Monthly Archive for June, 2011

27 June 2011: Our Lifeblood, Our River

Published
on June 26, 2011
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Press Release: River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc.

Speaking as One: Voices for the Murray-Darling River

Today, with the launch of lifeblood.org.au, the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) joins a diverse alliance of groups from across rural and metropolitan Australia. ‘Together we are speaking out for ‘Our Rivers, Our Lifeblood’, says Professor Diane Bell, Chair, RLCAG.

‘We invite you to become a voice for the Murray-Darling. Just visit and sign the petition to Murray-Darling Basin Authority chair Craig Knowles. We are asking for a Basin Plan that will return the rivers to health and secure the future of people who live and work there.

‘We need to act now. The Authority will soon release its Draft Plan and we are asking you to be part of the rapidly growing nonpartisan movement that understands we’ve taken far too much water out of the Murray-Darling for far too long. It’s time to get it right.

‘On Thursday 23 June, all South Australians federal politicians signed the Murray-Darling Pledge organised by the Australian Conservation Foundation. This generous and future-oriented support for a strong Basin Plan is a welcome sign that our elected representatives appreciate this is something we must do together.

‘The RLCAG has been heartened by the increasing understanding of the need for end of system flows as well as within catchment flows. We are joining with communities upstream. Together we will be asking for a Basin Plan that draws on credible science. Together, we will be telling our stories of Our River, Our Lifeblood.

‘The floods brought welcome relief to our region, but we still have a long way to go to guarantee a healthy river, healthy communities and healthy economies. Here, at the end of the system, we know that the two million tonnes of salt and pollutants that are carried down the river system each year must be flushed through the lakes and out to sea through the Murray Mouth. We need a Basin Plan that recognises that the Murray Mouth is both an icon and an indicator of the health of the system.

Voices of the Murray-Darling is an alliance comprised of the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Floodplain Association, Conservation Council South Australia, the Central West Environment Council, the Darling River Action Group, the Environmental Farmers Network, Environment Victoria, Friends of the Earth, GetUp, the Goulburn Valley Environment Group, the Inland Rivers Network, the National Parks Association of New South Wales, the National Parks Australia Council, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Queensland Conservation, the River Lakes and Coorong Action Group and the Wilderness Society.

Prof Diane Bell, Chair, RLCAG.
0427 554 194

23 June 2011: SA Politicians Pledge

Published
on June 22, 2011
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PRESS RELEASE: RIVER, LAKES AND COORONG ACTION GROUP INC

High Water Mark for South Australian Politicians

The Murray-Darling Pledge organised by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and signed by all federal South Australian politicians represents a high water mark in the politics of the water reform.

The Pledge states that for too long, too much water has been taken out of the Murray- Darling system and that only strong leadership can return enough water to revive the river system.

‘The challenge now is for these South Australian elected members to make their voices loud and clear in the federal parliament and the national debate,’ said ACF’s healthy rivers campaigner Dr Arlene Harriss-Buchan.

The signed Pledge is on its way to Canberra where it will be delivered to Craig Knowles, Chair of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the federal Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Tony Burke.

‘We have been asking our politicians to take a stand on the need for a strong Murray-Darling Plan said Professor Diane Bell, Chair, RLCAG, ‘And we are delighted by this bipartisan support. Now we are asking our fellow citizens to contact their federal representatives and to urge them to speak for a strong credible plan that returns enough water to restore the health of the River Murray.’

‘The floods have brought welcome relief to our region, but we still have a long way to go to ensure we will have a healthy river and healthy communities. The two million tonnes of salt and pollutants that are carried down the river system each year must be flushed through the lakes and out to sea through the Murray Mouth. We need a Basin Plan that recognises, as we do here at the end of the system, that the Murray Mouth is both an icon and an indicator of the health of the system.’

The River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc congratulates all who have worked to achieve this high water mark and asks that you write to your representative and ask that they stand strong for a strong Plan in the federal parliament.

The ACF has made it easy. The phone numbers of each of the signatories of the Pledge appear in the ACF advertisement in The Advertiser.

Here are links for SA politicians.

For more information about the pledge go to ACF website and see story in Advertiser.

19 June 2011: Murray Mouth Walk #13

Published
on June 22, 2011
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High tide, drenching rain and wild winds did not stop  Diane Bell and Elizabeth Tregenza on the thirteenth walk for the year by members of the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) along the ocean beach of the Sir Richard Peninsula from Goolwa to the Murray Mouth.

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It was cold setting out and we seriously considered turning back several times but the thought of the hot soup, chicken salad, meat balls and champagne lunch we had in our back packs sustained us. This week the currents were ferocious and the wind had driven water across areas at the Mouth where we previously there was wide expanses of sand.

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For more photographs go to Di Bell’s flickr page and explore the various sets - including ‘Murray Mouth’ for previous walks.

16 June 2011: e-NGOs Sydney

Published
on June 18, 2011
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The River, Lakes and Cooong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) joined the all day meeting of environmental NGOs (non-governmental organisations) in Sydney on Thursday 16 June. The ‘Points for Consideration’ developed for the 6 June meeting with Craig Knowles in Adelaide, South Australia, formed the basis of a discussion of an agreed Basin-wide position. Stay tuned for developments of this position and campaign for a scientifically-rigorous, defensible Basin Plan that will restore and maintain the health of the Murray-Darling Basin and communities that depends upon it.

6 June 2011: Meeting with MDBA

Published
on June 6, 2011
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Environmental groups - the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG), the Conservation Council of South Australia and the Wilderness Society - along a number of individuals who have been invited to meet with the Hon. Craig Knowles, Chair, MDBA, in Adelaide, on 6 June, 2011, have prepared an agreed position to guide the meeting.

The invitation to the meeting, received 2 June, stated,  ‘Craig will provide an update on how the proposed Basin Plan is developing and where the current thinking is leading. He is especially keen to receive feedback on this thinking and how it may relate to local issues. There is no fixed agenda – it is an informal gathering’.

In order that the precious 45 minutes allocated to the meeting with the MDBA  be as productive as possible, the undersigned have developed the following document.

Points for Consideration by the Hon. Craig Knowles, Chair, MDBA Meeting: 6 June, 2011: Adelaide, National Wine Centre, Ferguson and Broughton Rooms, 1pm – 1.45pm

Without a healthy river, there are no healthy communities

Concerned Environmental Groups ask:

1. Science: A defensible MDB Plan must be informed by rigorous science. We ask for an independent review of the science supporting the Plan and for that review to be made public.

2. A Defensible Plan: Justice delayed is justice denied. The River and communities cannot wait until 2019. We ask what does delay cost the river and future generations: What can be done to speed up the Plan.

3. End of System Flows: Science supports an end of system flow out the Murray Mouth as necessary to flush the 2 million tonnes of salts, nutrients and pollutants that are carried down the river system from other basin states each year. This figure is estimated to nearly double by 2050. Can the Authority ensure an end of system flow and that salinity targets in Lakes Albert and Alexandrina and the Coorong are an integral part of the Plan?

4. Defensible SDLs: 2800 GL is too low to be scientifically defensible. We ask the MDBA to model all scenarios up to and including 7,600GL (across different climate change scenarios) against the requirements of the Water Act 2007 and for compliance with Australia’s obligations under International Conventions such as Ramsar.

5. Buy-backs versus Woks and Measures: Buy‐backs deliver water more efficiently than engineering solutions. Works and measures will not deliver environmental outcomes below Lock 1. Will the MBDA continue to advocate for buy‐back water to ensure the freshwater flows necessary for this outcome? Will the MDBA be ‘already on the way’ when the Plan is released?

6. Cultural flows differ from environmental flows: We ask that indigenous rights in cultural flows be respected and acknowledged as being integral to the Plan.

7. A Water Audit: We ask for a full water audit of all water, ground and surface, private and public, and accountability of metered water take from all water resources for all states.

8. Ground Water: The Plan needs to ensure conjunctive management of groundwater and other water resources as well as make allowance for climate change. The Plan should address connectivity with neighbouring catchments (e.g. Great Artesian Basin).

9. Sustainable Farming: The mild climate in the lower Murray region is conducive to quality food production. Quality water is imperative to produce that food sustainably. We ask for accountability in ensuring and monitoring water quantity and water quality to the Murray Mouth.

10. Engagement Strategies: The MDBA has been widely criticised for the way it has interacted with communities. How will the MDBA now proceed? What confidence can we have that those who failed to develop proper engagement strategies will now learn to engage? How will the success of engagement strategies be measured?

The ‘Points for Consideration’ are endorsed by

  • Professor Diane Bell: Chair, RLCAG Inc; Finniss Catchment Group Member
  • Shaun Berg: Lawyer
  • Peter Croft: Former Director, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Projects
  • Lesley Fischer: Meningie Narrung Lakes Irrigators Association
  • Henry Jones: Commercial Fisherman, BCC Member
  • Tim Kelly: Conservation Council of South Australia
  • Dr. Kerri Muller, Principal, Kerri Muller, NRM
  • Peter Owen: Wilderness Society
  • Matt Rigney: Ngarrindjeri Elder, Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations, BCC Member
  • Kathryn Rothe: Mannum to Wellington Local Action Planning Inc.
  • Elizabeth Tregenza: Secretary, RLCAG, Finniss Catchment Group Member
  • Julia Winfield: Conservation Council of South Australia

4 June 2011: Murray Mouth Walk #12

Published
on June 4, 2011
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The first walk for the Winter!

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There were no pelicans at the Murray Mouth today. They were all on the fresh water side of the barrages at Goolwa. Many dead fish were strewn along the Ocean Beach, especially near the Murray Mouth.

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Fishermen were vigilant.

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Diane Bell and Genevieve Bell decided to vary the walk. The tide was high and the going hard along the beach so, instead of returning along the Ocean Beach, they set out to walk along the edge of the Goolwa Channel but were soon forced to scrub-bash through the undergrowth.

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Four wheel drive vehicle tracks scar the dunes near the Murray Mouth and through the dunes near the Murray Mouth. Driving on the dunes is against the law. Who is watching?

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For more photographs go to Di Bell’s flickr page and explore the various sets - including ‘Murray Mouth’ for previous walks.

2 June 2011: The Windsor Inquiry

Published
on June 3, 2011
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So What’s the Plan Now?

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) Draft Plan is due for release later this month; the Windsor Inquiry has reported; the Productivity Commission has spoken, but do we have a Plan for future generations? Do we have a vision of the society for which this Plan is being crafted? Is there a Plan of how to get from here to there?

The Windsor Inquiry Report (2 June 2011) provoked critical comment from both irrigators and environmentalist. It purports to be a win-win for all. So how is this to be achieved?

  • Engineer efficiencies to achieve environmental flows or purchase water?
  • Strategic buy backs or willing sellers?
  • Target a return of 2,800 GL, 3,00GL, 4,000GL or 7,600GL to the Murray-Darling Basin?

In developing our position on the Basin Plan, the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) began with the proposition, one that draws on Indigenous knowledge, that ‘without a healthy river, there are no healthy communities’, a phrase the Windsor Report (WR) also relies upon.

What kind of plan will deliver this outcome?

We have advocated for that the Basin Plan to be informed by science that is independent, rigorous and open to public scrutiny. In terms of our communities at the end of the River, the science supports an end of river flow out the Murray Mouth. Such a flow is necessary to flush the 2 million tonnes of salts and nutrients that come down the river system from other basin states each year. Thus an end of river flows is a local indicator of basin-wide health of the river.

Through diverse and innovative actions, we have modelled modes of engagement with local communities but been appalled by the disrespect, arrogance and ignorance displayed at meeting and the inability of those conducting meetings to hear constructive criticism. We welcome the recommendation 4 of the WR.

We have stressed ‘connectivity’ as a key component of the MDB, the need for rigorous research regarding ground/surface water connectivity and note recommendation 2 WR. Similarly we are pleased to see recommendations 6 re the impact of mining in relation to the health of the basin.

That said after the expenditure of many millions, where is the Plan and do Australians understand how critical the decisions being made today re water reform are to their future? Do they understand that water can be traded separate from land? Have the consequences of the privatisation of water been explored? Have comparative cases from other parts of the world been considered?

The RLCAG is deeply concerned that both the MDBA and the Windsor Report are backing away from returning water to the MDB system and looking to engineering solutions and on-farm efficiences.

25 May 2011: MDBA Feedback

Published
on June 3, 2011
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It took many emails, phone calls and fact checking before the Murray-Darling Basin Authority finally managed to put the documents prepared by the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc (RLCAG) in December 2010 on line with other submissions addressing the Guide to the Draft Plan.

We hope the MDBA wil improve its management of feedback and develop a proper ‘engagement strategy’.

To read the RLCAG documents - go to the MDBA website

19 May 2011: Public Lecture

Published
on June 3, 2011
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From May 13-20, Prof Diane Bell was busy at Monash as Distinguished Visiting Professor. On 19 May she delivered a public lecture in the Queens Hall, State Library of Victoria. ‘Writing in the Eye of the Storm: Engaged Knowledge’ drew a large audience and question time was lively.

11 May 2011: The Federal Budget

Published
on June 3, 2011
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An Opinion Piece by Professor Diane Bell

The vision splendid of the sunlit plain extended?

The federal budget acknowledges the profound impact of flood, fire and cyclones on our economy. It compensates, rebuilds and funds mental health programs.

The budget will get us back to work. No shirking and lurking behind domesticity and disability.

The budget looks to the regions and offers ambitious redevelopment plans.

But where is the vision of an Australian society that lives with the rhythms of our ancient land? This is a bitsy budget that gestures to redistribution but hints at a fairer Australia with piecemeal offerings.

Australia may have weathered the GFC but can we survive the GEC – the Global Environmental Crisis? Can we continue to compensate and clean up the oils spills, nuclear leaks and polluted ground water? Or do we need to re-examine our relationship with the land?

Through my anthropological fieldwork over the past 35 years with Warlpiri and Kaytej in central Australia and the Ngarrindjeri in southeastern Australia, I have had occasion to reflect on how our relationships to our land and rivers are configured. Now that I live near the Murray Mouth, I see the environmental degradation of this mighty river on a daily basis.

So, in terms of our relationship to our land and its rivers, I ask: When we speak of our waters are we talking about a commodity to be managed, bought and sold? If so, how well are we doing? Or, when we speak about our rivers, are we talking about a living body of water, albeit a body with an erratic pulse? And, if so, how well are we doing?

I’d say, ‘Not well’ on both accounts.

The waterways are over-allocated and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority seems to be at an impasse in returning water to the river. The communities that live along the rivers are ailing. We know the health of our communities and economies depends on a healthy river but shy from making policies based on our connectedness.

The delivery of the budget could be a defining moment, one where we pause as a nation to reflect on who we are and what we might be. We could be discussing the why, how and where of rebuilding in the face of devastating floods, fires and cyclones. These are not random events. They are part of our land. We could be discussing the role the economy can play in creating a society where the regions flourish and where our cities are sustainable. We could be discussing the very concept of a balanced budget: who benefits and who bears the burdens?

One big loser in the balancing act of this budget is the environment. Australians might be put back to work but in what sector and with what impact on our stressed environment?

Who speaks for the environment in this two-speed economy? Where does the environment sit in relationship to the triple bottom line? How might we reimagine ourselves? What vision splendid might extend before us?

So, here is my vision of an Australia that is a land of hope and opportunity, where the fair-minded flourish, where greed is not good, where well-informed citizens participate in politics, where science is not for hire, where advice to decision-makers is forthright and fearless, where those who critique and challenge entrenched power are valorised, where human rights are respected, where the quality of our democracy is judged by the quality of life enjoyed by those who live on the margins. A country of modest proportions, living sustainably, growing its own food, managing its resources for the greater good, a country where we all have a future, where we are good stewards for future generations.

This is a vision not a policy.

We can’t have sound policy without vision

This is an invitation to think big about ourselves and to reach beyond self-interest.

This is plea for the future.