Water

The National Farmers’ Federation has raised its eyebrows at today’s announcement the Federal Government has received 1000 responses to the southern Murray-Darling Basin open tender process. NFF Water Committee Chair Malcolm Holm said the announcement by Minister for Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek raised significant questions for farmers in Australia’s food bowl.

The Albanese Labor Government’s voluntary water purchase open tender has received more than 1,000 responses across the southern Murray-Darling Basin, far exceeding the volume of water required ... About 27.5 gigalitres, or 11,000 Olympic swimming pools of water, have already been recovered – up from just two gigalitres in May 2022.

Sean Cunningham. The Lake Mejum/Coolah water storage proposal is back in the spotlight, following an announcement from Narrandera Shire Council Mayor Neville Kschenka. Council is seeking funds to conduct a feasibility study into Lake Mejum/Coolah as an off Murrumbidgee River water storage location. A former Narrandera Mayor and Murrumbidgee Valley Water Users group member, Warwick Heckendorf, was an advocate for the project decades ago, but his opinion has since changed.

Rural water users in NSW could see their costs more than double over the next five years if IPART accepts the WaterNSW new pricing proposal. NSW Irrigators’ Council CEO Claire Miller said the pricing proposal recommends hiking water bills by 21-24 per cent every year for five years, adding up to $40,000 to a ‘typical’ farmer’s water bill by 2030.

More than 1650 gigalitres of water for the environment was provided to South Australia in the 2023-24 financial year, the largest volume since the introduction of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in November 2012. ... "All of this work highlights the importance of recovering the final 450 gigalitres of environmental water under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to ensure we deliver better outcomes for the River Murray": Susan Close.

Mrs Dalton wants the NSW Government to take a stand against the Federal Government’s move to take productive water from regions under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan using the water buyback scheme. A petition organised by Ms Dalton needs 10,000 signatures, and Ms Dalton said she’s got just over 5000 so far ... "10,000 signatures will bring on debate in NSW parliament."

Hugh Schuitemaker. The State Government says the Riverland’s wildlife and plant species are seeing benefits of increased environmental water, however, senior local politicians have described the announcement as "misleading" ... Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone said the increased environmental flows were due to high storage volumes and the 2022-23 flood event.

Panel members have now been appointed to lead the independent review into the Wilcannia Weir Replacement Project, marking a significant step forward in the review process. It comes following the NSW Government’s commitment to undertake a review of the Wilcannia proposed weir design.

Riverland-based MLC, and opposition spokesperson for regional South Australia, Nicola Centofanti, has provided the following speech she gave in Parliament regarding concerns for the listing of the Lower Murray as a threatened ecological community as part of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999…

If the various State and Federal Ministers for Agriculture really want to make a statement that offers opportunities for Aboriginal people, then start with the existing 40 million hectares of the Indigenous-owned estate and unshackle them from the dead hand of government bureaucracy and red and green tape. But such a move would give the few Indigenous Australians who live on these properties real self-determination, the right to own their own land outright, access to capital and the right to get rich or go broke ...

The independent advisory body with statutory authority to review Australia’s national water reform has published scathing feedback on the Federal Governments proposed National Water Agreement, calling the approach “detrimental to the conduct of water management in Australia”. The Productivity Commission … said “…the consequences of a shift in this direction should be considered deeply by all governments and their communities.

Farmers on the Murrumbidgee River claim they have been kept in the dark about a NSW Government plan to acquire flow easements along the riverfront to accommodate environmental water releases ... The scheme would allow the government to negotiate with landholders to acquire flow easements and, if no agreement can be reached, the water minister can decide to proceed with compulsory acquisition of the flow corridors "on just terms".

Senior Riverland politicians have urged local irrigators to avoid signing up for the Federal Government’s latest expression of interest for water buybacks. The Federal Government last week opened the Restoring Our Rivers 2024: Expression of Interest 2 (Large Portfolios of Water Southern Connected Basin), allowing for water buybacks from Riverland communities.

GWMWater has recently provided an update on a study entitled “Donald Community Power Plant Study” investigating the feasibility of a community power plant and potential microgrid infrastructure to supply the residents of Donald with locally harvested and stored green energy. This is not the first time the concept has been investigated for the town.

The Department of Planning and Environment (Water) advised some months ago that there would be an independent review of the original design of the Wilcannia weir. Several names were recommended to the department by the community to form membership of the Independent Review Panel.

John Murphy. Next Thursday ... will mark exactly 100 years since the residents of Corryong were connected to reticulated (piped) or mains pressure water ... Corryong was officially designated a town in 1875 and from that time until late 1924 householders and businesses were totally reliant for all their domestic and trade water needs on water tanks and often, unreliable wells sunk into granite soil.

Sophie Baldwin. Roger Reid thought he was doing the right thing when he made the decision to invest some big dollars into water efficiency projects on his mixed farming property in the Riverina. However, Roger has been left scratching his head and questioning his decision this season, after the Bullatale Creek was reduced to water holes and he couldn’t access water.

Snowy Valleys Council (SVC) has issued a blue-green algae ‘Red Alert’ for Mannus Lake and warning signs are in effect at key recreational areas around the lake. Red alert levels represent ‘bloom’ conditions.

Sebastian Calderon. An innovative project based in the Riverland is aiming to improve the potential use and benefits of groundwater. Last month, a small reverse-osmosis (RO) plant was installed on Century Orchards, in Loxton, with the objective of identifying different pathways to diversify water sources and relieve resource pressure on the Murray River.