week. Bates told the inquiry the Murray River was experiencing its driest five-year period, and that climate change was expected to decrease run-off in the Murray-Darling basin by up to 25 per cent by 2050. That means a reduction of annual river flow of around 15%.

It is in the wetlands of the River Murray, such as Chowilla, that you can see the how basin is drying out. Water trading as a response to the issues of reduced supply, increasing demand, and competition between a range of urban, rural and industrial users will not help an overallocated river with a future of reduced flow. It is the very survival of the river that is increasingly at stake.