Mighty Murray
The Murray River holds a special place in many hearts and minds of locals. The river brings life to the landscape and the people who live and rely on her. After a trip down the Murray River from Barham to Wellington in South Australia and back, retired land surveyor David Laughlin was left with reflections of natural beauty, lessons from the past and current management by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Signs ‘green shoots’ of optimism returning to Australia’s farm sector: Rabobank
Australia’s farmers are approaching the end of the year with a hint of improving optimism as rural confidence levels nudge slightly higher in the latest quarter. The Q4 Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, found net level farmer confidence across the nation edged up marginally…
Weather for November
Highest temperature was 43.8C on Saturday 11th compared to the record of 45.4C on the 29th in 2012 ... November rain was 28.4mm ... Highest November rain was 95.4mm in 1992 ... The river has remained reasonably steady a with current level of 0.85 metres and a flow of 769 ML/day, exactly the same as reported last month.
Draining red tape
Government red tape had to be addressed before Naracoorte Lucindale mayor Patrick Ross could take up his position as a local government representative on the SE Water Conservation and Drainage Board (SEWCDB). Operating under special legislation, the SEWCD Act mainly provides for the conservation and management of water and the prevention of flooding of rural land, among other things.
Amendment to federal environment laws trigger good news for Barkly’s future
The new laws update the ‘water trigger’ under Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) (the most important legislation that protects the environment in Australia), so new unconventional gas projects, like shale gas fracking, will be assessed by the Independent Expert Scientific Committee for their impact on water resources.
Water Bill opens old wounds
Communities who carried the burden of a Basin Plan corrupted by politics are once again looking down the barrel of mass buybacks. The impacts of water buybacks cannot be understated as communities were ripped apart, football clubs closed, huge areas of food production and habitat provision were dried out, industries retracted, driving increased costs and undermining sustainability, and the price of water was sent out of reach of many young farmers.
Water wars: Labor and Greens unite to drain rural communities
The environmental, economic and social value of water to our floodplain communities is once again washed away under a tide of political games ... Once again, South Australia leads the Feds around by the nose while glossing over the impacts of the barrages, the south east drainage scheme, the topography and even the estuarine nature of the area.
Basin Plan deal: Let the ‘Hunger Games’ begin
The fate of regional communities in the Murray-Darling Basin now rests with a handful of Senate crossbenchers after the Labor and the Greens struck a deal to enforce another 450GL in water buybacks from farmers within four years ... "The Minister’s insistence that buybacks are not the only option is disingenuous at best ... To add insult to injury, it is well documented that any water recovered cannot physically be delivered where it is intended to go ... ": NSW Irrigators’ Council CEO Claire Miller.
Premier Minns urged to distance himself from Albanese Government: NSW Farmers Association
The Albanese Government has allowed the Greens to dictate water policy that jeopardises the vitality of rural and regional towns across the Murray Darling Basin ... “Politicians have failed to listen to locals who have been warning them about the detriments of water buybacks": NSW Farmers Water Taskforce chair Richard Bootle.
Making bore water fit for dialysis
Making scarce and impure bore water in The Centre’s outback fit for use in medical dialysis has earned Alice local Michael C Smith a Distinguished Alumni Award from Flinders University in Adelaide. “I’m proud that one of my designs is working today in Kiwirrkurra, Australia’s most remote Aboriginal community,” says Dr Smith.
CMA on the lookout for natural drought refuges
The North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA) is on the lookout for drought refuge pools – natural bodies of water that stay full, even during dry times.
QFF joins a growing chorus of industry and community voices calling on a carbon and capture storage project proposed for the Great Artesian Basin...
A proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project that would see liquified carbon dioxide injected into a water producing aquifer (the Precipice Sandstone) within the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) has industry and community alarm bells ringing, not only in Queensland, but across the nation.
Tentative pipeline route released
In preparation for the final route of the Toowoomba to Warwick (T2W) Pipeline being confirmed, Seqwater has released a detailed map of where the pipeline is planned to be constructed.
Enough is enough says Leeton protest rally
More than 600 residents, business owners and farmers demanded "enough is enough" and called for a stop to the water buybacks by the Albanese Government in a protest rally at Leeton. The crowd in Mountford Park was addressed by Leeton Mayor Cr Tony Reneka...
Still fighting
Even though this week’s rally in Deniliquin pulled a 700-strong crowd, for many, it was simply a case of déjà vu. Another year, another town, another rally, and every farm and rural/regional community the length and breadth of the Murray-Darling Basin still fighting a rearguard action to save their water and their future.
Farmers fear more red tape on the way, with NSW Government launching new water review: NSW Farmers Association
The state’s largest farming organisation is warning government against introducing more red tape for farmers with a new review into stock and domestic water rights getting underway.
Australia’s largest weir since World War 2 now complete: Dick, Butcher
Construction on Australia’s newest major water infrastructure asset is now complete. The $568.9 million Rookwood Weir, west of Rockhampton, will yield 86,000 megalitres each year to boost economic growth, agricultural production and industry in Central Queensland.
Schools left high and dry by water buybacks
Water buybacks have taken a toll on education in the southern NSW Murray-Darling Basin, with school principals linking falling enrolments and subject choices to the lasting socioeconomic impacts of past Government purchases. A NSW Irrigators’ Council (NSWIC) analysis of enrolment data, supported by interviews with school principals, shows how water buybacks are contributing to a loss of population and jobs and therefore fewer enrolments, subject choice and resources for regional schools.
Protect us from Plibersek!
Southern Riverina communities are being called on to ‘fight for our future’ at a rally next week. It aims to highlight the community concern at the social and economic damage that will be caused if water buybacks are introduced, as proposed by the Albanese Government.
Sacrificial lambs for a political agenda
Promoting a political agenda that costs jobs and ruins the livelihoods of people in rural communities has been described as "a sad reflection on the priorities of our city-based political elite." ... Mr Lolicato said the MDBA’s own socio-economic community profiles show job losses, again primarily from water buybacks, at more than 3,200.
Widespread water protest planned: NSW Farmers Association
Basin communities, farmers and businesses will join forces for the nation’s largest ever protest next week against the Albanese Government’s controversial water bill. The coordinated action led by Deniliquin, Griffith and Leeton councils, along with key farming groups such as NSW Farmers and businesses, will see towns across multiple states host demonstrations on Tuesday, November 21, sharing the message that a rewrite of the Murray Darling Basin Plan will cost thousands of jobs and slash almost $1bn worth of food and fibre from farms.
‘We stand by our river’: Murray Darling Conservation Alliance
With the Senate set to decide the fate of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, an alliance of First Nation leaders, irrigators, farmers, ecologists and environmental organisations today travelled to federal parliament to urge politicians from across the political spectrum to deliver for inland rivers and communities.
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