Hurry Save The Murray!

148 GL: The River receives its due and more is promised.

Yes, 148 GL and that is water for the environment.

Yes, 148 GL and that is water into the Lakes.

“The River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) will be watching for each precious one of those 148 GL to arrive in Lakes Alexandrina and Albert,” said Professor Diane Bell

“We will see the difference as the water levels rise. We should see salinity levels fall. About 25 hectares of exposed shore will be covered. The fresh water will be blown across the still exposed soils and help to keep them alive. Every drop counts. We know that from the regrowth from the rains of late last year and whatever rain we get this year.”

“It is not clear how this water will be shared between the lakes because they are separated by a bund. Lake Alexandrina is currently at about 0.9m below sea level and 148 GL would bring us to about 0.6m below sea level. Lake Albert is at around minus 0.7m and in dire straits.”

“This water is too late in the season to see spectacular impacts but, by Spring 2010, we should reap the benefit of this water in terms of the capacity of the ecosystem to recover. So this water is part of a larger process.”

“The decision to deliver 148 GL of fresh water to the environment puts off the building of a weir across the River Murray below Wellington at Pomanda Island and should silence calls to open the barrages and flood the lakes.”

“It appears there is now a better understanding that the Murray-Darling system must be administered as a whole and an acknowledgement that because rivers die from the bottom up, the health of the Lakes is critical to the health of the whole system.”

“But it also appears we still do not have an independent authority that can manage this complex interconnected system in the interests of the River as a whole. Come the next flood will we be scrambling again and watching another stand off between states and, what happens if the next flood is after the election?