Murray Basin - Regional News - Water - December 2007

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Water National 10/12/07 Murray-Darling inflows 'at record lows' AAP; Murray Basin Dec 07

Residents of dying lake get chance to slip into something more comfortable Chee Chee Leung, Benalla, The Age Murray Basin Dec 07

Water State 06/12/07 Cattle to graze floor of dry reservoir AAP; Murray Basin Dec 07; North East Highlands; Melbourne

Murray-Darling inflows 'at record lows'

December 10, 2007 - 4:54PM. AAP

The Murray-Darling Basin is still in its worst drought on record despite receiving the best November rains in several years.

The Murray-Darling Basin Commission's (MDBC) latest drought update says hot weather in much of the southern basin last month had offset the extra rainfall.

The two monthly update suggests a bleak outlook next year for irrigators - whose water allocations in many cases have already been cut to zero - if conditions don't improve.

It said the total Murray storage by the end of November was 550 gigalitres lower than the same time last year at 1,885 GL, the lowest since 1940.

"While there had been good rainfall in November, higher temperatures, evaporation and lower runoff kept inflows well below average," the commission said.

Temperatures were up to six degrees above average in the southern basin.

Inflows over the 2006/07 water year were only 55 per cent of the previous minimum on record and the two years ending in November the lowest two-year inflows recorded.

MDBC chief executive Wendy Craik said flow rates would be increased across the river system to meet summer demands by preferentially drawing on downstream storages.

She said Lake Victoria - which is 60 per cent full - would be drawn first, followed by the Hume Reservoir (25 per cent) and lastly the Dartmouth Reservoir (17 per cent).

"Our overall aim will be to supply water to users as efficiently as possible, while having as much water as possible stored in Dartmouth Reservoir at the end of the coming irrigation season," Dr Craik said.

Dr Craik said while water quality remained high across much of the Murray River, the drought increased the threat of algal bloom and higher salinity, particularly in South Australia.

The Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre said while a rain-producing La Nina event was well established, the likely extra rain may be negated by hotter temperatures.

"The chances of exceeding the median rainfall for summer are between 60 and 70 per cent in a large area extending from southeast Queensland across both the northern inland and east of NSW," centre head Michael Coughlan said.

"However, temperatures are likely to be higher than average resulting in higher evaporation," Dr Coughlan said.

The MDBC said if current conditions persisted, it was likely there would be no more water in storage by next June than a year earlier.

"Under the worst-case inflow scenario used for planning, there would be just enough water to operate the river and meet critical human needs, including some critical stock and domestic requirements," the update said.

"There would be no water for irrigation, other than any volumes carried over from this year."

AAP

Residents of dying lake get chance to slip into something more comfortable

Contract Fisherman are working with authorities to help move fish from drought stricken lake Mokoan. A Golden Perch is caught and removed from the lake.
Photo: Wayne Taylor

Chee Chee Leung, Benalla, The Age
December 8, 2007

MOVING home is no easy task — and this relocation is a particularly slippery affair.

Years of drought have prompted authorities to begin shifting fish from Lake Mokoan, near Benalla, which has dried up to just 10% of capacity. Almost 400,000 golden perch and Murray cod were stocked in the lake from 1990 to 2003, which makes the project one of the largest of its kind in Victoria.

Work began on Tuesday and already about 300 fish have been moved to the Goulburn River. Other new homes are Lake Hume and Lake Benalla.

Authorities will also use the move to capture and dispose of carp, which are considered a pest species.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment said the low lake levels and rising water temperatures were likely to reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water, making it difficult for fish to survive.

Water project officer David Pasztaleniec said the abnormally dry conditions were the reason behind the fish move — not a proposal to decommission the lake.

"With the expected low water levels, we potentially might get large fish deaths," he said.

Contract fisherman Keith Bell, who is helping authorities with the relocation, said it was "a good feeling" to be involved with a project that could help many fish.

"It's a public resource that belongs to all Victorians," he said.

"If we don't do anything, there's a possibility the fish will die. But if we do something, at least there's a chance some will be saved."

In 2003, the Victorian Government announced a plan to decommission the lake and return it to a wetland system.

The lake, created in 1971, was considered an inefficient storage facility, losing about 50,000 megalitres of water each year through evaporation.

The Government expects that returning the lake to a wetland will deliver 44,000 megalitres of water every year to the Broken, Goulburn, Snowy and Murray rivers, improving the health of the waterways.

However, the decision to decommission has been controversial and is opposed by many irrigators who rely on the lake.

An alternative plan has been put forward by irrigator group Justice for the Broken Valley to only partially decommission the lake. It is under consideration by the department. The Victorian Farmers Federation said irrigators were "anxiously awaiting" a meeting to discuss the proposal.

http://www.lakemokoan.com

Cattle to graze floor of dry reservoir

December 6, 2007 - 6:34AM, AAP

Long grass at the bottom of a near-dry central Victorian reservoir will be grazed by stock to reduce the risk of fire.

Grass on the dry bed of Lake Eildon, north-east of Melbourne, is so long and dry the managing authority, Goulburn Murray Water, has offered temporary grazing licences near Bonnie Doon and Jamieson, News Limited reports.

The licences were offered as part of the authority's fire management program because the grass on the lake bed had become too tall.

It is the second year in a row that stock will be allowed to graze the bottom of the reservoir, established to feed irrigation systems downstream in the Goulburn Valley.

GM Water dams executive manager David Stewart said the grass was knee-high in parts and would be good fodder for stock.

"Normally we don't allow access and grazing on the floor of the lake, but because of fire regulations we have to control any fire risk," he said.

"We're not doing it for cattle grazing. We are doing it for the fire risk."

The lake holds six times the volume of Sydney Harbour when it is full, but years of drought have kept inflows to a trickle.

Liberal MP Wendy Lovell said the lack of water showed the Victorian government's plan to pump water from Lake Eildon to Melbourne was flawed.

But Water Minister Tim Holding said there would be "more water, not less" in Lake Eildon because of $1 billion of irrigation conservation initiatives.