Water

Hugh Schuitemaker. Ensuring water buybacks can be made from Riverland communities while the “local economy stays strong” is the aim for a senior South Australian politician. Deputy premier, and Minister for Environment, Susan Close said – during a recent visit to Calperum Station – methods to ensure water buybacks that had minimal negative impacts on regional communities were being discussed. “As a state government, we’re still working – mainly through Primary Industries – with the region,” Dr Close said.

Sir Angus Houston. Following the 2-day Basin Leadership Summit in Sydney on 16 to 17 April the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has released a report summarising discussions of approximately 100 participants with diverse views on the environmental, cultural, economic, and social outcomes for the Basin. The Summit assembled more than 2,400 years of collective experience in Basin water management to gather diverse perspectives to inform preparations for the 2026 Basin Plan Review.

The Queensland Government has rejected the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Glencore's carbon capture and storage (CCS) project confirming the grave concerns raised by the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF), industry and other representatives. The EIS assessment process has found that the science behind this project is inadequate, and the risk to the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) too great, meaning the precautionary principle must apply.

The Adelaide River Off-Stream Water Storage (AROWS) project is continuing to take shape with an Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Survey taking place to help streamline infrastructure design investigations for AROWS. AROWS is a sustainable approach to water security.

Meet the team from Sunwater, learn about the history of Leslie Dam and how it works and find out how you can prepare for local weather events and stay safe in and on the water. It’s all happening at Leslie Dam on Saturday 8 June from 10am to 2pm.

The 2024 Variety Victoria Bash will kick off in August with cars 25 years or older piloted by teams raising money for Victorian children living with disabilities, illnesses, or experiencing disadvantage. A local team of Water Warriors is taking a 1988 Nissan GQ Patrol on the journey from Swan Hill to Airlie Beach ... Doug hopes the trip will be a great chance to raise funds for the kids and also give them an opportunity to highlight the current water issues on the way.

TasFarmers, Tasmania’s peak agricultural organisation has expressed disappointment in this year's federal budget saying it was underwhelming, lacked strategic vision, and failed to grasp the economic opportunity presented by agriculture and even going so far as to suppress it. The President of TasFarmers, Ian Sauer, said the government had failed to grasp several opportunities in water, education and getting rid of the proposed biosecurity  tax.

On 14 May 2024, the Treasurer delivered the Federal Budget. The key themes of the Budget were addressing cost of living pressures and a ‘future made in Australia.’ ... Waterfind has analysed the May 2024 Budget, and has provided commentary from a ‘water’ perspective on the key initiatives, funding and changes from previous budgets.

The prospectus has been developed following extensive and meaningful engagement by, with, and for Victoria’s Basin communities. It details the next steps Victoria will take following the Commonwealth Government’s decision to buy back up to 450 GL of additional water.  

From Monday 13 May the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) will commence releases from Lake Mulwala to lower the water levels by approximately 1.5 metres ahead of necessary maintenance and inspection work in June. MDBA Acting Executive Director of River Management Angus Paton said releases would be managed to meet demands downstream of the Lake while also achieving the target water level of 123.3 metres AHD by 17 June 2024.

Geoff Pearson. Two weeks ago 300 farmers from across the South West convened an urgent drought meeting to address what is one of the driest seasons experienced in living memory across what is traditionally the wettest part of Western Australia. It’s at times like these that the State and Federal governments need to step up and support farmers to rectify where they have made things worse through past policy mistakes.

Goldenfields Water County Council hosted General Managers and Mayors from their seven constituent councils to discuss each of their priority areas and to present an update on the recent, current and future projects being undertaken by Goldenfields Water. As a county council, Goldenfields Water is a unique organisation made up of seven LGA’s including Bland Shire, Temora Shire, Coolamon Shire, Junee Shire, Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council, Narrandera Shire and Hilltops Council.

Toowoomba Region Mayor Geoff McDonald and Deputy Mayor Cr Rebecca Vonhoff last week stepped up the call for external funding for the $270 million Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project ... Without grant funding, Council’s submission to the State Government said the full cost of the dam wall upgrade will be transferred to ratepayers through increased water charges.

More than 100 senior leaders will meet under one roof today for a 2-day summit hosted by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to collaborate, listen and share the diverse points of view on current and future management of the Basin ... the summit continues the conversation with First Nations people, industry, environmental, science and community leaders collaborating on the future of the Basin.  

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is relieved the Commonwealth Government has finally stopped blackmailing Victoria and agreed to fund environmental projects that will ensure floodplains are watered. VFF President Emma Germano said it’s pleasing to see that Victoria will no longer be short-changed for key Basin Plan projects.

"After years of advocacy with and for the Victorian community, the Commonwealth has finally agreed to fund key Victorian environmental water projects that will secure water for our precious floodplains, even in dry conditions. This is what the Murray Darling Basin Plan was always intended to achieve, and the Commonwealth Government has finally confirmed it agrees with us ...": Harriet Shing.

Only three weeks to go until we present our inaugural Mulloon Rehydration Conference showcasing the pioneering work of the Mulloon Institute and our dedicated partners within the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative (MRI). This 2-day event will deliver our game-changing journey of nature repair through evidence-based landscape rehydration methods and why it matters.