2009 October Archive at Hurry Save The Murray!

Monthly Archive for October, 2009

10 October 2009: Rally Adelaide

Published

on October 7, 2009

. 0 Comments

Rally to demand action: Steps of Parliament House: Saturday, 10th October 2009, 12 Noon

Community groups from all around the State plus peak conservation, environmental and social justice organisations and politicians today called for Change and a Fair Go.

People came on foot, with banners, whistles and chants.

Diane Bell, Lower Lakes campaigner, had the task of keeping the proceedings on time and somehow managed to limit politicians to one minute each! There was street theatre, spirited chanting, clever banners and a sure sense that “We the People” are standing together.

Auntie Cherie Watkins, via the wonders of modern technology, welcomed us to Kaurna lands.

Addressing issues of Community Water Issues and Consequences we heard about Storm and Waste Water from

Cheltenham Stormwater Recovery and Public Open Space - Cheltenham Park Residents’ Association, Trevor White
Adelaide Stormwater Recovery - Brownhill Creek Association Incorporated, Marcus Richard Beresford
Save Adelaide Coastal Waters – Friends of Gulf St Vincent, Pat Harbison

Gulfs and Underground Water from

Save Our Gulf Coalition - The Problems with Desalination, Corrie Vanderhoek
Cuttlefish Coast Coalition - Cuttlefish, Precious Asset, Greg Curnow
Upper Spencer Gulf - Save Point Lowly, Andrew Melville-Smith
Underground Water Underhand Use – Friends of the Earth, Peter Burdon

Peak Bodies

Australian Conservation Foundation, David Noonan
Social Justice and a Fair Go for All (SA Unions), Janet Giles
Conservation Council of SA Water Policy (CCSA), Julie Pettett

River Murray, Lower Lakes and Coorong

The Death of Coorong Dreaming - Ngarrindjeri Elder, Tom Trevorrow
Lower Lakes and Coorong – A Vital Part of SA’s Murray Heritage – River Lakes Coorong Action Group, Ruth Trigg
Let the Murray Flow to the Sea – Coalition of Concerned River Murray Communities, David Peake
A River Dammed and dammed - Hallett Shueard
Murray-Darling Basin – Fair Water Use (Australia), Ian Douglas

Street Theatre: Jim Douglas

Apologies: John Caldecott

Responses from invited politicians

Mitch Williams MP

David Winderlich MLC

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young

Robert Brokenshire MLC

Mark Parnell MLC

Proclamation of Hope: John Schumann

WAC Rally Proclamation: Richard Watson

Chant: “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink”

Celebration.

1 October, 2009: CCR Berri rally

Published

on October 4, 2009

. 0 Comments

“RALLY on the RIVERFRONT” was the call of the CCR (Coalition of Concerned Murray Communities) and people came from miles around, from upriver and downstream. The Fresh Water Embassy was on the road early with banners and the photographic exhibit of “Our Living Murray”, the bus from Milang brought members of the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group, while the Meningie mob overcame vehicle hassles to join the crowd of some 200 who listened to the speeches delivered on the back of a ute parked on the river reserve.

A people’s movement is building. The failings of the ‘historic’ River Murray handover deal have now been demonstrated, and the deal needs to be scrapped and State and Federal Governments forced back to the drawing board to fix the system once and for all.

The Coalition of Concerned Murray Communities was formed on Grieger’s sandbar on 19 August 2009 and attended by hundreds of River Murray community members. The Coalition has been reaching out to the communities of the Riverland to join them campaigning for treatment of the River Murray as one living system.

28 September, 2009: Currency flows uphill

Published

on October 4, 2009

. 0 Comments

Water is flowing over the dam/regulator on the Currency Creek, the only problem is that it is flowing upstream!

This regulator was designed to hold back the “first flush” of water flowing down the creek in order that the water, which was predicted by the SA Government to be highly acidic, could be pooled and allowed to bioremediate before entering the Goolwa Channel. But the regulator was not completed in time to catch the first flush. Contrary to the predictions, the Goolwa Channel was not over whelmed by acid water.

The water is higher on the downstream side. It is backing up, fed by the lake water being pumped over the Clayton Bay regulator and rain water coming down the Finniss River.

This pier was completely out of the water but rains have raised the levels above the regulator.

27 September, 2009: Healthy water-ways

Published

on October 4, 2009

. 0 Comments

Monitoring on the weekend reveals that the continuing rain has washed away the acid sulfate threat. The river is healthy and the country is greening up.

The risk posed by the presence of acid sulfate soils in the Finniss River system was at the forefront of the justification of both state and federal authorities for the construction of regulators at Clayton Bay, Finniss River and Currency Creek. They were designated an emergency response but no emergency has materialised.

The Tookeyera Creek is flowing across the road as it has done a number of times since the rains started this winter. Sampling shows the pH is 6.5. The slightly acidic quality of the water is due to the presence of a complex mixture of organic acids produced by the decomposition of vegetable matter, i.e. the water is humic and healthy.