murray river in death throes, page-10

I'm angry and disappointed about it too.

There are many wetlands that used to exist at the time the Aborigines inhabited this land by themselves, along the journey that the Murray takes. These wetlands no longer exist as the flow rate was altered and the river was less able to flood the surrounding land on a regular basis.

The areas were teaming with wildlife, the river was rich with fish, there was no pollution, salination problems or silt problems at the mouth, other than what occurred naturally and the environment had adapted to flourish with all these things.

Enter White man, he sees the trees - the beautiful redgums, and decides to harvest them. To carry them downstream he needs to use paddle steamers or barges. They need a smooth run through the river so the logs in the river where the Murray Cod live are cleared. The flow rate changes - becoming swifter - year after year. Silt is moved down towards the mouth at a faster rate, clogging the fine 'veins' of the river.

Try a simple test... put two sponges on a sink. Separated by a cup width. Now pour a cup or two of water from the left hand edge so that it runs into your sink. What happens? The water runs quickly to the sink. Now move the sponges closer together. Try the same test. Less water runs into the sink and more is soaked up by the sponges. Think of the sponges as the banks of the Murray. The water table has been dropping as the water is unable to seep into the land as it used to.

Slow the river down once more. Stop drawing so much water from it for so much irrigation along it's length, and let it recover.

Grow plants along its banks so that their roots will hold the embankments and stop them eroding into the Murray, adding again to the silt problem.

Nature had the system working beautifully. We just tried to outsmart her and have ended up with a putrid drain. So much for the cleverness of mankind.

Cheers,
Tangrams