“Proposals for 4,000GL ‘overbank’ floods of the Murray River by the Victorian Environment Assessment Council beggar belief” said the chairman of the Australian Environment Foundation, Don Burke.
Mr Burke’s comments came at the conclusion of the foundation’s annual conference in Melbourne where a taskforce of scientists experienced in water, forestry and land management issues was appointed to investigate the VEAC recommendations.
“These draft proposals make recommendations that will see many Murray River communities under floodwaters if they were adopted by the Victorian government”, he said.
The Australian Environment Foundation will investigate the scientific robustness of these recommendations that underpin widespread and radical changes to land and water use along the Murray River.
Mr Burke commented that “Proposals such as these must address the needs of the people as well as the environment to be effective.
“The Australian Environment Foundation is focused on ensuring outcomes for the environment based on science and evidence. It is evident that obtaining 500GL for the Living Murray proposals for environmental flows have not eventuated as planned so we have real concerns about recommendations for either 2,000GL or 4,000GL to underpin these current proposals” concluded Mr Burke.
The Australian Environment Foundation (AEF) is a not-for-profit, membership-based environment organisation having no political affiliation. The AEF is a different kind of environment group, caring for both Australia & Australians. Many of our members are practical environmentalists – people who actively use and also care for the environment. We accept that environmental protection and sustainable resource use are generally compatible. For more information about the AEF visit www.aefweb.info
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Well I can only hope the AEF can achieve some actual on the ground results such as the Murray Wetlands Working Group have recently done with the cooperation and assistance of local landholders. Spectacular restoration of some wetlands. Even achieving 3 state cooperation.
http://www.mwwg.org.au/achievements.php
The NSW Murray Wetlands Working Group has won the Thiess National Riverprize ($100,000) at last week’s River Symposium at Brisbane for its work in rehabilitating wetlands.
Shows what positive instead of divisive politics can achieve.
Will the AEF be seeking input from the growing national and international expertise in environmental flows. http://www.riverfestival.com.au/riversymposium/
Can somebody please give me a list of the “practical environmental” achievements of the AEF?
Release did say members.
Membership is restricted to individuals.
One AEF member was recognized at last years AGM for their publicly recognized work on wetland restoration.
Others that I know of have volunteered to work on feral animal control programs for farmers.
It seems the MWWG people are miffed. It would be helpful to marginally informed persons like myself if specifics were provided instead of insinuating something.
>The AEF is a different kind of environment group, caring for both Australia & Australians. Many of our members are practical environmentalists – people who actively use and also care for the environment.
I would say bush regen groups in my area do the same thing. I would say there are a lot of Australian environmental NGOs that do the same thing.
I live on the Murray in SA, and its in dire straits. On my regular visits to Vic’s Murray I know of the water waste. Poor infrastructure in open channels that leak as much as it carries. It is of little wonder to me that Vic won’t sign the Feds proposals, the repair bills will be enormous. SA did away with open channels years ago
get on with it Vic, and the environmental flows won’t be a problem.
fluff
And still no official recognition of the increased water yield from past land clearing in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Without it we can state with absolute certainty that the science behind the flooding proposal is complete crap. Nothing but urban “feel good” bull$hit delivered at the considerable expense of the MDB communities.
Perhaps we should throw in the salinity bill too
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22359743-5006787,00.html
September 04, 2007
“THE River Murray is about to reach salinity levels above accepted standards for drinking water and scientists say it is “screaming for help”.
Official predictions show salinity levels in the Murray town of Morgan will as early as next month hit 1000EC, above World Health Organisation guidelines for desirable drinking water.
Irrigators and scientists are warning of disastrous consequences, but Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald insists the river will not be too salty to drink, saying the State Government has secured special flows to deal with salinity.
The predictions from the Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation Department will correspond with so-called “dilution” flows coming into South Australia.
Last month, The Advertiser reported that salinity levels at Morgan had doubled to 630EC in the previous year. Yesterday, the figure had jumped to 723EC.
Wentworth Group scientist Professor Mike Young said yesterday that a level beyond 1000EC exceeded the World Health Organisation’s level for desirable drinking water quality.
“The River Murray is now in the worst state its ever been,” he said.
“The river is now screaming for help . . . it’s telling us that it’s in strife.”
In 1999, a Murray-Darling Basin Commission report predicted that by 2020, Murray salinity would hit 800EC, 200EC less than it is expected to reach within weeks.
CSIRO and primary industry experts have modelling showing a $100 million economic loss for irrigators if Morgan reaches 1000EC, with high salt levels substantially reducing crop production.
At Mannum, which is near the pipeline that supplies Adelaide, the department’s predictions show levels may go as high as 1300EC by January. Lake Alexandrina could reach more than 3000EC by mid next year. ” Continues .. ..
Interest groups try to buy Warrego water.
Greens pass the hat to save a river
Wilkinson, Environment Editor
September 11, 2007
A private trust backed by six environment groups will attempt to buy new Warrego River water licences due to be auctioned by the Queensland Government next week.
The bid by the Nature Conservation Water Trust will be the first of its kind in Australia where a private group of conservationists goes head to head with agriculture businesses to compete to buy water for the environment.
“All other avenues have been closed off”, said Professor Richard Kingsford, a wetlands expert from the University of NSW who is advising the trust. “The auction date has inexorably been coming on us with no action to stop it”.
The new trust’s backers include National Parks Australia, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Inland Rivers Network and the Wilderness Society.
The auction of 8000 megalitres of water from the Warrego River on September 18 and 19, by the Queensland Government, will be the last water licence auction allowed on the Murray-Darling system. The auction is being held just over the border from NSW and has been strongly opposed by NSW environmentalists and graziers who fear it will cut flows to flood-plain properties in north-western NSW outside Bourke.
Professor Kingsford is also concerned that if the water licences are bought by private irrigators the survival of the Warrego and the Paroo wetlands attached to it will be under threat from cotton and crop development. The Paroo is considered one of the last natural wetland refuges in NSW for many inland bird species, including brolgas, egrets and the speckled duck.
Last Friday the Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, made a plea to the now outgoing Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, to review the auction. His assistant minister, the National Party’s John Cobb, has called for the auction to be delayed, saying it is “ridiculous”, while the former deputy prime minister John Anderson described the Queensland actions as “provocative and unhelpful”.
But Queensland’s Water Resources Minister, Craig Wallace, said the auction had been agreed to by the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the National Water Commission under the Murray-Darling plan, and has been adamant that it will go ahead. Mr Wallace said he did not believe it would significantly affect flows to NSW. “Even when these water allocations are sold, 89 per cent of the Warrego River’s natural flow will still flow over the border to NSW.”
A member of the new water trust has registered to bid at the auction and Professor Kingsford said it was now trying to raise $2.5 million in the next week to secure the licences. Some money has already been collected and local graziers are “handing around the hat”. A meeting of local graziers is due to take place on Thursday where they will again call on the Federal and Queensland governments to halt the auction.
But Professor Kingsford says it now appears that securing the licences at auction is the only way to save the water for the environment.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/greens-pass-the-hat-to-save-a-river/2007/09/10/1189276633620.html
Federal Environment and Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull has withdrawn his support for next week’s auction of 8,000 megalitres of water from the Warrego River in western Queensland.
Luke quotes murray river salinity levels at the end of a 1 in 100 year drought and implies that it is an indicator of underlying trend. What a shonk.
Let us know what the numbers are when this years bumper snowfall melts, bozo.
Did I imply that ? Come in spinner. But it’s clearly a bit dangerous to talk about long term trends isn’t it. The article clearly talks about the need for flows to reduce salinity.