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Murray Darling Basin Authority
Carp eradication plan must be made public immediately: Centofanti
The long-awaited National Carp Control Plan has now been handed to the federal Agriculture Department, but there is no news on when it will be made public. The South Australian Liberal Party is calling on the Labor Government to publicly release the plan immediately.
Dispelling myths about water: Ron Pike
The myths about water are many. They range from Australia being the driest continent on earth, to all of our rivers dying from overuse, right up to the government being required to return water to the environment ... here are some not-so-well-known facts that should be shouted out in the present flood of misinformation about our water resources.
River management flowing in the right direction but scope for improvement: Grant
The report highlights the complexities of water management and notes that each Basin government holds information about rules, entitlements, allocations, and environmental water - there is no single source of information. This is something the Inspector-General has noticed as part of a trend, with states operating under their individual jurisdictional powers.
Strategy Group’s ‘positive’ meeting with Minister
The Murray Regional Strategy Group (MRSG) has been buoyed by positive engagement with new federal Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek ...MRSG Chair, Geoff Moar, said it was a positive meeting and that, “We felt we covered more ground today than we have in a very long time ... The Minister understands that we do not support more water buybacks from our region, and also acknowledged there are a number of problems which need a flexible approach if they are going to be fixed.”
Governments risk repeated ‘preventable’ flooding: NSW Farmers
Farmers in the state’s south say water authorities are failing to prepare for severe flood risks in the Murray Valley as La Nina conditions threaten to fill major dams and rivers. NSW Farmers Conservation and Resource Management Committee chair Louise Burge said while authorities may not be able to prevent all risks of flooding this year, they should “absolutely” avoid making flooding conditions even more extreme.
Dartmouth Dam to spill for the first time in 26 years: MDBA
After hovering around 99% capacity for 4 weeks, the largest water storage in the Murray–Darling Basin is expected to be flowing over the spillway tomorrow thanks to inflows from last weekend's rain. MDBA Senior Director of River Management, Joe Davis said water would begin flowing over the Dartmouth Dam spillway at low rates and contribute minor flows to the Mitta Mitta River downstream, with water also still being released through the valves at the base of the dam.
Eroding confidence
When I think of tragedy and tales of woe, it is hard not to go past history’s greats like Romeo and Juliet, but Australia as a nation is penning an even more tragic story, one sadly not confined to fiction ... With water or the environment not being big enough portfolios for the Albanese Government to separate, Tanya Plibersek has the job of forcing Southern Basin communities to swallow the pill promised to South Australia in the federal election.
River People’s Forum
A diverse range of views were heard at the River People’s Forum held in Swan Hill on September 2. What do we want our river communities and river to look like? What is the balance between regulated flows and floods and natural ones? Do we want concrete giants like the KP regulators? Nothing was out of bounds.
Erosion explosion
No action has been taken to address the explosion of erosion through hundreds of kilometres of Australia’s most iconic river, the Murray. The erosion is consuming red gum forests, one of which is RAMSAR listed, as well as compromising bank integrity, with floods looming. Private infrastructure is also being impacted with pump sheds, fences, lawns and watering systems all falling prey to hydraulic land clearing.
Ultimate authority
There has been much said about the Murray-Darling Basin Authority over the 10 years of Basin Plan implementation ... The latest attempt by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to justify the hydraulic land clearing and loss of capacity of the Murray River needs to be called out for what it is – mismanagement in breach of the 2007 Water Act.
