Community
Engagement EIS Officer
Coorong,
Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Projects
Conservation
Policy and Programs
Department
for the Environment and Heritage
6 August 2009
Feedback on Socio-economic Impacts of the proposed
Management Actions in the Long Term Management Plan for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Region
Dear
Ms. Wachtel:
Providing
serious comments to the social and economic impacts as provided herein has been
determined only by current observations in the region including subsequent staging
of field events by DEH, the managing agency. The critical focus of DEH is to
conserve species, ecological communities and ecosystem services in the region.
Planning
is problematic and not progressive to the string of actions required to
systematically return the region to it pre-barrage conditions. There are too
many loose ends and many individual theories with little if any thought of
streaming towards a well constructed program of remediation events.
Much
of what is offered in the Invitation to Comment document is before its time
whereas there should have been a concise program of steps, each of which fit
into a schedule of events towards upgrading and rejuvenating the region. The
public requires confidence in planning whereas there appears to be propensity
to plan around politics. The government stance with regards to a fresh water
result is no longer viable.
From
a community perspective, progress so far is untenable and wasteful. A
cooperative action between the government and the public should be stimuli to
progress, whereas various offers to comment are not given appropriate status to
follow-up with serious debate or feedback. For example, this is very apparent
in the member line up for the committee as shown in the Weir at Pomanda Island
EIS membership.
Having
reached a culmination of countless warnings over many years about the likely
demise of the Murray Darling Basin system, we have now
passed the cross-road to crisis. We are in an ‘Extreme Dry’ situation now.
To
halt that crisis from becoming catastrophic, the utmost concern should be to
check the acidification of the region with the use of seawater. In parallel,
the entry of bio-remediation as a quick fix solution should not progress
further until a stage has been reached where the entire lakes and Coorong
region is flooded with seawater. The practice of using fine grit lime is not
sufficient to properly deal with the overall area and depth of the acid
sulphate soils. It is contrary to our best global knowledge on the subject. The
grassing of exposed lake and river beds etc is again a trial only yet there is written
evidence here in Australia that this will also likely fail.
The
key to an outcome is to immediately build the Wellington weir containing a lock,
located in an area known with solid base, being part of the pink granite,
Padthaway escarpment. This should not become an even longer term, drawn out,
politicised affair.
In
parallel, immediately commence work on upgrading the barrages to a suitable
standard to provide heavy seawater scouring of the channels throughout, to also
withstand likely increased sea levels as predicted for the next fifty years.
The health
and wellbeing of the surrounding communities is tantamount to finding a speedy resolution
to the crisis. Communities, trade and commerce have waited too long for an end
to the demise of the region. They deserve a positive and urgent outcome!
Please
find accompanying this letter feedback from our group.
Sincerely,
Ken
Jury
Spokesperson
for LakesNeedWater.org