Deniliquin farmer Anthony Roelink is continuing his fight to highlight what he believes is poor management of our river systems.
He says a failure by authorities to heed the advice of local residents exacerbated the 2022 flood situation along the Murray River. Mr Roelink’s property, on the banks of the Edward River (an anabranch of the Murray), was severely impacted by the floods.
He recently met on-site with NSW Nationals Senator Perin Davey, Victorian One Nation MP Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell and Nationals candidate for Murray Peta Betts.
Mr Roelink said he explained that official data on river heights was not always accurate, and the recent floods had highlighted numerous examples of incorrect flood predictions being made by authorities.
He also expressed concerns about the damage being caused by excessive environmental watering. It is increasing the amount of forest litter which is washed into the rivers during floods and contributing to blue-green algae and hypoxic black water events.
The ‘just add water’ approach to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is also contributing to an explosion in European carp breeding, with flow-on adverse impacts to native fish species.
Mr Roelink says there needs to be some re-assessment on the direction being taken with water management. While authorities continually highlight the benefits of their environmental watering campaigns, they are ignoring the negative impacts.
“This not only includes the damage from carp, but also to our river banks and the vegetation along these banks,” Mr Roelink said.
“When you live on the river, you see what is happening, but unfortunately, those making the decisions are generally in an office in Canberra or Sydney. They can’t see what is happening, and I’m also not sure they care. This is an ongoing problem in various regions along the Murray River; authorities don’t want to collaborate with communities or listen to local advice.
“The continuous high river levels from excessive flows is softening the river banks, and we have litter and tree debris that is contributing to blue green algae and fish kills.”
Mr Roelink said he appreciated the visit from Senator Davey, Ms Tyrrell MP and Ms Betts. He also anticipates hosting federal Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek in the near future.
“However, it’s one thing for the politicians to visit the area and see the environmental devastation that their policies are causing. Unfortunately, getting positive action to improve the situation is more difficult.
“But we won’t give up,” he said.
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 9 February 2023.
