We walk it every day so we both see the changes — changes that make less and less sense as time goes on.
It’s because the Federal Government and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority keep treating it as a channel, to funnel water to the Murray and South Australia.
The lower lakes at the mouth of the Murray have been a tidal estuary for eons — some years replete with fresh water from a flooded Murray-Darling, and other years enjoying tidal salt water from the sea.
But there are lots of flash holiday houses down there at Hindmarsh Island, so they kept these artificial barrages that South Australia built for irrigation back in the late 1930s. The lakes are brackish now because big seas cover the barrages, so no-one irrigates out of the lakes — but they look pretty.
Pretty but appallingly wasteful. These vast, shallow artificial lakes evaporate well over 900 billion litres (900 gigalitres) of water a year — a scandalous abuse of a precious resource in these increasingly drier times. That’s how much water is available to our irrigators this year in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District. How does that make sense?
Think about these numbers: after buying water from farmers during the Millennium Drought — and following the Connections project and other savings — the government ended up owning more than 600GL in Eildon — a third of the current volume.
What does that much water look like? Well, a full Sydney harbour holds less than that — around 500GL. People and dogs shake their heads at this comparison, but it’s true: when Eildon is full, it holds six times Sydney harbour’s water.
Remember that a megalitre is a million litres and fills an Olympic swimming pool. A gigalitre is a thousand of those. It’s a lot of water.
Now the federal minister wants to buy back another 130GL from farmers in the southern basin. Consider one and a half Sydney harbours running down the Lower Goulburn every year, on top of the water delivered for irrigation.
Our catchment management authority has pointed out that the government simply can’t get the environmental water it owns out of Eildon without seriously damaging the river.
Yet, just last week the government responded that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Federal Environmental Water Holder supported buying the extra water “to help meet basin plan objectives both locally and regionally, especially as constraints are addressed over time”.
“Constraints” refers to efforts to buy, or lease back, land from farmers and businesses along the river to allow more regular overbank flows to water the floodplain and its wetlands.
Trouble is, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority reports that there is no money for that, so The Boss reckons it will never happen. Even if it does happen, a healthy overbank flow requires around 30GL a day for five to seven days every few years. That soaks up all of 210GL, although it’s not needed every year. The winter and spring environmental “freshes” use another 70GL each — say 350GL all up. That leaves another half-Sydney harbour of environmental water in Eildon, still to go.
And note this: at the height of the 2022 floods, more than 200GL was flowing past Shepparton. Imagine what would happen if the feds sent 600GL down the river every year, let alone another 130GL. It’s insane.
The Boss fears there is more insanity to come. The magical target plucked out of the air under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was to recover 2750GL for the environment, part of which included 605GL of “offsets” to be gained through various water saving projects.
These are now “on hold” after the government stopped supporting the states to deliver the projects and decided to spend taxpayers’ money on buybacks instead.
The basin plan ends in late 2026 and will still be around 300GL short of its target. Woe betide the Goulburn River. Woof!
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