Murray river flows lowest in a century  

The SMH has a report on the dismal state of Australia's largest river - Murray flows lowest in a century

THE amount of water flowing into the stricken Murray River between January and March was the lowest for that quarter in the 117 years that records have been kept.

An unprecedented drought has thrown the river system into decline, according to the guardian for the river.

"We've had big droughts before and big floods before, but what we didn't have was climate change," said Rob Freeman, the chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

A second record has been smashed too - for a three-year period. Water flowing into the system in the three years to March totalled 5160 gigalitres, less than half the previous 11,300 gigalitre minimum during the 1943-46 drought, according to the authority's update.

"It worries me. Normally you break records by small amounts," Mr Freeman said.

As the Bureau of Meteorology predicts more dry weather for the next three months, irrigators have been put on notice that they can expect similar water allocations to the past two years, which means NSW rice growers will get zero and fruit growers who have left trees to die will get no relief unless they buy water.

Wetland ecosystems and floodplains are at further risk and near the Murray mouth in South Australia, the outlook is grim, Mr Freeman said