24 July 2009: The Embassy Travels to Adelaide at Hurry Save The Murray!

After tracking the Minister for the Environment to Port Augusta and waiting all week for the data he promised on the question of the acidification of the Goolwa Channel, the Embassy set off for Adelaide to try to get answers from Ministers Maywald and Weatherill.

An email of May 22 inviting the Ministers to the Embassy had said, ” We need you to speak to each other and to have common sense prevail. We ask you to stop construction immediately. We ask for a thorough, transparent review of the data.” Minister Maywald apologised that she was in her electorate on Friday. Minister Weatherill: notice too short. But it’s urgent, the Embassy protested. Senator Nick Xenophon (Independent), MLC David Winderlich (Democrat) and MLC Mark Parnell (Australian Greens) were available to welcome the Embassy to Adelaide.

So at noon, July 24, on the steps of Parliament House, the Fresh Water Embassy was open for business.

There is no emergency. The recent rains have washed the threat of acidification away. Why continue with these engineering disasters?

Why build a dam across the deepest part of the River? This is the fresh water refuge for fish in times of drought.

Why create another weir pool that will be subject to algal blooms?

Why have you abandoned Lake Alexandrina?

Where is your plan for these Ramsar sites?

An email response from Minister Weatherill, arrived as 11.59am and reiterated the position that, “The consistent advice from leaders in the field regarding acid sulphate soils has been to re-wet the soils and keep them submerged. This is the purpose of the regulators.” The email offered four websites as references. Only one contained data relevant to the Minister’s undertaking to answer the questions posed in Port Augusta. The EPA site had been updated today with a report of July 14 on the Currency Creek and Finniss River.

Channels 7 and 2 carried the story of the “water wars”.

More tomorrow from the “experts”.