| Murray-Darling Basin Commission eLetter No 78 June 2008 Welcome to the Murray-Darling Basin Commission monthly e-letter with reports of happenings across the Basin. Contributions are welcome. Please send items (no more than 250 words) to the editor at sam.leone@mdbc.gov.au An online html version is available at: www.mdbc.gov.au/communications/s-scribe/eLetter_menu See also our monthly chilren's eNewspaper 'The River', with regular features and activities, at: www.mdbc.gov.au/subs/The_River/index.html Please feel free to pass this e-letter along to anybody who might be interested. To subscribe online go to www.mdbc.gov.au/communications/s-scribe To be removed from the mailing list, please reply to this message with “unsubscribe” in the subject heading. This newsletter currently has 1650 subscribers. In this issue:
The ecological condition of the Coorong and the Lower Lakes in South Australia continues to decline without freshwater flows from the Murray River and the upper South East region of South Australia. As part of the $6 million of works approved at the last Council meeting in March this year, a temporary structure has been built to separate the Lakes and pumping water from Lake Alexandrina to Lake Albert began in early May. About 45 GL of water will be pumped into Lake Albert to prevent further sulfidic sediments being exposed and to mitigate further risk to Lake Albert until the end of September 2008. Ministers agreed that if dry conditions continued it might be necessary, before October, to consider implementing other options. Advice on these measures will be developed as part of the project looking at longer term management options and will be presented to ministers at their next meeting. The ministers expressed strong disappointment that good rainfall in the northern part of the Basin earlier in the year had now stopped and that Autumn inflows in the southern Basin were heading back towards last year’s record lows. In the central and southern parts of the Basin headwater storage levels are well below long term averages. For more information read the communiqué issued at the conclusion of the conference at www.mdbc.gov.au/news/MC_communique Below are reports on other issues considered at the conference. Do the best for the common good, community advisers say That was the central message to Basin Ministers from the Murray-Darling Basin Community Advisory Committee (CAC) at a meeting in Adelaide before the main Ministerial Council meeting on 23 May. The CAC is a formally appointed group of 22 people with a wide range of expertise and networks throughout the Basin. Committee members are appointed for their skills in governance, natural resource planning and management, community engagement, business, scientific expertise, social and economic expertise, conflict resolution and leadership. The community representatives urged ministers to use the best available science, apply the precautionary principle, to be courageous and to act now. The committee reaffirmed Senator Penny Wong’s statement that “we cannot afford to wait for a new Basin Plan to come into effect before more water,” delivered at the Irrigation Australia 2008 conference on 20 May. A CAC communiqué said members had a range of views on the volume and timeframe for water buy-back, as well as balance between money allocated for buyback and infrastructure improvements. However, there was agreement that action should be accelerated. In other advice, the committee:
Basin river diversions lowest in 24 years The Independent Audit Group Report on the Cap 2006-07 reported the low water use reflected drought conditions throughout most of the Basin. The previous five years were five of the lowest seven years of diversion in the same period. The 2006-07 audit identifies progress in each of the states and the ACT in establishing and/or operating the Cap. Because of the continuing severe drought, it had been necessary to review and recalibrate some of the models that were used to administer the Cap. If the drought continues they might need further recalibration. Other key issues of the audit report were:
The Council agreed the first Cap for the Australian Capital Territory at 40 GL (42 GL minus 2 GL allocated to The Living Murray) with a provision for population growth. Conditions of the ACT Cap include:
Water recovery for The Living Murray stays on target The Living Murray is Australia’s most significant river restoration program. It aims to achieve a healthy working Murray River system for the benefit of all Australians. The program’s first step aims to recover 500 gigalitres of water for the Murray by June 2009. The Eligible Measures Register lists measures that are either ‘implementation ready’ or being implemented. An audit of the program’s implementation released at the Ministerial Council meeting reported that progress was made against all recommendations from previous audits and that actions had been completed for five of them. The Audit of The Living Murray Implementation 2006-07 is the third audit of The Living Murray program. The audit recommended that the original timeframe for realising water recovery be adhered to wherever possible. While recognising that the timeframe for startup in planning large scale projects could be significant, the auditors said it was a necessary part of responding to recent substantial increases in available funds. Auditors noted that as at 30 June 2007, no completed measures had been listed on the Environmental Water Register of The Living Murray. The Council approved the listing of four additional projects on the Eligible Measures Register to take the total of listed projects to more than 530 GL. Three are new and the fourth (the Lake Mokoan Water Recovery Package) has been significantly modified from the previous listing. The projects would be implemented largely in 2008/09 in accordance with the Living Murray Business Plan. The projects are:
A copy of the TLM Audit Report is available at www.mdbc.gov.au/news/MC_communique Salinity still a risk to Murray The Basin Salinity Management Strategy 2006-07 Implementation Report shows that although salinity remained relatively low at Morgan in South Australia for much of 2006-07, the higher river salinity was a continuing risk for the lower Murray River Salinity levels are being kept in check largely through the cumulative effect of salt interception schemes which prevent highly saline groundwater from entering the Murray. The Report of the Independent Audit Group for Salinity is an annual assessment of the progress of the strategy’s implementation. The latest report identified substantial progress across all jurisdictions, including:
Copies of the reports are available at www.mdbc.gov.au/news/MC_communique Strategy tackles threats to Basin’s shared water resources The Murray-Darling Basin Risks Strategy provides a framework for dealing with the effects of climate change, bushfires, afforestation, groundwater extraction, irrigation return flows and farm dams. The strategy aims to ensure a consistent and flexible approach to managing these risk factors now and into the future. It is the culmination of a process developed and agreed to by the six partner governments of the Murray- Darling Basin Commission. The strategy’s risk management process is based on the Australian and NZ Standard for Risk Management under which the significance of interception activities such as farm dams, groundwater extraction and afforestation are determined through planning based on best available science and informed by socio-economic analysis and community and industry input. It also takes into account both positive and negative impacts of water interception. A copy of the strategy and a fact sheet is available at www.mdbc.gov.au/news/MC_communique 2008-09 MDBC budget approved MDBC programs operate on three year rolling plans. The budget provides for planned expenditure of $330m. However, a review of The Living Murray’s Environmental Works and Measures Program might lead to some adjustment. Highlights of the MDBC Budget and Business Plan are:
Major new maintenance works for Mildura weir MDBC Chief Executive Dr Wendy Craik AM said the weir would be temporarily removed and the lock closed to allow some of the trestles to be replaced or refurbished as required. “At the same time, releases from Lake Mulwala were increased from late May to maintain flows at Mildura,” Dr Craik said. “The flows are necessary to minimise any temporary increases in river salinity downstream of Mildura due to saline inflow from the adjacent water table. “Flows from Lake Mulwala will arrive at Mildura Weir during the drawdown and will help refill Mildura weir pool as quick as possible. “The lower level of Lake Mulwala may also provide an additional benefit by allowing frost to kill an introduced aquatic weed that has spread throughout the Lake,” Dr Craik said. Dr Craik said it was necessary to complete the trestle maintenance at Mildura Weir before the beginning of the next irrigation season. “The water released from Mildura weir pool and Lake Mulwala will be recaptured in Lake Victoria where it will be available for use next irrigation season. “This co-ordinated and very important operation has the support of each of the three states responsible for managing water allocations and river salinities in this time of extreme drought,” Dr Craik said. For more information go to www.mdbc.gov.au/__data/page/29/Mildura-Mulwala.pdf Living Murray unit to be taught in NSW primary schools “We are delighted that the ideas and projects created by school students from six schools along the upper Murray River, which we helped to fund, will now form a new work unit for pupils across 2000 schools in the State,” Dr Craik said. The environmental curriculum project includes a “Living River” education workbook and a children’s river health poster (produced by students for students). Dr Craik was speaking at one of the six schools – Burrumbuttock Public School – where she launched a new MDBC funded display of native fish species and an educational DVD on the MDBC’s Living Murray program. This display will be part of the Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre at Burrumbuttock. The materials and the new DVD will be available to schools as well as being downloadable from the NSW Department of Education and Training curriculum website. The MDBC’s Living Murray program is one of world’s most significant river restoration programs. It aims to achieve a healthy, working Murray River system. “These projects have been made possible through the Murray-Darling Association with funding assistance from the MDBC and the Commonwealth Government’s Quality Teacher Program,” Dr Craik said. “The Association and Owen Dunlop, Principal of Burrumbuttock Public School who coordinated the development of the work unit and educational materials, are to be congratulated on a major achievement. Dr Craik said the MDBC was proud to support educational programs such as these which helped create awareness of the need for environmental sensitivity. “Since 1993 we have funded a number of environmental education programs, including Special Forever – an innovative and award winning program through which children across the Basin learn about their ecological and natural resources systems through discussion, creative writing and visual art,” Dr Craik said. For more information on the new education unit go to www.wirraminna.org Lake Hume boat speed restriction lifted Manager Murray and North East Dams Stuart Richardson said the five-knot speed restriction was introduced in March following extremely low inflows, with low water levels making conditions hazardous for high speed boating. “A speed restriction was required to protect the safety of water users from large submerged tree stump hazards in a section of Lake Hume to the south of the Bethanga Bridge with the lake level remained below 10 percent,” Mr Richardson said. These boat restrictions are in line with the requirements of the Marine Act 1988 and the Vessel Operating and Zoning Rules for Victorian Waters. The lake level has now risen above 10% capacity, and the threat posed by these hazards has reduced, enabling the removal of the five-knot speed restriction. “However we would like to take this opportunity to remind boating operators that they should always exercise caution when boating on Lake Hume. No water is completely free of hazards, and boats must always be operated in a cautious and safe manner appropriate to the conditions,” Mr Richardson said. “Goulburn-Murray Water greatly appreciates the cooperation of the boating public over recent months,” he said. For more information go to www.g-mwater.com.au Students learn farm and property planning skills The competition, run by the Namoi and Border Rivers-Gwydir Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs), gives school and TAFE agriculture students first hand experience with strategic property planning. The MDBC was a sponsor of the competition. Bruce Brown, General Manager of the Namoi Catchment Management Authority said the program was a key tool in managing our natural resources sustainably while securing our financial future and quality of life. Students were given a scenario and, as consultants, they were asked to develop a plan to ensure that the property was managed for economic viability as well as environmental sustainability. Two properties from the different catchments were available for the students to study in conjunction with gaining first hand experience through on-farm field days. The competition caters for school and TAFE agriculture students that are spread from Tenterfield and Quirindi in the east through to Walgett and Coonabarabran in the west and everywhere in between. For more information contact: Col Easton, Namoi CMA on 02 67 646819 |
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