Murray-Darling Basin Drought: A Recurring Crisis Since the Millennium Drought

There is no single start date for drought in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). Instead, the basin has experienced a sequence of severe multi-year droughts:

• Millennium Drought: 1997–2009 (longest on record)
• Big Dry: 2012–2019
• Intermittent dry spells before and between

Impacts

• Drastic reductions in water allocations
• Ecosystem degradation (wetlands, forests, fish kills)
• Economic hardship for irrigators and communities
• Policy reforms (Basin Plan 2012)

Drought is a recurring feature of the MDB’s hydroclimate, exacerbated by climate change and over-extraction.