Water Quality Journal

The following websites provide information on the water quality around the Lower Lakes region.  

DWLBC for salinity and EPA for water quality, and the weekly water reports at MDBA .  The SA Water website has a map of the locations of the 5 major pipelines that serve South Australia from the River Murray.  Click here if you want to know where along the river your water comes from. 

Here is the site for the market prices for Murray-Darling Basin water entitlements.

Interpreting the data can be difficult.  Below is the opinion of 'The Water Dude'

27 October 2009

At the moment the EC of water in the Clayton-Goolwa channel is about 9000 and a bit lower in the lower Finniss at about 5000.  We think that the main invasion of tubeworm started when the EC was about +/- 10,000 so we must be on the brink of another invasion as soon as evaporation takes hold and waters warm up.

14 October 2009

Not much to add except 14GL of the 27.5GL has been pumped to date.

8 October 2009

DEH have just released latest (to 16 Sept) Goolwa channel report. All better here for the time being.

However DEH have not publically released any data of monitoring results from Lock 1 to Lake Alex (including Loveday Bay) since July despite numerous requests.

Also better water quality now for Wood Point and Tailem Bend which are returning to "normal" after numerous saline incursions over last few months.

9 September 2009

The DEH have released several new fact sheets about wind seiching, salinities, diatoms etc in the lakes-Coorong.  Read a quick recap of how the water salinity has changed recently.  

7 September 2009

Photos of the water at Goolwa.  These images have not been retouched.

26 August 2009

Latest EPA report on water monitoring has just been released including photos of the site and acid sulfate soil minerals.

Still problems with the lower CCk and note comment "the difficulty in managing acidity once it has been generated".

A new acid hotspot on the western side of the lower Finniss has also been identified.

Saw an EPA vehicle with plastic canoe on top drive by this morning. If they went out to collect water samples today with 40+ knot winds they deserve a medal for devotion to duty.

21 August 2009

Not worried?

See we now have a new automatic monitoring station north of Pomanda. That's about the 3rd new station installed recently in the lower Murray and salinities are still increasing where they should be minimal this time of the year.

Not worried?

Warning of below lock 1 levels of -1.4m 

Not worried?

Some uncertainty about the success or otherwise of reveg using rye and pu near Meningie .

Check out the River Murray Water Resources Report, 21 August 2009

Worried now?