Welcome to the Murray-Darling Basin monthly e-letter with reports of happenings across the Basin.

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(See also The Living Murray website at http://www.thelivingmurray.mdbc.gov.au)

In this issue:

Habitat degradation, changes to natural river flows, fishing pressure, lowered water quality and barriers to fish movement within the Murray River and its tributaries, have all contributed to the reduction in Murray Cod and other native fish populations, according to NFS Manager Jim Barrett.

However, native fish experts believe four specific MDBC projects designed within the guidelines of the NFS’s key objectives, will begin to turn the iconic species’ fortunes around.

The projects include:

For more background information:
Sea to Hume Fish Passage Program: www.mdbc.gov.au/naturalresources/native_fish/PDF/Bg_fishway.pdf
Native Fish Strategy: www.mdbc.gov.au/naturalresources/fish/Native_fishStrategy.html
Other fish facts and visuals: www.mdbc.gov.au/news_room/media_release/mc25mar04.html

For media inquiries contact: Allison Hicks, Phone: 02 62790129 BH, Mobile (0407) 704609
 

WINNERS OF MDBC SPONSORED NATIONAL SALINITY PRIZE ANNOUNCED
The 2004 Engineers Australia National Salinity Prize of $30,000 has been awarded to the joint winners - Australian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage for their open channel seepage and control project and to Larmon Pty Ltd trading as SunSalt producers of crude salt from natural salt lakes.

The prize was co-sponsored by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, who were also members of the judging panel.

Governor General His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffrey announced and presented the awards at a luncheon event held at the Mural Hall, Parliament House, Canberra, on Monday 31 May.

The prize was open to individuals, community based groups and companies and institutions which had developed and implemented an innovative technology, or methodology, to tackle salinity.

This is the second time the Engineers Australia prize has been on offer. The initial prize in 2002 went to the WA Tollibin Lakes Recovery Team.

This year Highly Commended awards went to the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia that has produced a local government salinity management handbook, and to Tempini Orchards that reclaimed saline land near Swan Hill in northwest Victoria.

For more information and copies of speeches, photographs and summaries of all entrants contact John Bright - 0407 234490 - jbright@engineersaustralia.org.au
 

MEMBERSHIP OF NEW-LOOK MDBMC COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE UNVEILED
The membership details of the new-look Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council’s Community Advisory Committee were unveiled on 6 May.

Council Chair the Hon Warren Truss announced the Council had appointed 20 members to the Committee.

He said an independent review of the Committee had recommended, among other things, a new process for appointing its members.

"The selection process occurred via a Basin-wide call for nominees who were then considered by their respective State and Territory Governments," he said.

The new Committee comprises:

He thanked the outgoing members for their dedication and their advice to Council over the past few years. Their active involvement, and strong commitment to Council matters, had made a significant contribution to sustainable natural resources management in the Basin and community involvement in its affairs.

"It’s vital that the Committee has the right mix of skills, expertise and diversity to meet the natural resources management (NRM) challenges of the coming decade, particularly given their increasing complexity," he said.

The full list of the Community Advisory Committee members is:

Victoria  Don Cummins (Mansfield, Victoria) Rodney Hayden (Piangil, Victoria) Sarah Nicholas (Wandiligong, Victoria) NSW Kelvin Baxter (Berrigan, NSW) Mark King (Wentworth, NSW) Lee O’Brien (Henty, NSW) Queensland John Grabbe (Dirranbandi, Queensland) Clarrie Hillard (Goondiwindi, Queensland) Sarah Moles (Allora, Queensland) South Australia Joanne Pfeiffer (Murray Bridge, South Australia) Sharon Starick (Cambrai, South Australia) Derek Walker (Murray Bridge, South Australia) ACT Ian Falconer (Canberra)

Dryland Farming  Hamish Holcombe (Moree, New South Wales) Irrigation industry  Myles Treseder (Woorinen North, Victoria) Conservation  Nick Roberts (Shepparton, Victoria) Local government  Phyllis Miller (Forbes, NSW) Urban  Leon Broster (Adelaide, South Australia) Indigenous Lee Joachim (Shepparton, Victoria)  Mike Nolan (Dripstone, NSW)

* The Chairman is independently appointed by the Ministerial Council. The Deputy Chairman is selected from the Committee membership.

For more information and the complete text of the media release go to http://www.mdbc.gov.au/about/cac/newcac_mediar6-5.pdf
 

5M BURONGA SALT INTERCEPTION SCHEME REHAB WORKS APPROVED
On 1 June 2004 the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, at its meeting in Renmark approved the rehabilitation and enhancement of the Buronga Salt Interception Scheme at a total estimated capital cost of $ 5,075,000.

The Buronga SIS was originally built in 1979 by NSW with additional MDBC funded work carried out in 1990. However, after 24 years of operating in a very corrosive environment, the scheme is now in urgent need of rehabilitation.

In recognition of this need, New South Wales has provided funding to carry out the essential rehabilitation of the existing works.

While a priority, it was considered appropriate to delay this work while a more comprehensive review of salt interception across the region was undertaken.

This review has now been completed and has identified that the region would further benefit from not only the rehabilitation of the Buronga scheme but also the enhancement of the scheme through the installation of additional bores and the relocation of some existing bores.

Taking these findings into consideration, the Buronga Scheme was redesigned so that it will more efficiently intercept saline groundwater from entering the River Murray while providing additional pipeline capacity for future scheme integration.

It is expected that the rehabilitation and enhancement of this scheme will be completed in the 2004/05 financial year.

For more information contact Phil Pfeiffer at 02 6270 0100 or email phil.pfeiffer@mdbc.gov.au
 

NEW ONLINE MULTIMEDIA ‘BASIN FISH’ SCALES UP ‘BASIN KIDS’ WEBSITE
The popular "Basin Kids" section of the MDBC website now boasts a comprehensive online, interactive multimedia mini-encyclopedia of the fish of the Murray-Darling Basin.

The new "Basin Fish" section coincides with the release of the MDBC’s Native Fish Strategy which aims to rehabilitate native fish communities in the Basin back to 60 per cent of their estimated pre-European settlement levels after 50 years of implementation.

The new "Basin Fish" site is a treasure trove of information for teachers and students.

It includes detailed factual and visual information of all Basin fish species with comprehensive explanations of habitats, breeding habits, scientific information and even a thorough look of the common name for each fish.

The site has been designed especially for students and teachers and is very colourful, visual and attractive.

There are downloadable information posters, full colour, high quality photographs of each fish, a complete interactive glossary and a special teachers’ area.

This is only the first stage of the project and further stages will see a section on alien fish, a more comprehensive glossary, further animations and an expanded teacher guide with associated curriculum appropriate classroom activities.

"Basin Fish" is based on the concept contained on a CD-ROM (developed in the late 90s) called "Upstream Downstream".

The MDBC is also working with the Learning Federation to have "Basin Fish" made accessible to as many students and teachers throughout Australia as possible.

Check out the new "Basin Fish" site at http://www.mdbc.gov.au/education/basinkids/basin_fish/

For more information or to send feedback on the new site contact sheridan.lockerbie@mdbc.gov.au
 

KEEPING AN (ELECTRONIC) EYE ON BASIN FISH
MDBC staff recently heard how high-tech electronic monitoring could help them keep track of the success of their new Native Fish Strategy.

The Strategy aims to halt the decline of native fish populations in the Basin and to rehabilitate their habitats and increase their numbers.

A major plank in the process is the construction of special fishways from the Sea to Hume Dam at a cost of about $25 million over the next five years.

But monitoring the progress of the fish and their health and population numbers is a tricky issue.

Currently most monitoring is done by skilled human observers who collect and collate data and compare it with the previous scenarios.

But the system is costly and time-consuming. The fish are subject to stress as they are temporarily lifted from cages for counting purposes.

Enter the idea of electronic monitoring. A representative of a Canadian company told MDBC staff about such systems that have been developed for commercial fisheries in British Columbia.

Electronic monitoring involves placing tamper-proof automated computing systems aboard fishing vessels to independently monitor a variety of activities.

The systems are automated with internal programming designed for continuous operation and restarting automatically if the system suffers any interruption.

The systems include the following components:

The Canadian company says the participation of the fishing industry has been essential to developing and implementing the monitoring solutions. Industry knowledge of the fishery and the design of, and participation in effective data collection processes, has ensured its success.

For more information contact John Prentice on (02) 6279 0181 or visit the website: http://www.mdbc.gov.au/publications/factsheets/factsheet_nfs.html

BASIN GETS WELCOME RAIN, BUT DRY PERSISTS
Welcome falls of rain blanketed much of the Murray-Darling Basin in the last week of May with the central Basin and upper River Murray receiving up to 50 mm, River Murray Water General Manager David Dreverman said in his weekly report on 28 May.

The south west of the Basin, however, received little or no rain with extremely dry conditions persisting now for many months.

"Inflows to Dartmouth and Hume Reservoirs showed little or no response to the rain due to the extremely dry nature of the upper Murray catchments," Mr Dreverman said.

"It is hoped that the catchment will now be more responsive to any further rain. The Kiewa and Ovens catchments did have small responses to the rain, with inflows to the River Murray peaking at about 800 and 1500 ML/day respectively.

"If dry conditions prevail it is possible that storage in Hume could fall slightly in June. However, it is still likely that further falls of rain will be received over the coming winter/spring months, bringing rises in storage level.

"Water resources continue to be transferred, at low rates, from Hume Reservoir to Lake Victoria with the passing flow at Albury/Wodonga averaging 2 900 ML/day – about 1 700 ML/day above the minimum permissible flow. Release from Yarrawonga Weir has been increased to 4 500 ML/day and is expected to be kept at this rate until about mid June if conditions remain dry," Mr Dreveman said.

For more information and a copy of the complete weekly report go to http://www.mdbc.gov.au/river_murray/river_info/weekly_report/current_wr.pdf
 

NEW COMMUNICATION MANAGER FOR RMCWMB
The River Murray Catchment Water Management Board’s new Communications Manager, Tamara McPherson, has a solid educational and practical background for the job.

With univesity degrees in journalism and in landscape design she has the formal studies background that will help her communicate the Board’s varied and wide ranging activities and programs.

Her experience as a journalist with "The River News" and "The Leader " newspapers gives her the inside knowledge and understanding to deal with the often bewildering world of the media and its requirements.

Her recent work for the Riverland West Local Action Planning – SA arms her with the sensitivity and appreciation of communicating with stakeholders, agencies and communities along the Murray.

"I’m excited about this new challenge as I admire the important environmental goals that the Board and its staff strive towards," she said.

She replaces Rachael Siddall who left the Board to develop her public communication skills overseas.

Tamara can be contacted on: phone 08 8582 4477, or email tmcpherson@rivermurray.sa.gov.au
 

ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION PROGRAM TO FOCUS ON MURRAY CATCHMENTS
The entire River Murray catchment will be the focus this year for one of Australia’s most successful and respected participatory environmental education programs, according to the latest issue of the River Murray Urban Users Committee newsletter "Ripples" .

MYRiveR Murray builds on the success of MYRiveR Murrumbidgee in 2002, MYRiveR Darling in 2003 and Oz GREEN’s 15 years of innovative and award-winning environmental education experience.

MYRiveR is a call to young people, their families and communities along the River Murray to engage in a comprehensive investigation of the health of the entire catchment and in the development of a youth voice, vision and plans of action.

The project will roll out through nine regional centres from Corryong in the top of the catchment to Murray Bridge where the river discharges into Lake Alexandrina (Corryong, Albury-Wodonga, Echuca, Bendigo, Seymour, Swan Hill, Mildura, Renmark, Murray Bridge). During June, the focus will be on Renmark, Murray Bridge and Cobram-Echuca districts.

Over a period of a week at each regional centre, young people and their communities will work alongside Oz GREEN staff to:

This will increase the range and size of the audience aware of the program and potentially contributing to restoration of the catchment.

For more information go to website at www.myriver.org.au

For an online copy of "Ripples" newsletter go to http://www.murrayusers.sa.gov.au/Newsletters/jun2004/Jun_NewsLetter.php
 

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2004 IN AUSTRALIA
Michele Thums and her fellow expeditioners of the Australian Antarctic Program are planning a marine debris clean-up day on Macquarie Island in the sub-Antarctic to mark World Environment Day on June 5.

Macquarie Island is a Nature Reserve under the administration of the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, Australia. It is also a World Heritage Area and has an Australian Antarctic Base located at its Northern Tip.

Just outside Melbourne at Aitken Hill which is in its third year of a five-year regeneration program, volunteers will plant 500 trees and shrubs. The World Environment Day logo and a description about the day will be featured on special messaging screens to create awareness among the hundreds of people who pass through the area each week.

The theme for World Environment Day this year is Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive?

The day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

This year nations and their people are asked to make a choice as to how they want to treat the Earth’s seas and oceans. Do they want to keep seas and oceans healthy and alive or polluted and dead?

The main international celebrations of the World Environment Day 2004 will be held in Barcelona, Spain in close collaboration with the Universal Forum of Cultures.

The organisers of World Environment Day say their agenda is to "give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future. "

For more information go to www.unep.org/wed/2004/

ends