Di Bell

Let salt water in the Lakes? Build a weir at Clayton or Laffin Point on the Goolwa channel? “No way,” say members of the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group (RL&CAG).

Local fisherman and spokesperson for the RL&CAG, Henry Jones, points out that the August rains brought just enough water down Currency Creek and the Finniss River to freshen Lake Alexandrina, cover the acid sulfate soils, revive aquatic plants, induce local birds to breed, stop the tubeworms growing on turtles and refresh the mussels.  “It had a major impact on congollis, the most I have seen for 20 years,” he said. “The golden perch and bony bream are spawning now. There are small yabbies in the system and flat headed gudgeon in good numbers.”

“Before contemplating letting salt water into lakes that have been predominant fresh water for 7,500 years, before the construction of another weir in the Lower Lakes region, we must have a proper assessment of the impact on these sites of international importance,” says Professor Diane Bell of the RL&CAG.

The Coorong, Lakes Alexandrina and Albert wetlands were recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1985. The Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is federal legislation triggered by actions that are likely to have a significant impact.  “The Environmental Impact Statement regarding the proposed weir at Pomanda Island is yet to be released for public scrutiny and that process started well over a year ago.” Bell points out.  “And now there are plans for further potentially damaging interventions.”

With all these proposals the RLCAG has argued that local knowledge regarding the importance of the wind-driven movement of water upstream is under-estimated. Water above a weir at Pomanda Island on the River Murray would be cut off from this process and become a stagnant pool with algal blooms. It would not be a source of potable water for Adelaide.

A weir at Clayton would lock in salt water from the Goolwa barrage to Laffin’s Point. It would be constantly recharged with saline seepage from the barrage and probable seepage from the ocean. This highly saline water will enter Currency Creek and the Finniss River, killing their fresh water estuaries. It would also prevent the water of the Finniss and Currency Creek from freshening Lake Alexandrina, providing the massive environmental benefits they produced this year.  The RLCAG agrees that there are unique species in this part of the River Murray which are at risk.

However, if the goal is to save the River, then what is needed is fresh water from upstream and the local tributaries.  Cutting the system into little pieces will not protect the environment.

Tonight, South Australia passed legislation to hand its powers over the River Murray to the Federal Government. Karlene Maywald, Minister for the River Murray and Minister for Water Security, lauded the move as heralding a new era of management that  “will underpin the future security of water supply to all our communities and improve the environment of the Murray-Darling Basin in the longer term.” However, the new Murray-Darling Authority can only address issues concerning the life of the river and over-allocation if all states refer powers. Further the Intergovernmental agreement (IGA) does cover the entire catchment area of the Murray-Darling Basin: tributaries remain under state jurisdiction. In Di Bell’s opinion, we have an Authority that is yet to be empowered purporting to plan for the entire Murray-Darling system that is not within its jurisdiction. It will be important to keep pressure on the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) which next meets November 17.

The suggestion of a temporary weir at Clayton drew the ire of Clayton residents back on July 19. At the time, Henry Jones, spokesperson for the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Groups said: “With tens of thousands of tonnes of salt coming down the river each year, it needs to go somewhere, and because of inadequate environmental flows due to the over allocation of water resources amplified by the drought, the natural process of flushing this out to sea has been stopped. Removing the barrages is no answer because without the ongoing dredging of the Murray Mouth - which is only just keeping what is left of the Coorong alive - the river will die from the mouth up. “

Debate regarding the so-called salt water solution has persisted and a number of submission to the Senate Inquiry addressed the matter. Recommendation 4 of the Majority Report stated that should the admission of salt water become necessary, environmental impacts would need to be investigated, EPBC (Environmental Protection Bio-diversity Conservation Act) approvals sought and community consultation would need to be undertaken. The Minority Report ruled out the admission of salt water as a solution (para 1.95).

Today, a Media Release by the Alexandra Council stated:  “We also understand Minister Karlene Maywald’s technical reference group are also nearing completion of their detailed investigations into the impacts a temporary barrier may have on the water and ecology in the Goolwa channel.  The investigations are also looking at the water in the Goolwa channel being increased by either fresh water or sea water.  Once the investigations are completed Council will then be in a position to inform the Government which option it supports.  Even with summer almost upon us we understand a temporary barrier could be completed before the end of the year.”

Confused? Email has been running hot with questions.
Where is the community consultation?
Where is the EIS?
Where is the EPBC referral?
Where is the Ramsar assessment?
Where is the weir?

In answer to a question from Di Bell regarding how many gigalitres a 4% increase in allocations represented, the Senior Policy Officer, River Murray Drought Response Team, Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation replied, “Each percentage increase for irrigation is 5.7 gigs therefore the total is 22.8 gigs”.

The majority report of the Senate Inquiry into water management in the Coorong and Lower Lakes cites the submissions of the Murray Darling Basin Commission that 30GL added to the 350GL dilution flow would be enough to keep the lakes above minus 0.1metres AHD which is the trigger for acidification management (paragraph 1.6). That 22.8GL would almost get us there.

In deciding who gets water and when, who is speaking for the environment?

It’s a glorious day so Di Bell is making hay while the sun shines.

Making hay while the sun shines

Tractor trails through the grass