Water stories: Take it with a pinch of salt*
But I thought the desalination plant would take the pressure off the River Murray.
But I thought that Lakes Alexandrina and Albert were always salt.
But I thought the rain/currents washed the salt out to sea.
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Thirsty for some common sense on how to live in our land of drought and flooding rains? Wondering what a sustainable Australia might look like?
Join us on Saturday July 31 at 11 am, at 64a Semaphore Rd, Semaphore, when the “Save our Gulfs” campaigners and the “Save the River Murray” campaigners connect their stories with other “water warriors”.
Help us make history as we establish the “Save our Gulfs Embassy”.
River advocate, Professor Diane Bell will bring greetings and support from the Fresh Water Embassy. ‘It is becoming a familiar pattern,’ says Bell. ‘We are told there is solid science to support management and development strategies such as the construction of dams/weirs/bunds/desalination plants, but when we seek independent review of the materials we are denied access to key reports, monitoring is inadequate and the goal posts keep moving.’
‘The River Murray is at Code Catastrophic but it can be saved. Our actions have held off the construction of weir across the River Murray below Wellington and our sustained critique of the construction of so-called regulators has challenged the ‘science’ on which the decision purport to be based.’
‘I see strong parallels with the desalination plant,’ says Bell. ‘It is true that a considerable financial investment has been made in the plant, but what is the Gulf worth? Are we prepared to sacrifice this ecological hot spot? Are we ready to kill the Gulfs with hyper saline discharges and chemical wastes? Or, are we prepared to learn from the mistakes made by other desalination plants?’
It is not too late. There are alternatives.
For the past four years the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group (inc.) has been commenting, critiquing and correcting the pronouncements of the state and federal government on matters concerning their management strategies for the Murray-Darling River Basin. We have argued that it is over-allocation, not drought that is killing the system. We have advocated for fresh water flows down the River Murray to flush the accumulated salts and nutrients to sea. We have explained that rivers die from the bottom up. A healthy river is a pre-condition to healthy communities and healthy economies.
‘Now it is time to join forces with those working for healthy gulfs,’ says Bell. ‘It is time to show how our those issues are connected. It is time to look at the ‘big picture’ and to take action together.’
* Latin cum grano salis, literally with a grain of salt, figuratively with some doubt
