Water

Construction has commenced on the Kimberley Conservation Hub, a world-class conservation centre at Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary in northern Australia ...the important infrastructure will act as a base for critical scientific research, fire management, feral animal control and other conservation projects across 4.3–6.1 million hectares across the Kimberley.

Daryl Wiltshire from Undera reports that while the floodwaters are receding, the community is waiting and hoping that the rain that is forecast will not affect the region too much. Undera people are "hoping for a show of resolve from the authorities who control levees to future flood proof the farming area."

Pam Dillon. Twenty-eight students from three different remote schools spent three days fine-tuning their swimming skills to improve their schools’ chances in the Barkly Region Inter-school Swimming Carnival. With the help from Swimming NT, Royal Lifesaving NT (RLSNT) and the Barkly Sport Education Coordinator, the students ranging from preschool through to Year 8 were put into groups according to their swimming ability.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority will increase the release of water from Hume Dam [Friday 11 November] morning ahead of potentially heavy rainfall from Sunday 13 November as forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology. Releases from Hume Dam will increase from 85 gigalitres (GL) per day to 95 GL per day.

The Murray River at Koondrook-Barham is on the decline after a week of extreme height forecasts and even an evacuation scare for the Koondrook Primary School. Despite the river being on decline and steady flows through Torrumbarry, the BoM issued a flood warning of 6.3m on Wednesday, November 2 for Koondrook-Barham ... The move caused a flurry of activity on both sides of the river ... Many wondered how the 6.3m forecast came about; was it a rounding up of the one decimal place used by the BoM?

Ben Evans settled on his 2,600-acre Mellool farm just two months ago ... His entire property, bar six acres, is underwater ... Daniel Monk, has never seen floodwater inundate the area as widely or as quickly ... Marcus and his wife, Bree, have 90 per cent of their 4,000ha farm inundated at Mallan ... “I have never seen so much water ever,” said Ken Spence.

Major flooding of the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera has led to the evacuation of residents in 14 households south of town. Warnings for major flooding are still in place. Narrandera Shire Council Deputy General Manager Infrastructure Shane Wilson said ... the volume of water flowing through the river in a 24-hour period was 130,000 Ml megalitres which equated to 130,000 Olympic swimming pools as against the normal flow rate of 40 megalitres. SES volunteers are keeping a close watch on water levels and checking on residents in low lying areas.

Two community meetings were held in Allora on Monday afternoon to discuss the topic, both involving concerned locals who have properties impacted by floodwaters and representatives of Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) ... Many residents believe multiple floods earlier this year along Dalrymple Creek were made worse by the levee bank, particularly around the corner of Raff and Jubb streets.

Work has begun to improve the health of Kanamaluka/Tamar estuary by reducing the frequency and volume of overflow events. As part of the Tamar Estuary River Health Action Plan (TERHAP), a new underground diversion chamber will be sunk deep into the ground at the Margaret Street pump station.

Kirstin Nicholson. Mick Farrant’s dairy farm is on Flannery’s Road, McMillans and two thirds of his 1,100-acre property is underwater. Excess water from Pyramid and Bullock Creeks has inundated the farm. “It’s a big job moving cattle, it’s just a massive undertaking to shift a whole herd and get set up for them somewhere else. You don’t do that in five minutes,” he said.

It’s been over 10 years since a 5-year moratorium was placed on Murray crayfishing by NSW authorities for our stretch of the Murray River. Sadly, now it seems that Murray cray populations are at risk, not from fishing, but from poor water quality. Dissolved oxygen has fallen to 0.2 in the Murray at Barham and thousands of Murray cray have walked to the edges of the river from Echuca through to Swan Hill.

The river continues to rise at Wilcannia and is now running at just over 10 metres with a flow of 30,043 ML/day. Lake Woytchugga is continuing to fill and the Talyawalka is flowing at 6.7 metres. The river is running at 101,727 ML/day at Bourke and over 135,214 ML/day at Walgett, indicating that there is a lot more to come.

Food security is a growing problem for Australian families, according to a new state government report, with remote communities the worst affected. The Food production and supply in NSW report, from the NSW Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Environment and Planning, found food supply disruption was a driver of food insecurity, and that remote communities were unfairly burdened by the problem.

Releases from Hume Dam have today increased to 75 gigalitres (GL) per day, up from 50 GL per day yesterday in response to overnight inflows that peaked at 100 GL a day. Further increases are likely with a renewed inflow peak expected later today. Combined with inflows from the Kiewa River – downstream of Hume Dam – the Murray River is expected to approach or possibly exceed the major flood level at Albury in coming days.

In our immediate area, we are lucky: the floods have been and gone while others across the State and beyond are still living with the uncertainty and dangers of rising river levels. For our region, it’s on to the recovery stage.  The Times visited the Baringhup Caravan Park last weekend to view the damage following a massive release of water from Cairn Curran reservoir.

Somebody better tell mother nature to get with the program as Koondrook-Barham’s peak was exceeded seven days early. The expected peak for Koondrook-Barham remains unchanged on official channels at an expected 6.2m. Mother nature had other ideas with a rainfall event on Monday, October 24 pushing the river to an eye watering 6.210m just one centimetre short of the highest recorded on NSW Water, the 1917 flood reaching 6.223m.