“There is much to be said for a policy of abolishing all drought relief assistance. Drought is a normal, natural, cyclic factor of our environment and if you can not understand and cope with that, maybe you should not be farming” concludes Warwick Hughes in his latest drought assessment(30 kbs).
And some of the farmers I met over the last couple of days would agree with Warwick.
Yesterday I was driven from Brewarrina (100 kms east of Bourke) all the way north to the Queensland border, and beyond, to check out Cubbie Station and the water infrastructure associated with this now large cotton farm.
Many farmers in this Border River’s region are more concerned about the possibility of their Coolibahs no-longer being flooded because of the Cubbie water diversions than ‘the drought’.
Pop Petersen of Brenda Station, which straddles the NSW-Queensland border on the Culgoa River, has data on river heights back to 1890. Her records suggest 110 floods over the last 100 years. The last flood was in March 1999. Pop claims that there should have been a flood just last year with a river height of 5.76 metres, but that it didn’t happen because of the new upstream diversions.
I plan to test Pop’s hypothesis by plotting the historical data on river heights for Brenda Station against the historical rainfall records for that catchment.
I have some pictures (30-70 kbs in size) from the trip:
Dawn at Bokhara Huts, Brewarrina: View image
The Culgoa at Brenda Station: View image
Some signage at Weilmoringel (3 floodway signs perhaps equals wishful thinking): View image
I saw more emus than sheep: View image
Part of a Cubbie Station bund wall that we followed for 31kms: View image
Intake channel for Cubbie from the Culgoa: View image
End.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Dear Jennifer, Thankyou for coming to our farmers meeting in Brewarrina. We really appreciated you making the trip. I’m the silly woman who asked you if you were the police woman from Enngonia during the lunch break. We too live on the Culgoa river. My husband’s family have been here for 120 years. Once we had what we considered to be permanent water holes in the river, but sadly no more. The rape of the river has been nothing short of criminal. If only someone would listen to us.Kindest regards PF
Pam, Thanks for your kind comment. I do remember you. And by-the-way I did get a lift from Bourke with the police woman from Enngonia. She had some interesting stories.
I’m not greatly convinced by Warwick’s conclusions about drought.
Maps from two different sources, subjected to interpretation according to presumably different criteria appear at odds with one another. This is not a surprise. It does not present an argument that Exceptional Circumstances are a bureaucratic myth, if that was the underlying message.
And yes, the national wheat crop may be holding up, and there would be several reasons. For example:
The seasons in WA have been much kinder overall, with some exceptions, than they have been in the eastern states. If WA produces about 40% of the national harvest on average, a good season in WA could mask real hardship in NSW, SA and Vic. This year, some parts of the WA w’belt are bogged out already, though we’re having a dry couple of weeks now and the smell of diesel fumes must be pretty strong out there.
Agronomy is always progressing, so yields can be maintained even under less than optimum conditions. New fertiliser practices, better use of herbicides and no-till or min-till farming. The gear is getting bigger and better, so if there is a good season or two and farmers improve their machinery, they can make their operations more timely and improve productivity. So in areas with reasonable conditions, yields can be maintained and so cover the hardship in other areas.
Bigger farms fly small teams of workers in from NZ and even the UK to operate wide seeders at high speeds to shorten the seeding period. This beats the cold wet winter problems and early-sown crops yield better.
The rainfall has declined in WA over the last couple of decades. This has reduced water-logging problems and actually helped yields in many places.
Does the BoM definition of drought take into account the effectiveness of the rainfall? For example, some cereal crops can return just below average, but still profitable, yields from 130mm of well-distributed winter rainfall. Twice as much rain in a couple of mid-summer thunderstorms just fills the dams with sheep manure, feeds into the deep water tables and grows nothing but weeds. The thunderstorms may boost the annual average rainfall, but they do almost nothing for someone growing winter cereals.
Break-even occurs at a point where yields are only depressed somewhat, so perhaps a 30% reduction on annual harvest could mean a 90% reduction in industry profitability.
The last couple of trips east have struck me how hard and dry NSW looks. This is a strange observation from WA, the land of the long dry summer.
The maps are interesting, but I think they are a very broad brush. The devil is in the detail?
Jennifer, your photos of the Culgoa River don’t show the majority of the river system, that of silted up water holes and dry river beds for miles on end.Many Homesteads and Paddocks now have unreliable if any water in what was once the major contributor to the Darling River, Drought or no Drought. Someones wealth comes at others expense. Thanks for coming to Bre.
Drought
Wooleen Station in the Murchison has 100 years of recorded (written) history.
At the moment they are mustering, so enquiries should be directed around ~ late June this year,
Brett Pollock (Wooleen) may have some home truths to recount
Wooleen Station, in the Murchison of WA, has over 100 years of weather records. Droughts are about 7 years long, and currently they are in the 5th year of the present cycle.
Stocking is ~ 2000 sheep instead of 14,000 sheep – a stocking level which is totally uneconomic, hence their farm stay business which we in the mining industry are more than happy to help out by staying there as paying guests. It has its problems as we need to fit in with the more profitable tourists (we pay a lower rate as we do not need to be entertained with day trips etc).
However, many pastoralists in the region don’t like being told that they have another 2 years of drought to survive before the better climes arrive.
As a devotee of the Austrian School, drought relief is simply a disbursement for climatic ignorance, and in this particular instance, we have proof that because we cannot predict localised drouights, we certainly have no right at all to presume we can predict or project future global climates.
So my challenge to Ender and his/her fellow travellers, demonstrate to us that your “science” can improve our prediction of local climate states, then we might take your assertion of AGW with a little less laughter than at present.
Really, this is a case of grandchildren instructing their grandparents on how to pass water and dispose of nightsoil, doesn’t it.
For more comments on Cubbie see Mungindi Gallery Forum
http://www.mungindigallery.com/discussion_frm.htm
I believe that Cubbie station pays only $3700pa for the right to divert up to 200,000 megalitres from nearby rivers. Can you confirm that? People seem to be very reluctant to talk about prices. The price Cubbie pays should reflect the water’s value to the environment (e.g. the Murray’s red gums) and to Adelaide’s residents.
Australia is a dry and infertile continent. Much better to import water intensive crops like cotton and rice from poor Asian countries than grow them in Australia.
Cheers, Nick
For anyone interested I wrote a comprehensive history of Cubbie some years ago. It seems to be regarded now as the standard account not associated with Cubbie itself. Occasionally, I update it. It can be found at http://www.melaleucamedia.com.au, look under articles
Anyone with information for me to consider for my periodic updating is welcome to send it
I think that the M.D is a good river
I am the Secretary of the Darling River Action Group in Broken Hill, Wilcannia and Menindee. We see the end product of the devastation caused by Cubbie and the other all-too-many irrigators. Currently there is almost zero water in the Darling below Wilcannia. This has become a common situation. There is a push from irrigators to reduce the amount of water in Menindee Lakes. They want to use it upstream. This will kill the Darling River.
Hi Jen,
Were you able to compare the rainfall data with regard to expected river heights at Brenda station. My understanding is that the stolen flood of ’04 was over estimated disappointing graziers and irrigators alike. Whilst no one can dispute that irrigators have an impact(just dispute how much of one)any water that did break the river banks would be readily soaked up by grazing and cropping land alike and so not stretch far. Perhaps this occured on this occasion as well. Thanks for your thoughts.
I am currently studying cert III in conservation and land management, and have only recently found out about cubbie station. Can you tell me why this rape of our environment hasnt been brought to the general publics knowledge? And is there something that can be done to rectefy this appalling situation?
i likey very muchy
Dear Jennifer,
You are obiously doing an amazing one woman job!! I became interested in Cubbie after my brother had been outback and told me that the Darling at Wilcannia had weeds growing in the river bed. I studied my atlas for approximation between Cubbie & the Darling basin, not far is it??
Often in our QLD weather forcasts after heavy rain we are warned of flooding along the Paroo & Balonne rivers. Here water is obviously harevested by Cubbie & other growers in the area, hence the Murray – Darling catastrophe. I live on the Gold Coast & I expect you wonder why I would be interested well I am and I’m wondering who is going to politically pofit from this business. I read that Bruce Flegg is reported to have an interest in Cubbie & I notice Malcolm Turnball dances around the river issue but never is Cubbie mentioned. Just why do we need a cotton growing industry in this country? Especially when cattle, sheep, wheat & other growers are denied the water they need to eke out a living. I have sent letters to Margaret May & Jan Stuckie however I have no reply.
Keep up your good work.
Lorraine
Cubbie Station is the real reason behind the Howard/Turnbull push to take over control of the Murray-Darling Basin. Is there no one willing to stand up to these scoundrels who think nothing of pushing thousands of farmers to the wall and decimating the ecology, all for the benefit of a few? I hope people remember Cubbie Station and the role of the coalition in this debacle at the forthcoming Federal election.
For so many of you that live in cities and have never been to Cubbie than maybe you should stop making accusations. If you think that Cubbie steals water then you will have to tell me why the rest of Queensland dams and rivers have no water. Cubbie doesn’t have access to them so they are not taking the water then it must be because it is a drought. How many of you actually rely on what comes down that river to survive, well I do. We are in the middle of a drought right now and it is not because the Balonne River has no water it is because there is a drought. We grow Cotton as well as wheat and also cattle. We can’t plant wheat because there has been no rain so there is no moisture for it to grow. We can’t have cattle because there is no water in the dams and there has been no rain to grow the feed. We cant hand feed them for ever we don’t have enough money. So we resorted to cotton because when we started we had water and it brought in the money for our farm to survive. So when people start to make accusations about how we should not grow cotton just think about the people who have to grow it to make a living and to survive. Some of you may say that we should just sell the farm and move. That results in us throwing away over 150 years of the farm being in our hands to you that may mean nothing to us that means everything. I trust Cubbie and the farmers around because as a community we have to work together to keep the community of Dirranbandi alive. So next time you go to make an accusation just stop and think about the people you are going to hurt. Make sure that you have proper info to back you up. It could mean getting out of your office in the city to come and visit Cubbie and see for yourself that they have no water; the river has no water so how can they be stealing it.
Strewth Caitlin, are you feeling better now you’ve got that off your chest?
never mind “we’ve got no water at cubbie stn.What about the recycled, rubbish, s–t water you dump from your storage lakes back into the river system when the rivers do get a bit of a flow,theres never any mention of this in the media .Tell the bl–dy truth for a change and let the public make an informed opinion .You dont talk about the practice of unlimited water extractions from the river when the water levels go over a set height or volume (flow), which allows the above pracice to continue
WATER: NOT A CORPORATE RESOURCE
FAIR WATER USE (AUSTRALIA) is a new lobby group formed by Australians, from all walks of life, with a shared vision of a revived Murray-Darling basin and all the consequent environmental, community and sustainable economic benefits.
After the recent rains in Queensland, the dams on Cubbie Station now contain over three years supply of water which will be used for the cultivation of cotton in a country ravaged by drought.
Cubbie Station is licensed to take 460,000 megalitres – more than enough to fill Sydney Harbour – extracted from the Murray-Darling catchment virtually free of charge. Sadly, Cubbie is only one of several huge enterprises, some at least partially-owned by overseas interests, which have directly impeded the flow of this vast and essential river system, and there is strong evidence that dam construction continues on a huge scale.
The following statement appears on the Cubbie Group web-site:
“Cubbie Group management believes that production of irrigated cotton and a viable environment can co-exist in a sustainable manner and the group has designed and managed their properties to achieve this goal.”
In reality there is irrefutable evidence that the plight of the Murray-Darling Basin and the resulting regional, social and environmental devastation is, to a significant extent, a consequence of the cultivation of inappropriate and unnecessary crops in this the driest continent on earth.
It is time to resolve this anathema.
The fact that Australian irrigators make efficient use of their water allocations is an irrelevance. The large scale cultivation of cotton and rice is causing major damage to the environmental health of much of south-eastern Australia.
On the global stage, Australian cotton and rice-growers are minor players. The Australian cotton-growing industry accounts for only 2-3% of total international production (ICAC 2005) and historically employs less than 2% of the national agricultural workforce (ABARE 2001). There is minimal benefit to average Australians as a result of this corporate water pillaging: well over 90% of the cotton grown in Australia is sent overseas for processing (ACSA 2004), with little value-adding occurring within this country.
Australian rice growers employ on a similar scale, an estimated 8,000 people nationwide, and produce a mere 0.2% of the global rice harvest (About Rice 2008).
As a nation we cannot afford to let the environmental degradation continue, but with the budgetary surplus projected to exceed 15 billion dollars in the current financial year, we can afford to provide appropriate financial reparation to the growers and their employees. As advocated by Mr Rupert Murdoch in November 2006: “The Government should get a billion dollars – or whatever it is – and buy back the water rights from the people who use the most”.
Fair Water Use is asking the directors of the Cubbie Group and other large cotton and rice producers to search their corporate consciences, to cease such operations and to let the rivers run again – for the sake of the nation’s future.
A nationwide campaign is currently being devised and we are in communication with a high-profile environmentalist who has expressed interest in acting as our spokesperson.
We need help in creating as large a supporter base as possible: If you would like to register your support for this campaign, please contact fairwateruse@internode.on.net , stating your name, current occupation and postcode.
Please spread the word. If you wish to join our supporter base and or can offer assistance to the campaign planning process, please contact us at fairwateruse@internode.on.net
Fair Water Use (Australia)
PO Box 384
Balhannah
South Australia
5242
WATER: NOT A CORPORATE RESOURCE
FAIR WATER USE (AUSTRALIA) is a new lobby group formed by Australians, from all walks of life, with a shared vision of a revived Murray-Darling basin and all the consequent environmental, community and sustainable economic benefits.
After the recent rains in Queensland, the dams on Cubbie Station now contain over three years supply of water which will be used for the cultivation of cotton in a country ravaged by drought.
Cubbie Station is licensed to take 460,000 megalitres – more than enough to fill Sydney Harbour – extracted from the Murray-Darling catchment virtually free of charge. Sadly, Cubbie is only one of several huge enterprises, some at least partially-owned by overseas interests, which have directly impeded the flow of this vast and essential river system, and there is strong evidence that dam construction continues on a huge scale.
The following statement appears on the Cubbie Group web-site:
“Cubbie Group management believes that production of irrigated cotton and a viable environment can co-exist in a sustainable manner and the group has designed and managed their properties to achieve this goal.”
In reality there is irrefutable evidence that the plight of the Murray-Darling Basin and the resulting regional, social and environmental devastation is, to a significant extent, a consequence of the cultivation of inappropriate and unnecessary crops in this the driest continent on earth.
It is time to resolve this anathema.
The fact that Australian irrigators make efficient use of their water allocations is an irrelevance. The large scale cultivation of cotton and rice is causing major damage to the environmental health of much of south-eastern Australia.
On the global stage, Australian cotton and rice-growers are minor players. The Australian cotton-growing industry accounts for only 2-3% of total international production (ICAC 2005) and historically employs less than 2% of the national agricultural workforce (ABARE 2001). There is minimal benefit to average Australians as a result of this corporate water pillaging: well over 90% of the cotton grown in Australia is sent overseas for processing (ACSA 2004), with little value-adding occurring within this country.
Australian rice growers employ on a similar scale, an estimated 8,000 people nationwide, and produce a mere 0.2% of the global rice harvest (About Rice 2008).
As a nation we cannot afford to let the environmental degradation continue, but with the budgetary surplus projected to exceed 15 billion dollars in the current financial year, we can afford to provide appropriate financial reparation to the growers and their employees. As advocated by Mr Rupert Murdoch in November 2006: “The Government should get a billion dollars – or whatever it is – and buy back the water rights from the people who use the most”.
Fair Water Use is asking the directors of the Cubbie Group and other large cotton and rice producers to search their corporate consciences, to cease such operations and to let the rivers run again – for the sake of the nation’s future.
A nationwide campaign is currently being devised and we are in communication with a high-profile environmentalist who has expressed interest in acting as our spokesperson.
We need help in creating as large a supporter base as possible: If you would like to register your support for this campaign, please contact fairwateruse@internode.on.net , stating your name, current occupation and postcode.
Please spread the word. If you wish to join our supporter base and or can offer assistance to the campaign planning process, please contact us at fairwateruse@internode.on.net
Fair Water Use (Australia)
PO Box 384
Balhannah
South Australia
5242
Now we know the truth behind the demise of the Murray River system are we all going to stand by and watch as this river system dies. Already the shores of the River, the Coorong and Lake Alexandrina are heavy with dangerous metals and poisons as the waters recede.
Australia cannot support either rice or cotton growing and it is utterly ludicrous to water our crops by flood irrigation as is the case around Griffith and other inland towns. Water traveling along open drains is an appalling waste of this precious commodity let alone being spread over hot dry paddocks.
Can you please tell me what is the point of saving water in our town communities when farmers continue to spread the water over their paddocks in the hottest and driest parts of our continent.
What ludicrous water management system are we following here?
We need to unite to save the Murray system or it will too soon be accepted as another quirk of nature.
Cubbie Station and others like it need to be reversed.
These companies cannot and should not be allowed to hold the rest of us and a magnificent River system to ransom.
um yeah……………….
The whole basin is trashed,not just because of cubbie station, but many european factors. tear down damn walls let the river run naturally
There is a grand old film made 50 years back called the Dam Busters. It was one of those heroic epic war films.
Seems to me that it is time for the Dam busters to return.
As we talk the Murray is dying.