Di Bell

Diane (Di) Bell is alive and well and still fighting for the River, Lakes and Coorong. Is she running for office? “The issues aren’t going away and neither am I,” says Diane.

If you want to keep up with the campaign being waged by a coalition of groups, individuals and interests, go to www.stoptheweir.com for the latest news, press releases, speeches, pics and videos. We are busy and we are determined.

Here are some of the issues:

1. A new weir across the River Murray
In 2007, the state government sought approval for a temporary weir across the Murray at Pomanda Island, below Wellington. We are still waiting for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be released for public comment.

In the meantime, the government sought and received federal approval for road works needed to get from Nalpa Station (on the western side of the weir) across a sand-spit to Pomanda Island. Local people put in at least 16 submissions outlining objections to this plan.

We have argued that the new weir would not guarantee potable water for Adelaide. The pool behind the weir would be prone to water quality problems, including elevated salinity and algal blooms. It would be cut off from the lakes, blocking the wind-driven currents that mix and aerate the lower river and bring salt and nutrients down to the lakes. The weir would have no lock for boats and no provision for fish passage.

2. Bringing sea water into the lakes
The SA government has sought approval to bring sea water into the lower lakes as a way to combat the threat of acid sulfate soils (ASS) and the danger of the lakes becoming acidic. The Federal Minister, Peter Garrett, has called for an EIS.

We have argued that salt water would not solve the ASS problem and would exacerbate the existing problem of salinity in the lakes. Once sea water is allowed in, it would not be possible to remove the salt and Lake Alexandrina would be changed irreversibly.

There are other ways to deal ASS, working with rather than against nature (see the Common Sense Community Action Plan).

3. Weir(s) in the Goolwa Channel
The stated objective is to protect freshwater flora and fauna associated with Currency Creek and the Finniss River. We argue that, like the Pomanda weir, this weir (or weirs) would not succeed, and that it would be better to target sites that are at risk of acidification. Our critique of the SA Govt Discussion Paper in on www.stoptheweir.com.

4. The Bund at Lake Albert
To prevent acidification of Lake Albert, the SA government has built an embankment at The Narrows (Narrung), and has been pumping water into the lake from Lake Alexandrina. In the past, wind-driven currents would continually flush water and silt between the lakes, but the blockage has caused sedimentation and it appears a dredge will be needed to remove the silt that has accumulated. Another solution is needed.

5. South Lagoon of the Coorong
There is no formal plan to protect the Coorong, but the best option appears to be to pump hyper-saline water from the South Lagoon to the sea. Again, this is strictly a short-term measure, intended to prevent destruction of the communities that sustain the fish and bird populations that are the hallmark of the Coorong, and no less the entire Ramsar wetland.

This is the biggest environmental crisis that we have encountered in South Australia, and the decisions we make today will shape the future. Please give these issues your earnest consideration.

For their last field day for the year, the Point Sturt and Districts Land Care Group visited the Currency Creek Arboretum (CCA) where Dean Nicolle conducted a tour of his 32.5 hectares project where he is growing several hundred eucalypts species.

Dean established the CCA in 1992 as a specialist eucalypt arboretum where research including eucalypt systematics, taxonomy, ecology, physiology, cultivation and conservation can be undertaken. Di Bell was interested to learn of his research, which amongst other things, provides an important guide as to which trees will flourish in which environments, which ones sequester carbon, and which ones can be harvested for wood, oils and dyes.

Most other collections plant only one specimen and if that dies that species is unrepresented. Dean plants four of everything. He records his collection points with a GPS location and each has a full herbarium voucher. His books, like Eucalypts of South Australia (1997), provide clear photographs and descriptions. For more details about publications, research, Dean Nicolle and the CCA visit http://www.dn.com.au/.

A road trip? Why not? Early Friday morning Di Bell set off with fresh veggies from her garden and assorted goodies for the road. At Camp Coorong she piled into the bus with Ellen Trevorrow, Anne McMahon and their cargo of damped down rushes for weaving and the makings of feather flowers. From there it was into Meningie to pick up Rita Lindsay Sr and her sister Alice Abdulla and then off to Melbourne to meet up with Susan Hawthorne and Renate Klein of Spinifex Press for a delicious dinner of lamb shanks and a peaceful sleep at their gorgeous house.

Saturday it was the “World Matters 2008, Rights, Responsibilities and Risks Conference” in Eltham Victoria. The invitation was to engage with environmental, political, legal, social and cultural issues and to meet with members of the Nillumbik Reconciliation Group, the Nillumbik Climate Change Group Now, East Timorese women, Amnesty International, leading writers, publishers, activists, scientists and fellow citizens. Di and the Ngarrindjeri talked about their recent book, Kungun Ngarrindjeri Miminar Yunnan (http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/book_detail.php?id=191) and then Aunties Ellen, Rita and Alice conducted a weaving workshop. By the end of the day rushes were strewn throughout the meeting room and there were many who were planning a trip to Camp Coorong to continue refining their newly acquired skills as weavers.

The presentations were all excellent and the South Australian contingent attended all the Saturday sessions where they heard talks about freedom of speech versus religious vilification; listened to poetry in a number of tongues, including what Ouyang Yu rendered as “Anguish” (his pronunciation of “English”); watched as the tension rose in a session on “Tolerance, Prejudice and Fear” with Gideon Haigh, Christos Tsiolkas and Alexis Wright; and wanted to know more after the “Urgency of Now” session about climate change, nuclear power and poetry.

Back Row: Meera, Diane and Aunty Alice; Front Row: Aunty Rita and Aunty Ellen

It was a busy weekend for action and reflection for environmentalists in Victoria and South Australia.  While Di and the Ngarrindjeri were speaking at Eltham, the Waterkeepers’ Conference was taking place in Goolwa, South Australia and on Sunday the Plug the Pipe rally at Yea in Victoria was sending a strong message to the Victorian Government: Stop the north-south pipeline. Speaking at the Yea Rally were Deb McLeish (local farmer), Nick Xenophon (independent senator), Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens senator) and Uncle Roy Patterson (Taungurung elder). More on these events later.

Beside a fine photograph of Rob Hylton of Clayton Bay Escapes, John Wiseman and Jamie Walker report how “Rain fails to save the Lower Murray” (Australian, October 20 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24521359-11949,00.html). Rob’s story of the impact of lower levels on his recreational boat hire business and caravan park illustrates that the crisis in the Lower Lakes reaches into the lives of many who depend on the water.  He has seen a drop of 90% in the boat hire business and a 25% fall-off in turnover at his caravan park but Rob is not eligible for relief under the Exceptional Circumstances for small businesses because he is not deriving 70% or more of his normal total business turnover from the provision of goods or services for farming activities.