Murray-Darling Basin Commission – September 2004 E-letter No 34
Welcome to the Murray-Darling Basin monthly e-letter with reports of happenings across the Basin.
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In this issue:
New MDBC Chief Executive takes the helm
Dr Wendy Craik, the new Chief Executive for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC), took up her position in late August.
Dr Craik's initial appointment is for five-years.
Announcing her appointment in June, MDBC President the Right Hon Ian Sinclair said Dr Craik was an “outstanding candidate with strong management skills.
He said Dr Craik would bring valuable skills and qualities to the position of leading the MDBC, particularly with her considerable expertise and experience in natural resource management and managing intergovernmental bodies, Mr Sinclair said.
"I am looking forward to working with her in this unique and vital position," he said.
Just before taking up her new position, Dr Craik was the President of the National Competition Council (NCC) and Chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).
She succeeds Mr Don Blackmore who retired as MDBC Chief Executive in March this year.
For biographical notes and a photograph of Dr Craik: http://www.mdbc.gov.au/news_room/media_release/new-CE.html
For media inquiries contact Allison Hick on Phone: 02 62790129 BH Mobile (0407) 704609, allison.hicks@mdbc.gov.au
New fishways and navigable passes launched
On August 23, the Australian Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Ian Campbell, on behalf of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, officially opened the recently completed fishways and navigable passes at Locks 7 and 8 on the River Murray.
The $6.6 million works were undertaken through the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) with financial contributions from the Australian Government and the States of NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
About 150-people – travelling on special buses and private cars – attended the opening ceremony at Lock 8 on the NSW side of the River Murray.
The fishway project was funded through the Living Murray initiative. It is a tangible example that the recently released Native Fish Strategy is not just a piece of policy, but a guiding document for investment by the governments of the Basin to improve native fish numbers. The Strategy aims to return native fish populations to 60 percent of their estimated pre-European settlement levels within 50 years.
The “sea to Hume Dam” fishways project will provide 2300 kilometres of fish passage over five years at a cost of $25 million; it is a vast cooperative effort - funded from six governments, is built by a constructing Authority from one state (SA), has on-ground works located on Victorian and NSW land with design and ongoing monitoring by experts from all jurisdictions. It is also the first major structural program to be funded by The Living Murray Implementation Program.
The new navigable passes were built to stop the need for divers to undertake the risky activity of reinstalling needle beams at the floor of the navigable pass sections after floods. The new arrangements will continue to provide passage for vessels during floods.
Locks 7 and Lock 8 were the first to be selected for new navigable passes as they represented the most frequent operational risks from an occupational health and safety perspective.
Upgrading of Locks 9 and 10 will follow in 2004-2005. The other locks and weirs will be upgraded over the following four years.
Both projects were undertaken concurrently to maximise efficiency and economy.
For more background information on the fishways and navigable passes:
Background notes for fishway work - http://www.mdbc.gov.au/news_room/media_release/locks_804/bg_notes_fishways7_8.pdf
Background notes for Navigable Pass work [PDF 19Kb]
http://www.mdbc.gov.au/news_room/media_release/locks_804/bg_notes_%20navigable_pass.pdf
For media inquiries contact: Allison Hicks on (02) 62790129 BH or email: allison.hicks@mdbc.gov.au
More water to be released from Dartmouth Reservoir
River Murray Water (RMW) announced on 31 August that the rate of transfer of water from Dartmouth Reservoir to Hume Reservoir would be increased to supplement storage in Hume in preparation for the coming irrigation and water supply season.
RMW General Manager, Mr David Dreverman said the increase was needed because of the low storage volume in Hume Reservoir.
“Storage in Hume is currently 26 per cent of capacity, which is well below average for this time of year”, Mr Dreverman said.
He said this was despite the recent rain and subsequent small rise in storage level in Hume. In addition, the early demand on Dartmouth was significant this season because there was currently no Commission storage available in Menindee Lakes.
“A substantial volume of water is likely to be transferred from Dartmouth to Hume to meet downstream requirements over the remainder of 2004-05”.
For more information read the full announcement at http://www.mdbc.gov.au/news_room/media_release/DarEntitlement_202003_11_16.pdf
National Water Week 'Murray-Darling Knowledge Forum'
The MDBC, CSIRO's Water for Healthy Country Flagship, the CRC for Freshwater Ecology, and Land and Water Australia are proposing to host an informal late afternoon forum on Thursday 21 October in Canberra.
The objective of the forum is to bring together Canberra based scientists, and policy and decision makers, to share information about proposed major developments in Murray-Darling Basin related water policy development and implementation.
The forum will focus on 'who is doing what' and opening up channels for collaboration, rather than dealing in detail with knowledge content.
To maximise the usefulness of the event, please indicate whether you would be interested in contributing &/or attending.
A quick email response to cheryl.nemeth@mdbc.gov.au by Friday 24 September would be very helpful.
Water markets PhD scholarships on offer
Three PhD scholarships are available at the University of South Australia for a study of water markets from 2004 to 2007.
Five case studies will be conducted by a multidisciplinary team of four researchers and three candidates on an ARC Linkage grant.
Each candidate will receive a tax-free scholarship of $23,556 per annum plus a budget of $5,000 per annum budget for costs associated with the research. All candidates will be based at the City West Campus of the University of South Australia in Adelaide.
The PhD Project 1 candidate (Community and Social Impacts of Water Markets) will work on two case studies focused on identifying the community and social impacts of major new corporate irrigation entities and the export of large proportions of water entitlements out of irrigation districts.
The PhD Project 2 candidate (Management Responses to Reductions in Water Entitlements) will work on a case study of irrigators' management responses to reductions in water entitlements.
The PhD Project 3 candidate (Econometric Analyses of Water Market Activities) will work on one of five case studies aiming to identify the drivers of prices and volumes traded in water markets.
For more information on the scholarships email belinda.spagnoletti@unisa.edu.au
Credit Union helps members 'go green'
One of Australia's largest banking cooperatives, mecu, is rewarding its members for going "green".
Last year, mecu launched Australia's first 'green' car loan product, the goGreen® Car Loan. In partnership with Greenfleet, a not-for-profit organisation, mecu plants and maintains 17 native trees in the Murray Darling Basin on an annual basis for every car loan funded (for the life of the loan) to offset 100% of the car's greenhouse gas emissions.
The goGreen® Car Loan also rewards members for making environmentally responsible car purchases by offering lower interest rates for more fuel-efficient cars.
Following the success of this product, mecu introduced a new 'green' home improvement loan in July 2004 that promises a low interest rate for environmentally upgrades to existing homes. The goGreen® Home Improvement Loan encourages people to conserve water and energy as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions by rewarding them with a reduced interest rate to carry out 'green' renovations.
This product is offered as both a secured and unsecured loan to finance a range of home improvements including high efficiency gas heaters, five-star energy efficient glazing, water tanks, grey water recycling systems, and solar or wind devices for generating electricity.
In March 2004, mecu became the first credit union in the world to sign the United Nations Statement by Financial Institutions on the Environment and Sustainable Development.
To find out more aboutmecu's goGreen® Loans visit http://www.mecu.com.au
Nuffield Conference to present farming success stories
Australia's leading farmers and their success stories will be showcased at the first Nuffield Conference to be held in Canberra in early October.
The conference is being oganised by the Australian Farming Nuffield Scholars Association (ANSFA) which awards young Australian farmers scholarships to travel overseas.
The Nuffield Farming Scholarship has been awarded in Australia every year since 1950.
The one-day Conference, which will focus on solutions to issues affecting the Australian farming sector, will include past and current Nuffield scholars, other Australian farmers, government and industry representatives.
“The delegates will be keen to interact with like-minded forward thinking people involved in the sustainability of the Australian farming sector,” says ANFSA Chief Executive Officer Bryan Clark.
He said it was decided to convene the inaugural Nuffield Conference to take advantage of the enormous depth of knowledge, talent and network of the group.
Oganiser say presentations will enable delegates to dig deeply into the mindsets and practical techniques of the group.
For more information go to: http://www.nuffield.com.au/news/
Engaging the Community in NRM – ‘Truly Madly Deeply'
“Truly Madly Deeply” is the title of the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment Coordinating Committee's next biennial Regional Natural Resources Management Forum to be held in Canberra on 29 September.
Organisers say “Truly Madly Deeply” will explore the opportunities for community engagement in the new regional catchment planning regime/s for managing natural resources, with a focus on the upper Murrumbidgee catchment.
The one-day forum to be held at Australian National University will be to canvass how rural landholders, industry, landcare groups, and local governments are able to participate and play meaningful roles in the implementation of regional natural resources management.
Keynote speakers include:
- Jon Stanhope, Chief Minister ACT
- Peter Cullen, Wentworth Group of Scientists
- Lee O'Brien, Chair Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority
- Mike Lee, General Manager NRM Team Australian Government
- Cr Phyllis Miller, NSW Shires Association President
- Coral Love, National Landcare Facilitator
The Forum Program and registration form can be downloaded from www.actlandcare.org/umccc.htm
For more information: contact Kathy Eyles UMCCC Facilitator on 02 62072999 or kathy.eyles@act.gov.au
Conference to urge national action on freshwater protected areas
The Inland Rivers Network and the World Wildlife Fund Australia believe the time is ripe finding a way forward to a national framework for freshwater protected areas.
This is the aim of “Freshwater Protected Areas: New and Existing Tools for Conserving Freshwater Ecosystems” – a two-day conference to be held at the University of Sydney on 27 and 28 September.
The conference will also aim to take stock of existing efforts and will provide a forum to share experiences and ideas and celebrate successes.
The organisers say participants can look forward to collaborating in setting a national agenda for establishing and protecting freshwater and estuarine areas.
They say the conference statement and proceedings will be a milestone in progressing the policy approaches and scientific fundamentals necessary for these efforts.
They believe protected areas are a cornerstone of terrestrial and marine biodiversity conservation, but are relatively unknown when it comes to freshwater ecosystems.
However, aquatic habitats do receive varying levels of protection in Australia from existing approaches such as conservation reserves, Ramsar sites, catchment and riparian management and Indigenous Protected Areas, and new initiatives are being announced ever more frequently.
For more information about the conference, go to: http://www.irnnsw.org.au/
Workshop to examine role of science in NRM
What can we change to enable society to gain a better appreciation of the role of science in natural resource management and therefore invest at an appropriate level?
That's the central issue to be examined at a four-day workshop to be held at La Trobe University, Beechworth, Victoria 24 - 28 October.
The workshop in “Stream Management Principles and Practices” will be presented by:
- The Wangaratta Centre for Adult Education Inc.;
- La Trobe University, Earth Tech;
- Department of Sustainability and Environment;
- Department of Primary Industries;
- North East Catchment Management Authority;
- Murray Darling Basin Commission;
- North East Water; and
- The Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology
Program Sessions include:
- Stream Rehabilitation Concepts
- Stream Assessment Techniques
- Demonstration of Field Data Collection
- Catchment Hydrology
- Environmental Flows/Wetlands
- Catchment Management
- Open Channel Hydraulics
- Stream Geomorphology
- Group Assignment
- Importance of Community
- Stream Ecology
- Fish Migration and Habitat
- Riparian Vegetation
- Willows
- Stream Channel Management
- Field Projects & Construction Works
- Group Work Site Visit
For more information and a registration brochure contact Lachlan Campbell on (03) 5721 0200 or email: lachlanc@thecentre.vic.edu.au
Fish, frogs and freshwater macroinvertebrates
The Northern Adelaide and Barossa Waterwatch Program is organising a series of community information seminars, on the aquatic and amphibian fauna of regional and greater South Australian catchments.
The seminars will feature some of the best scientists and speakers from around the state and the country. They will discuss the fascinating ecology of fish, frogs and freshwater macroinvertebrates.
(Macroinvertebrate sessions are also being arranged for Metro Adelaide, Murray Bridge, the Riverland, Mt Gambier and Crystal Brook, during mid September).
The sessions are open to all comers including community group and individuals, teachers, students, and general enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. No previous knowledge or experience required.
For more information contact Katie Brown on (08) 8406 8305 or email: kjbrown@salisbury.sa.gov.au
Current wetland management practices to be challenged
The Wetlands Centre Australia is launching “The Wetland Innovation Series” - a national forum to challenge current thinking and practices in wetland management.
Titled “Innovations, Obligations and Incentives”, the Forum will be held on Tuesday 21 September at The Wetlands Centre, 10 minutes from Newcastle in the lower Hunter Valley.
Organisers say the forum will provide an update on all significant legislation and reforms affecting development adjacent to wetlands in NSW.
It will also provide central access to cutting-edge approaches for managing activities in wetland catchments, such as planning and policy-making, urban design, assessment and prioritisation, incentives and tools.
The Wetland Innovation Series is designed for individuals and organisations that manage or potentially impact upon wetlands, including local government officers, planners, engineers, assessors, compliance officers, environmental managers and ecologists, state and federal agency natural resource managers and wetland specialists.
It will also benefit development industry representatives involved in subdivisions and developments within wetland catchments, wetland neighbours and those who have a special interest in wetlands.
Organisers promise:
- A clear understanding of current legislation, reforms and statutory obligations of organisations and individuals managing or impacting on wetlands;
- Detailed information on some of the newest and most innovative tools and approaches to wetland management available;
- Direct contact with leading wetland management researchers and practitioners so that innovations may be tailored to meet individual needs and interests;
- A CD-rom of the proceedings containing a range of innovative wetland management research, information and tools; and
- Networking and partnerships amongst government, community and industry representatives who have an interest in managing development in wetland catchments and and
- wetland management itself.
For more information go to: www.wetlands.org.au/forum or contact Kylie Yeend, Hunter Ramsar Project Officer, on (02) 4951 6466.
Volunteers wanted to sow the right seeds
South Australia's “Trees For Life” is after registrations of interest from anybody wanting to grow seedlings in their backyards this summer.
Becoming a “Trees For Life” grower helps tackle environmental problems such as the loss of native vegetation, water quality, biodiversity, habitat and erosion.
Up to 1.25 million local native seedlings are grown every year by Trees For Life members for rural farm land and revegetation projects, with over 250, 000 seedlings grown for the South Australian region of the Murray Darling Basin alone.
More than 1,000 people have already volunteered but organsiers say they need more.
All you need is a sunny spot in your backyard and the commitment to care for the seedlings every day.
The seedlings are native and local to the area into which they will be planted. This means that they are water efficient, adapted to local conditions, occur naturally and therefore have a higher survival rate, pose no risk of becoming weed species, provide homes for local fauna and restore local ecosystems.
Materials and growing instructions are supplied and propagation workshops are run in early October for those who would like some extra help.
Volunteers pick up their supplies (soil, seed, tubes etc.) in November and sow their first batch of seed by December.
Register now by phoning 08 8372 0150
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