The Queensland Government's management of floodplains on the environmentally important Paroo River has been called into question by a new study by UNSW researchers.

The study found that a new floodplain development on the Paroo River near Eulo in Queensland may threaten the river's status as the last free-flowing river in the Murray-Darling Basin.

In 2003, the Premiers of Queensland and New South Wales signed the Paroo River Agreement to protect flows in this river, agreeing not to allow extraction of water.

But the Queensland Government approved earlier this year the development of nine storages with a storage capacity of 10,338 megalitres, on the basis that the development had either begun or was in place on the 9 June 2001, the date of a Queensland moratorium on floodplain development.

The UNSW study used highly detailed satellite photographs to compare the relevant area in 2002 and 2008 to determine whether floodplain development was in place after the moratorium. The team found only three of the nine storages recently approved by the Queensland Government were in place in 2002.

"Of greatest concern was the clear identification of two new storages, more than 10 kilometres of channels and clearing for irrigation that were neither started nor in place in June 2001," said Professor Richard Kingsford, who is Professor of Environmental Science at UNSW.

"We used the latest commercially available satellite imagery, capable of discriminating floodplain structures at a resolution of less than a metre" said the research team's leader," Professor Kingsford said. "This satellite imagery until recently was only available for defence and intelligence but its resolution allows for much better analysis of the floodplain developments."

The Queensland Government used coarse satellite imagery with the best resolution of 30 metres in its assessment of the development, as well as field inspections earlier this year.

The UNSW study has major implications for the management of floodplain development across the Murray-Darling Basin, an area that governments of all persuasions have poorly managed, Professor Kingsford said: "If Governments are going to be serious about their intentions to manage rivers sustainably and protect their flows, they have to use the latest technology in their decision making. Similar methods should be used by the Queensland Government to investigate whether floodplain developments on the Warrego, Nebine, Moonie and Border Rivers respected the planning processes.

"The extraction of flows from the Paroo River for irrigation breaches the intention of the Paroo River Agreement. Further, the Commonwealth Government is responsible for two internationally listed Ramsar wetland sites downstream that rely on flows from the Paroo River. All potential developments that affect such sites are supposed to be assessed for potential impact.

"It is unclear whether or not this development has been referred to or assessed by the Federal Government."

This study found that the technology available to Governments to assess floodplain developments and their impacts has greatly improved in recent years. It recommends increased Government resources to focus on such developments, given their major impacts on wetland environments.