The Debate

By: Elizabeth Gordon-Mills, PhD

The true nature of our environment is one of constant change and flux. It is dynamic, and there is no such thing as stability. Human beings have tried to make the environment more stable by technology and in doing so we have created the false expectation that things will always be the same as we have come to expect. 

The debate over the issue of letting seawater into the Lower Lakes as a means of preventing the further development of acid sulphate soils has degraded into a fight between the two opposing sides: those against and those for. Please read the arguments against seawater and the arguments for seawater.

Some of these arguments raised by both sides are outlined and discussed below:

• The past history of the Lakes

• Reliance on indigenous knowledge

• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands obligations

• Bioremediation

• Releasing more water from upstream

• The problem of evaporation from the surface of the Lakes

• The weirs

• The problems of a dry lakebed

• Engineering aspects of seawater in the Lakes 

What is “natural”? We all have our pet theories about what "it" is, depending on our particular priorities.  We must weigh up the alternatives of several unnatural situations and decide what is best for the environment.