Diane Bell and Marie-Claire Levi cross the dunes of the Sir Richard Peninsula just before sunrise.
Monthly Archive for January, 2011
Walk Four: Diane Bell, Wendy and Vin Piscino set out at 5.45 am to catch the sunrise. Liz Tregenza caught up with the party on the way back.
Diane Bell, Deborah Baldassi and David Winderlich take ‘Walk Three to the Murray Mouth’.
Move the cursor over the photographs to see the caption.
For more photographs of the Murray Mouth and much more.
Today the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Affairs began its Public Meetings (’Windsor Inquiry’) re the socio-economic impact of the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan on regional Communities.
There were no book burnings. The tone of the meeting was respectful, intelligent and purposeful throughout. The exchanges were lively and action-oriented. The committee had read our submissions and was ready to engage and be engaged.
The River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) was the first to speak. After a short presentation windsor-inquiry by Professor Diane Bell, Ruth Trigg and Elizabeth Tregenza, the committee questioned us further re the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
Also appearing were Barossa Infrastructure, Murray Darling Association, SA Council of Social Services, School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University, SA Rivers Communities, Dean Brown and Environment Institute, University of Adelaide.
By the end of the hearing, a clear consensus had emerged re the following:
1. We need a national plan and it must deliver a healthy river.
2. Significant segments of the Australian nation are yet to be engaged’ pay attention to the ’social’; articulate a vision of the post-plan Australia.
3. The plan must be fair, equitable and flexible with ‘feedback’ learning curve capacity.
4. Whole of basin approach required but policies must be based on fine grain understandings of each regions, its possibilities and its needs.
5. South Australian irrigators should not be penalised for their efficiency.
6. The Murray Mouth is icon and indicator of the health of the River system.
7. It is time to act and to act decisively.
Different ideas, strategies and hopes were expressed re how reform might be achieved and there were a number of crisp exchanges but the overall mood was positive.
Press Release: River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG)
RLCAG is delighted to be the first group scheduled for the Murray Bridge public hearing 18 Jan 2011.
In our opinion this Inquiry comes at a critical time and could make a significant contribution to the future of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). However, as a group that has campaigned for an independent federal body to manage the MDB, we face a dilemma.
Can the plan be saved? Should the plan be saved? If it is beyond redemption, what then?
The Guide to the Murray-Darling Authority Plan is under attack from a number of quarters and opinion is polarised. People are frustrated, alienated and angry. Serious decisions that will have life-changing impacts must be made and they must be made fairly, openly and equitably.
We have argued that there needs to be
- a compelling narrative for the Australian nation as to why the MDB is in crisis, why there needs to be a federal plan and what a post-plan Australia will look like – this will take courage, vision and political resolve;
- a real engagement strategy that reaches the broader Australian population, not divisive meetings that are dubbed ‘consultation’ – this will involve broadening the notion of who is a ‘stakeholder’ and a willingness to embrace informed criticism from a range of quarters;
- a reliance on scientific research that is open, transparent and available for public scrutiny – this will involve distinguishing between the closed reports that constitute ‘advice’ of consultants and science that is open to review and scrutiny.
- socio-economic research that is quantitative and qualitative, not mere risk management modeling and more desk top studies – why the reluctance to make public the terms of reference for consultancies and research design for further studies.
Have the floods reduced the urgency of the need for a plan?
We suggest the need is even greater. We may have bought some time but is clear that the MDBA is being poorly managed in scarcity and plenty. RLCAG suggests that the Inquiry focus on the ‘socio’ aspect of ‘socio-economic impact’ and ask what kind of a society do we imagine for 21 century Australia? Having answered that question, we may then explore the economic modelling that will inform such a society.
We invite the committee to visit the Murray Mouth which is flowing freely for the first time since 2002 and is flushing the some 2 million tonnes of salt that comes down the river each year out to sea. The reluctance of government instrumentalities at all levels and of the MDBA to be explicit and clear regarding the ecology of our region has allowed divisions to fester, science, risk analysis and opinion to be conflated and has wasted valuable time, energy and resources. Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, the Murray Mouth and Coorong are both icon and indicator for a healthy MDB.
Submissions to the Inquiry are available on the website of the Standing Committee on Regional Affairs.
ABC, Channel 7, Adelaide Advertiser reported on the visit.
Diane Bell’s log of a remarkable journey
Day 1.: From the Murray Mouth (South Australia) to the confluence with the Darling River at Wentworth, NSW
4.30am: alarm, pack breakfast, drive to Murray Mouth, meet Liz Tregenza at the Goolwa Barrage Carpark, cross the sand dunes to the Southern Ocean (about 15 minutes).
6.00am: on the surf beach and walking along the Sir Richard Peninsula into the sunrise as Ruth Trigg and I had done on Monday last week (see 2 January 2011) .
7.30am: arrive at Murray Mouth; spend about 90 minutes exploring. Fish laden pelicans, so f’ull they couldn’t take off! Picnic breakfast - fruit, eggs, cheese, water. Marvel at the young fellows who had remote control ‘tonka toy trucks (a Christmas present) they were running up and over the sand ridge at the Mouth while they waited for their parents to come and give their 4 wheel drive battery a jump start!
10.30am: back at car park; the sun well up, flies buzzing and heat building.
Home to pack for the next stage of the trip.
1.00pm: stand on the cliff above the regulator at Clayton Bay (the last ‘lock’ on the mighty Murray); regulator must be completely removed; bay is filling with weed, the flood waters cannot flush Clayton Bay, Lake Albert or scour the coast of Hindmarsh Island as they would if the flows were ‘restored’ and ‘natural’ as the SA Government asserts they are.
1.30 pm: Suzy Rex and I set off on our adventure to trace the locks from Wentworth, NSW to the Murray Mouth, SA.
2.30 pm: crossing the swollen Murray at Wellington. (Why can’t we cross to Hindmarsh Island on a simple ferry?) The willows are drooping and swishing in the flow; the water is flowing through to Lake Alexandrina and onto the sea.
5.00pm: just past the Lyrup turnoff on the Loxton/Yamba road; we glimpse the Murray. [
6.15pm: first view of the fast flowing Murray at Wentworth - just over the border; find a fine Motel; pick up a local site map and some local knowledge! Local club had 3 course dinner for $9.90 and it is excellent. Well fed, we head for the confluence of the rivers.
8.00pm: sunset over the Murray just below Lock 10.
Day Two: From Lock 10 to Lock 1.
Lock 10: Wentworth - water is rushing over the lock and filling up all the low lying lands; dead fish and yabbies.
Lock 9: Kulnine - off the road; well-cared for grounds and display boards.
Locks 7 and 8 are islands
Lock 6:
Barmera and Lake Bonney
Lock 5: Renmark
Day Three: Blanchetown to Murray Bridge
Blanchetown
![Array](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/5400154794_114e35082a_m.jpg "Day 3: "Cookies Chicken" - the place to be in Blanchetown if not at the River. Photograph Diane Bell")
Lock 1: Blanchetown
Swan Reach:
Lookouts:
Walker Flat:
Milang: Lake Alexandrina
Walking to the Murray Mouth: Icon and indicator site
All five barrages (Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe Island and Tauwitchere) are currently open so the water is rushing through to the Coorong and out through the Murray Mouth. The dredges are no longer needed - they have been there since 2002. The River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group (RLCAG) decided a walk to the Murray Mouth was in order.
The round trip from Goolwa took about 4 hours, including crossing the dunes, walking into the sunrise along the Sir Richard Peninsula, watching the pelicans stuff themselves with bony bream and enjoying the sounds and smells of an end of River flow.
Lots more photographs on flickr
After the walk, we developed a five point plan for those equivocating re the need for a plan for the whole of the Murray-Darling Basin.
1. All legislators must walk (not drive) to Murray Mouth along foreshore from Goolwa (a brisk 20 kms trek); on arrival enjoy swig of tank water carried in for the purpose of hydration; fill in 20 question test re the ‘why’ of the River. Those who fail go to remedial classes and cannot vote on legislation until they pass test.
2. The Australian Parliament is to create a compelling narrative re why a healthy river is in ‘national interests of all Australians’ and must instigate an international competition for the best ’slip, slop, slap’ type campaign to engender necessary shift in consciousness and behaviour.
3. All commentators must read the Australian Constitution, the Ramsar Convention and the EPBC Act and then explain: How the Water Act can be amended and still be constitutional? All adults who cannot identity the relevant sections of the Constitution re the powers of the Commonwealth to pass laws for all Australia must attend remedial civics classes.
4. All decision-makers must know the legal, physical, social and ecological parameters of the Murray-Darling Basin and must understand the ‘economy’ serves these values, i.e. is not a thing in itself. Remedial work mandatory for all MBAs (Masters Business Administration)
5. Failure is not an option.
Background reading: the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) has prepared a number of submissions regarding the Guide to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and has set out the case for understanding the Murray Mouth as both a icon site that attracts protection under international conventions (Ramsar) and federal legislation (EPBC) and an indicator for the health of the Murray-Darling system as a whole. See rlcag-submission-mdba-fver
The major task for the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group (RLCAG) for December was to complete submissions re the Guide to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) Draft Plan (due 17 Dec.) and the Inquiry of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Affairs into the socio‐economic impact of the proposed Murray Darling Basin Authority’s Guide to the Proposed Basin Plan on regional Communities (Windsor Inquiry due 22 Dec.).
In both submissions the RLCAG suggested that the notion of ‘stakeholder’ had been narrowly defined and that the MDBA was yet to engage significant segments of the Australian population. We argued for a high‐profile well‐resourced campaign to explain to the wider Australian population why hard decisions must be made regarding over‐allocation and expressed deep concern that the current opportunity to achieve significant reform and to reset the river for future generation may be lost.
The RLCAG submission re the MDBA Draft Plan rlcag-submission-mdba-fver endorsed the need for a whole of basin approach to restore and maintain the health of the River in the context of climate change and expressed disappointment that the MDBA had persisted with dysfunctional modes of communication. The RLCAG has modelled options for meaningful engagement on a number of occasions. The submission echoed concerns highlighted by others making submissions including
- Australia’s international obligations under the Water Act 2007;
- the benefits/burdens of a return of 7,600 GL to the environment, communities, economies;
- the process by which the MDBA Plan has been drafted and communicated to ‘stakeholders’.
The RLCAG submission re the Windsor Inquiry ‘rlcag-submission-mdba-windsor‘ presented similar arguments and asked that the committee
- articulate a vision that will sustain and be sustainable for all Australians and Australia;
- explore the benefits/burdens for the environment, communities and economies of the full range of scenarios achieved with 3,000 to 7,600 GL return to the system;
- listen to a wide range of experts and broaden the notion of ‘stakeholder’.
We invited the committee to visit us and learn more of the ecology of Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, the Coorong and Murray Mouth and thereby dispel some of the pervasive myths about the system.
No, we have not gone to sleep at ‘hurrysavetheMurray’! We have been busy briefing the media, analysing the data we have amassed over the past 4 years, consolidating alliances with other action groups, extending our reach beyond Australian shores with visits from international experts, contemplating future campaigns and most soul destroying of all, writing submissions and attending ‘information sessions’ re the Murray-Darling Basin Authority Draft Plan.
Clayton Bay Regulator again: In November, the SA Government was back asking for changes to the conditions under which the Regulator had been initially approved for Clayton Bay (EPBC 2009/4833). Ms Clare Kiesewetter, Director, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth, Dept Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), SA requested a variation of condition 3 that ‘no water be extracted from the pool created by the Clayton flow regulator for irrigation’.
The River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) has a long standing history of responding to these Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) matters and despite the tight deadlines we responded. In our submission we
- stated that until the existing regulators were completely removed and the original bathymetry of the Goolwa Channel and Currency Creek restored, there be no further variations of the conditions;
- asked what is the evidence that the partial breach of the regulator at Clayton Bay ‘reinstates the natural water regime’ and how is ‘natural’ being defined?
- asked how ‘temporary’ will this opportunistic extraction of water be?
- concluded that given the RLCAG has made numerous submissions regarding EPBC matters, as a courtesy, the parties making these requests might notify the RLCAG that they are seeking a reconsideration rather than relying on community groups having the time and resources to monitor government websites for invitations to comment on matters of community concern.
We pointed out that the DENR had yet to answer questions regarding water quality in this section of the Goolwa Channel/Lake Alexandrina. Professor Diane Bell, Chair of the RLCAG, had sought details from Ms Kiesewetter regarding the quality of the water on 7 October 2010 but was yet to receive an answer to her inquiry (see Appendix One of the rlcag-epbc-reconsider-4833 re this matter).
(PS The matter appeared on EPBC site 25 Nov. 2010; submissions due 9 Dec. 2010, minister’s decision decision Dec. 13 - restrictions to be lifted.)
The Regulator remains only partially removed. The ‘natural regime’ has not been reinstated.
Happier Encounters
3 Nov. 2010, Sydney: The distinguished Indian physicist and environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva received the 2010 Sydney Peace Prize ‘for courageous leadership of movements for social justice – the empowerment of women in developing countries, advocacy of the human rights of
small farming communities and for her scientific analysis of environmental sustainability’ at a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House.
5 Nov. 2010, Melbourne: Prof. Diane Bell caught up with her colleague Dr Shiva for a conversation about world rivers and in her presentation that evening at the Wheller Centre, Dr Shiva highlighted the plight of the River Murray.
19 Nov. 2010 MP Bob Katter and Senator Nick Xenophon visited the Murray Mouth and the RLCAG hosted a lunch for the visitors. The theme was the K-X Factor.
