From the Editor

Welcome to the LakesNeedWater newsletter June 2010 edition.  

June is the month of sales and bargains, and, as it turns out, plans for the River Murray. Since the last newsletter, DEH has released its long-awaited plan "Securing the future: a long term plan for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth" (CLLMM).  The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, has released "Sustainable diversions in the Murray-Darling Basin", and the long-awaited Murry-Darling Basin Plan by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is expected later this month.

Back to the "Securing the future" report though, it's not exactly the "bargain" we had in mind.  Read our summary to learn more. We'd also love to see your comments on our blog (lakesneedwater.blogspot.com).  Please spread the word; the more comments, the merrier.

Lakes need water, and rivers need estuaries

Since we started LakesNeedWater over one year ago, our core message has consistently been that the Lower Lakes should have, well, water. This is hardly rocket science after all.  Why anyone would believe that holding back seawater and allowing the lakes to dry out is preferable to allowing seawater to mix with freshwater defies logic.  Among the great rivers of the world, such as the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze, and the Mississippi, the River Murray is alone in being cut off from its mouth.  Does anyone honestly believe it is healthy for a river to be separated from the ocean by kilometres of barrages, resulting in the loss of 90% of its historic estuary?

The scaremongers have it all wrong with their single-minded obsession with fresh water in the Lower Lakes.  The River Murray needs a healthy estuary, not artificially maintained freshwater lakes.  Rivers need estuaries.  It really is that simple.

Photo of the Month

June 2010 near Currency Creek, an area treated with limestone last year in 2009.  

Photo by Ian Rowan