Sunday, May 18, 2025

CATEGORY

Murray River

Councils voice concern over closure of Bega factory in Strathmerton

“This is a heartbreaking announcement for 300 workers, their families, and the wider community. It’s also a clear signal that our food manufacturing industry on which our region relies, is under increasing strain — from rising input costs to workforce challenges and from uncertainty driven by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan”: Chair of the Murray River Group of Councils, Cr. Dan Straub.

Barkandji community in Wilcannia documents critically endangered species living and breeding in the old town weir

Sarah Martin. A project documenting Barkandji knowledge of the Baaka river and floodplains has been ongoing for about 6 months. It has included a large oral history project which collected knowledge from Barkandji and kin about fish traps, fishing, the floodplains, and how they have changed so much over the last few decades.

Why so many SES resources in town?

...Lots of SES boats, big trucks and volunteers in town ... Water is heading our way but many local people are commenting that the response is over the top ... The river is expected to peak at 9.6 metres in the next week or so.

‘Humbled, worried’: Pasin predicts troubled times during this fifth term

Hugh Schuitemaker. Water buybacks will loom large on the second-term Albanese Government's agenda, the re-elected Liberal Member for Barker has warned. Tony Pasin was easily returned for a fifth stint in office on Saturday, despite suffering a 3 per cent two-party-preferred swing against him, and seeing his primary vote dip below 50 per cent.

$210m spent on water buybacks – local entitlements sold to meet MDB targets

The Australian Government has released figures pertaining to more than $89 million water purchasing contracts for the period March 1 to April 14. Total purchases over the past six weeks total $210 million. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) Austender website lists only contract values awarded.

River Murray Communities Water Transition Program

Nicola Centofanti. While many irrigators have been removing patches of wine grapes and converting to other crops, there are still many grape growers feeling the impact of ongoing low prices. With consumption of commercial wine falling globally and the large volume of wine retained in storage, there is little cause for optimism in the immediate future.

Funding deed for feasibility study finalised

As communicated with shareholders in June 2024, Murray Irrigation (MIL) and our fellow southern irrigation infrastructure operators (IIOs), Coleambally Irrigation Cooperative Limited (CICL) and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited (MI), applied for funding under the Australian Government’s Resilient Rivers Water Infrastructure Program for a feasibility study to explore what is required to bolster the efficiency and resilience of our irrigation networks in an era of water recovery.

Straight to the top

Hugh Schuitemaker. Assurance Riverland irrigators will receive 100 per cent water allocations will provide business certainty amid pressure from low rainfall across the state, says a senior local industry figure ... "It's very positive news for the Riverland that SA Murray Class 3 irrigation allocation is 100 per cent for the coming water year": Renmark Irrigation Trust CEO Rosalie Auricht.

The brutal cost of ignoring the bush: Australia’s rural collapse

Government changes have reallocated 3,200 gigalitres of irrigation water to environmental flows, much of it unmetered and flowing out to sea, creating dire consequences for regional food production. The Gannawarra Region alone is losing $1.3 billion annually – and these impacts are expected to worsen.

Politics drives Basin demise

Australia’s largest water reform project, the Murray Darling Basin Plan, appears to be joining a growing list of abject failures driven by politicians and bureaucrats who have little to no wisdom, ethics or skin in the game. Unless of course, that skin is water trading ... Despite constitutional protections, the Australian Federal Government's $13b has fuelled a 50 per cent reduction in NSW and Victorian irrigation water use since 1997-98. SA saw a 22 per cent reduction, while Qld bucked the trend increasing extraction by roughly 58 per cent.

Research to boost farmers’ connection with ‘green finance’: Charles Sturt University

A Charles Sturt University researcher argues that sustainability research is particularly relevant to supporting Australian farmers’ resilience to both climate change and market risk.

Independent Member for Murray, Helen Dalton, has declared South Australians to be Australia’s worst water wasters.

She is arguing they don’t need, or deserve, access to water from NSW and Victoria. In her new social media video Mrs. Dalton contends that the reason South Australians don’t have enough water is because the State wastes the water it already has.

Water debate continues to flow

Hugh Schuitemaker. The Federal Government says it is reaching new milestones in recovering environmental water, however senior Riverland politicians claim a focus on fulfilling the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is harming local growers and irrigators. Statistics released last week by the Federal Government show 286GL of water for the environment has been recovered under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Commonwealth cozies up with corporates to kill family farms: VFF

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) says ... Commonwealth Government announcement to purchase 30,614 megalitres (ML) of water from Duxton Water has sent off alarm bells in Basin communities. VFF President Brett Hosking said the $121.3m water sale would hurt farmers and regional communities the most.

Huge milestone proves Murray-Darling Basin Plan is back on track: Plibersek

The Albanese Government is delivering over 100 times more additional environmental water in one term than the previous Liberal National Government delivered in a decade. This is a huge win for South Australia.

Water plans walked back: NSW Farmers Association

Farmer hopes for water security have been buoyed by new changes to water sharing plans for six NSW rivers. NSW Farmers Water Taskforce Chair Richard Bootle said the revised wetland maps released by the state government this week were a sign of positive progress for many farmers, who were concerned land and water would be unfairly locked away by new water sharing plans.

Another successful fishing classic at Kyalite

A phenomenal weekend was enjoyed by a whopping 400 competitors. Plenty of fish caught over the weekend and it was hard work with the weather conditions ... There were incredibly impressive prizes on offer, thanks to a lot of highly generous sponsors.

Basin water conference comes to lower Murray in 2025: MDBA, Murray Bridge Council

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) will hold its fifth annual water conference 29 and 30 July in the city of Murray Bridge in regional South Australia. MDBA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said it was the first time River Reflections would be held in this part of the southern Basin where community interests and water management challenges differed to those further upstream.

170 GL in unnecessary water recovery to win city votes

In a clearly political move to win city votes at the expense of regional Australia, the Commonwealth yesterday kicked off a second buyback tender in the southern Murray-Darling Basin in 2024-25. NSW Irrigators’ Council CEO Claire Miller said with an impending election, "this announcement is clearly intended to try to win city votes while throwing regional communities, farmers and even the environment under the bus.

Disbelief at Plibersek’s disdain for rural Australia

Community and farming groups have expressed "total disbelief" at the latest attempt by the Albanese Government to destroy regional communities. Leading the charge is Murray Regional Strategy Group, with Chair Geoff Moar saying the latest announcement of more water buybacks on the eve of a Federal election was "beyond comprehension".

Lake Meran Festival huge success

The second annual Lake Meran Festival was held last Sunday afternoon with hundreds of visitors coming along to enjoy the music, community, a great afternoon by the lake and to take a look at the star of the event, Grumpy the Turtle. Weighing in at almost one tonne, Grumpy was designed and built by Bendigo artist Moz Moresi ...

Riverlanders work to restore local turtle populations

Madison Eastmond ... being carried out in the Hills and Fleurieu, Limestone Coast and Northern, and Yorke as a multi-region intuitive, the TURTLE Project is a collaborative effort of landscape boards, First Nations, citizen scientists, NGOs, councils and landholders to gather information to guide the protection of freshwater turtles across South Australia.

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