B4B (boobs 4 brains) was launched in January 2018, the group kicked off their events with a multi-party Plan followed by The Hot Shots, a Zumbathon, High Tea, portrait auction, men's Christmas raffle, the B4B Charity Ball lunching the calendar (which was 16 months in the making) and associated sponsorships and sales.

The group consisted of 20 breast cancer survivors and one brain cancer warrior (who sadly lost her battle on June 11 2018) who banded together to fundraise for the foundation by producing a 15-month calendar photographed in beautiful locations around Griffith.

The money raised will help support ground breaking research that is essential to uncovering the key to curing brain cancer.

Sincere thanks and gratitude to all who contributed in any way, shape or form to this heartfelt project.

Here are some facts that everyone who lives in Australia should be aware of

Between 1935 and 1940 the barrages were built to "freshen up the waters of the lower lakes by keeping out sea water in times of low river flows.

They measure 8.3 kilometres in length and there are five of them varying from 263 metres to 3.6 kilometres in length.

The barrages are unique in their design as they have the ability to withstand pressure from either side so that fresh water can be held back from entering the sea and sea water stopped from entering the lakes.

The barrages have reduced the estuarine water bodies to 10 per cent of their original area which has reduced tidal flows considerably, hence the constant need to dredge the mouth of the Murray.

The lower lakes consist of three major water bodies Lake Alexandrina (which is the largest) covers 70,000 hectares while Lake Albert and the Coorong cover 40,000 hectares between them giving a total of 110,000 hectares.

The average annual rainfall for the area is approximately 400 millimetres per annum while the lakes sit in the 1400 to 1600 millimetres evaporation band according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The net total average evaporation from these lakes is in excess of one metre per year. This equates to 1,100 to 1,200 gigalitres per annum

To put this into perspective. This is nearly as much water as the whole rice industry used when one million tonne plus crops were being grown and feeding 40 million people.

In the last three years of the millennium drought the total diversions per annum for irrigation for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area were a third of this figure of 1,200,000 megalitres (400 gigalitres/ year).

It is astonishing to see how much fresh water is run into these lower lakes to counter this evaporation when sea water did the same job in drought years before the barrages were built.

If the gross farm gate value for produce per megalitre of irrigation water is $500 (and this may be a very conservative figure) then our irrigation industries are missing out on $600 million per year in farm gate income.

With a multiplier flow on effect into the broader community of four to one this equates to $2.4 billion per annum that is lost to the Australian economy and in particular the river communities.

You can send your letter to the editor to PO Box 1004, Griffith or fill out the form below.