Monday, December 20, 2010

Murray levels Surges to 20 year highs

This Article in The Adelaide Advertiser today is amazing.

I am absolutely astounded that it has taken our authorities this long to issue a warning on the impending flood conditions in South Australia. What is also not being mentioned is that the degeneration of the River Bank and levees because of the drought may not be good enough to hold it back. Blind Freddy could see this coming at least three weeks ago.

Menindee full, Lake Victoria full, Lake Cargellico full, the Murray, the Darling, the Murrumbidgee, tributaries all flowing and varying degrees of flood. The Hume is full, Burrinjuck is full, Blowering is full. Downstream is already running very high. All of this water finally gets together up by Mildura how obvious is this people.

I am also fed up with people bleating about the desalination plant here in Adelaide. We have missed the point here - ADELAIDE MUST HAVE A DESAL PLANT - when our reservoirs are full we only have 9 months supply of water. We already rely too heavily on the River.

All of the measures to secure South Australia’s water are required in this State - storm water harvesting, waste water recycling and desalination.

The flood will go by and by this time next year we could well be out of water. The drought is coming Mother Nature has told us so. She has just given us sixty seconds of think music.

Brisbane can mothball it’s desal because now their Reservoirs are full they have 13 years supply of water without another drop of rain. They have also linked all of their storage so whichever dam fills they can then pump surplus to another, thus not wasting water to the Ocean e.g. Hinze Dam on the Gold Coast Hinterland fills most years even in drought. It is now able to pump back to Wivenhoe and others. I am fed up with politicians, bureaucrats, scientists and the public living in their stupid little silos and not taking a long term whole of Australia view on this. Please do not tell me it costs too much to fix this. This is an expense that simply must happen and must take into account all stakeholders. The River System is over allocated and there has to be some recovery of allocation. Uncontrolled flood plain water harvesting is a travesty to the environment and needs to have serious review. There are so many issues that must be considered regarding environmental and economic consideration. We must take all of these issues into consideration now.

The Chairman of MDBA quits over advice on the terms of reference governed by the Act. The Australian Public has spoken we are not happy with the terms of reference. The Prime Minister in her news conference following the resignation of the Chairman of MDBA reflected the wishes of Australians and the CEO tells us he is just going blindly forward on the report as originally laid out in the act. Hello is anyone listening we need the whole issue looked at and it is not just confined to the Murray Darling Basin. Is Minister Burke supporting the comments of the Prime Minister I am confused – will the report meet the wishes of all stakeholders based on Prime Minister Gillard’s statement or simply continue down what MDBA tells us is the limitations of what they can do under the act.

Tony Burke MP tells us of the population growth aspirations of this country. How does he intend to feed and water them if we do not address this problem now? If the act needs changing pass the amendment now. Show me a politician who could possibly object to allowing the report to address the whole problem.

The loss of production in the basin, which represents one third of Australia’s food supply, would have horrendous effect on our economy, if not now certainly in the future when the minerals run out.

This is problem is man made and can be fixed by men. E.g. Burrinjuck and Blowering are overflowing into the Murrumbidgee and Tumut rivers respectively. They are just adding to the downstream flood big time. Snowy Mountains Hydro in a flood has no ability to recycle that water back to Lake Eucumbene that sits at the Head of this and is currently only at one third capacity (one Sydney Harbour). No, the water is just adding to the floods being experienced downstream. Think, if we could pump back to Eucumbene and fill it (3 Sydney Harbours) contemplate the ability to maintain flows, environmental and economic in times of drought.

Think if we could fill every water storage up and down the Eastern Seaboard, Dartmouth, Eildon, Warragamba etc etc.

This is a cost Australia must look at now, a cost that will be amortised into infinity. Equally we must put into play Nationwide Controls and Management. The warning I give is we are not taking a helicopter view point here – each Silo is sitting in its own little space and completely ignoring the issues of the Silo alongside.

Water in this country is not just restricted to the Murray Darling Basin it is a National issue please, please, please Prime Minister take a holistic affirmative view on a solution that benefits all. The current perspective is narrow minded and short term view.

Listen to Mother Nature but it is still only sixty seconds of think music.

Ironically as I write this Prime Minister Gillard is announcing the NBN Business Plan. I support NBN please tell me why is the cost of fixing Water Security any less important than an improved Internet connection.

No comments: