SA Coorong And Lakes A National Disaster? Who Cares?
ANZ, QANTAS Reconciliation Plans And The NT Intervention
February 5, 2008Why Is ‘Sorry’ Such A Dirty Word In Oz?
February 8, 2008Last year PWF wrote up Shane Strudwick’s efforts with the Online Murray-Darling Petition. They’ve collected collected 680 signatures on their way to 100,000. Not much Shane says, in the scheme of things, however as it progresses it’s growing quicker. They are protesting about federal and state governments’ NO PLAN – NO ACTION – NO RESPONSE!
Please take a minute and sign the online petition
People pay their taxes and make their own way – surely, at the very least, there should be a two-way information stream regarding plans, thoughts, ideas between governments, agencies and grassroots people?
www.rivermurray.com. states:
Australians have always rallied in times of need.
Our Murray River communities are struggling with drought…
There’s plenty of water in the Murray… How can you help?
1.Click to see water info update
2.Download your Discover Murray Trail
3. Plan a trip to help the river communities.
Shane writes:
“I know it’s worlds away from you but BUT the lakes and Coorong in South Australia are rapidly become an national disaster and it’s just being ignored. This is going to become indicative of the entire Basin in future if we don’t begin to take water management serious as a country.
I’ve been getting some minor media attention and the governments know the petition exist. I have it they are preparing to deal with responses to the petition. I’d rather they focus on working on solutions for water management though.”
You can contact Shane on T: 08 8363 6244 M: 0409 678 654
Another side to this story is told by Lesley from Meningie:
“There are lots of stories of hardship here down here. I will try and get some of the stories to you shortly.
We used to run a 700 cow dairy, we produced some of the best quality milk in Australia, in the top 10% in fact. Cows with 30 years of genetics. That is now gone, we have sold them all off and closed the dairy.
In the year 2000 we won the Dairy Business Enterprise of the Year. All gone.
Men crawling on their stomachs across the lake floor, because if they stood up they would sink waist deep (if not further) in mud. This, just to extend their pipelines out to ensure a little bit more water for their stock. Each day the water recedes further, each day they look out and wonder if it is worth extending that little bit further.
These men are not young, they are mainly around 60 years old………after a lifetime of working hard, is this what it all comes down to. Through no fault of their own.
All this because we have a Government, both past and present that has over allocated our Rivers resources.
Who cares?”
You can contact Lesley Fischer T: 0885754214 F: 0885754246 M: 0828836655
E: fisc@internode.on.net
3 Comments
It looks like there’s quite a bit of research happening around the Coorong to improve water management:
http://www.csiro.au/partnerships/CLLAMMecologyCluster.html
http://www.csiro.au/news/ps26b.html
I think it’s pretty nonsensical to write about farmers who’ve been taking water for stock over ‘a lifetime’, who keep taking water when there is clearly a severe shortage, running out ‘through no fault of their own’.
Hi Kate
Are you saying these farmers know about their region’s history and the current research and are just not facing reality? I suppose I’m wondering how accessible this info is and if there is any management effort on the part of policymakers and regulators to help with decisions at what is clearly a very difficult time?
This is a sad outcome of a much larger malaise. How can we continue to grow in population and expect the living natural systems to support such unprecedented pressures? We continue to over use resoureces and lose valuable natural systems with their unique resources without the least concern because we are conditioned to believe that increased commercial gain over rules all other considerations. Past experiences of long vanished civilisations point to the perils to humankind if this continues.