The Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers naturally had high water flows in winter and spring, while in summer and autumn the rivers flows were slow.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With the construction of dams to capture the winter rains and snow melts, we changed the river flows so that more water moved through the rivers in summer when our crops need them.
These changes were made in the national interest.In the past decade, with 2400GL of water taken out of irrigation production in the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers and being delivered as 'environmental flows, ' I question why the majority of water isn't limited to in only flow in winter and spring - as it would naturally?
Better still, if the environmental water is so important, and river health was worth spending $13 billion dollars of taxpayers money, why wasn't our irrigation water piped all the way from the dams to irrigation headwaters to impact the rivers less?
To me, environment flows seem to have little to do with the actual environment needs or river health - just keeping South Australian's happy.
Greg Adamson, Griffith
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC BASIN CONDITIONS
Who needs enemies when the communities of the Murray Darling Basin are fighting for their life when it comes to water, "both sides of government", do not want to listen to the people who live in the MIA and along the rivers?
Another submission on the proposed Murray Darling Basin Plan, travelling o many towns in the basin for information, asking irrigators to put in a submission, how many times have we paid public servants who come to town to listen, then go back to Canberra and get on with their lives, while farmers are fighting to grow a crop and feed their animals with little or no irrigation water, on account that the environment comes first and at the same time, in times of drought before the dams were built, it rained and flooded, then rivers would run dry, the environment would come back to life when the rains came, Australia is known as a country of drought, flooding plains and bushfires.
In October 2016 the Murrumbidgee River was in flood and the water was lapping the Darlington Point Road, the Hume Dam was sitting at 100 per cent, the water released from the dams and spilled, the MDBA does not see this water released as an environmental flow, the floods are not counted a such in their compliance account.
Water has become a complex issue.
The Murray Darling Basin's own analysis, Southern Murray Darling Basin are losing 1,200 gigalitres of their water each year to South Australia and the environment. Under State rules, irrigators lose unused water carried over in the basins, from one season to the next, to manage risk of another dry season, when the dams spill, usually in spring.
The 2018-2019 drought over most of NSW, Victoria and QLD, with towns running out of drinking water and washing and governments delivering water by road tanker, we need governments to work towards building dams to store water to drought proof our communities and at the same time government has installed a regulator along the Murrumbidgee River at Old Man Creek and the fishing is not like it used to be and now Yanco Creek is to have a regulator and the people at Jerilderie are against it.
What has gone wrong with today's government? ARE THEY FOR THE PEOPLE?
Fran Pietroboni, Griffith
GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?
Let us know, email us at letters@areanews.com.au or drop a letter to the editor in to our Banna Avenue office.