Vol. 18 No. 23
FREE PUBLICATION
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
WHOOSH! Natimuk Lake Ski Club’s Lucinda Taylor, from Warracknabeal, churns through the water on the Wimmera River during Kannamaroo Festival activities in Horsham. Environmental water flowing through the Horsham weir pool is destined for lower reaches of the river, which are under severe stress from a lack of rain and in-flow. Picture: WILLAMY IMAGES
Water bid for rivers BY DEAN LAWSON
F
ears that continuing dry conditions might lead to irreversible damage to parts of the Wimmera River have triggered an unprecedented bid to buy water for the inland waterway.
Wimmera catchment monitors, who have reported a steady deterioration in the river’s lower catchment, are now waiting to hear if a regional organisation is willing to sell its water entitlement. The Victorian Environmental Water Holder, the independent statutory body in charge of the state’s environmental allocations and with the ability to trade water, announced this week it wanted to buy 10,000 megalitres to protect the Wimmera and Glenelg riv-
ers. But opportunities might be limited. Mining companies Iluka and Donald Mineral Sands are among organisations with entitlements and GWMWater has some carryover water in storage. Dry conditions across the catchment have been biting environmental entitlements for more than 12 months. This year, as part of a bulk management plan for limited regional water resources, the environmental water holder has only a seven percent allocation for Wimmera and Glenelg systems. The Wimmera River has had little inflow this year. The annual average amount of water flowing past Glynwylln, north of Stawell in the upper catchment, is 22,344 megali-
IN THIS ISSUE
tres. Since January, less than 15 megalitres have flowed past the site. Wimmera Catchment Management Authority chief executive David Brennan said areas of the river below Dimboola were already dry. He said some stretches that started to recover from degradation from the last drought were in serious danger of again becoming highly vulnerable. “There are sections now where you can walk straight across the river. Up at Jeparit the trees are just starting to grow again,” he said. “There’s been so little natural flow, the health of the river at the moment is being propped up by what environmental water we’ve had available. “We’ve experienced our dri-
est spring on record and our driest 36 months on record and we haven’t really entered summer yet. “The platypus is example of what risks we have in a serious deterioration of river health. The species used to be widespread across the Wimmera and now the only population we know of in our catchment is in Mackenzie River. “It’s going to take a huge effort to protect and save a lot of species. We need to be prepared and we know by having additional water available makes a huge difference.” Victorian Environmental Water Holder chairman Denis Flett agreed the environmental water program was helping to maintain key drought refuges and protect water quality.
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“We’re aiming to avoid catastrophic events and irreversible environmental loss,” he said. “If we are able to purchase additional water, it will protect waterways now, and into 2016-17, improving conditions for fish and animals to survive and repopulate river systems in wetter years. “The Wimmera and Glenelg river systems are the lifeblood of communities and protecting them will protect tourism, health, livelihoods and recreation.”
First time
If the VEWH can find water to buy, it will be the first time it has bought water in the Wimmera and Glenelg systems and only the fourth time in Victoria. Since the body was established in 2011, it has purchased 2519
megalitres across Victoria but has sold more than 37,000. It will use revenue from past sales to fund the Wimmera and Glenelg purchase. Mr Flett said the VEWH had considered existing and forecasted environmental water demands, a water-availability outlook for 2015-16 and its capacity to carry over water before making the decision. “In undertaking any water purchases or sales, we aim to avoid any significant adverse impacts on other entitlement holders. In this case, we are seeking to buy water in an area without a mature water market. We anticipate any water available would be purchased from a large entitlement holder, such as a water corporation or industry entity,” he said.
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April 2015 to September 2015
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