The link below is to a recent programme aired on SBS , it is a facinating insight into climate change impacts on stream flows and the competition for the resource , between tourism and agruculture . This is a very close mirror of our own situation , Brisbane wants our river for its economic growth and yet we need it for the future of our tourism economy
http://www.climatecentral.org/video/montana-trout-drought/ .
When a Bass is not taught how to fly over a blockage , you get this. Why? because the people who are responsible for building a fishway on Burrum No 1 wier , are busy trying to build a waterpark instead .
Monday 13 th oct 2008 , 1.30 pm , we caught 55 bass with an average weight of 1.5 kg , in 5 minutes , using a 3 inch mesh commercial net , the commercial fisherman who owned the net , told me that he had not been able to catch normal commercial species because of the sheer abundance of the bass , they had been getting up to 200kg of bass in a shot , but they are not allowed to legally take them , the red marks are salt related stress marks .
Wide Bay Burnett Regional Water Supply Strategy
Potential Water Supply Options
Hervey Bay and Maryborough
Hervey Bay City
Portfolio A
1. Pipeline extension from SunWater’s Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme near Childers to the Howard Water Treatment Plant (7,800 ML/a)
2. Purified Recycled Water (2,920 ML/a)
Portfolio B
1. Pipeline from Mary River Barrage discharging to Logbridge Creek and then to Lenthalls Dam (7,800 ML/a)
2. Purified Recycled Water (2,920 ML/a)
Portfolio C
1. Pipeline from Mary River Barrage directly to Burgowan Water Treatment Plant (10,000ML/a)
Portfolio D
1. Pipeline from Mary River Barrage directly to Burgowan Water Treatment Plant (5,400 ML/a)
2. Purified Recycled Water (2,920 ML/a)
3. Two small desalination plants (1,460 ML/a)
Portfolio E
1. Two small desalination plants (1,460 ML/a)
2. Purified Recycled Water (2,920 ML/a)
3. Pipeline extension from SunWater’s Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme near Childers to the Howard Water Treatment Plant (5,400 ML/a)
Maryborough City
Portfolio A
1. Raising Teddington Weir (1,400 ML/a)
Portfolio B
1. Off-stream storage of 5,000ML on the left bank at Teddington Weir (1,500 ML/a)
Portfolio C
1. Purchase of Medium Priority allocations from Mary River (convert to High Priority allocations) (1,250 ML/a)
Portfolio D
1. Purified Recycled Water (1,250 ML/a)
Note: The details of these options are based on preliminary data only. They may be subject to change in the future
12:00a.m. 12th July 2008
The state government has delayed building part of its water grid, instead planning to siphon 65 million litres of water a day from Baroon Pocket Dam until late 2011.
That is the amended completion date of the second stage of the northern interconnector pipeline, coinciding with the timeline for constructing the Traveston Crossing dam.
Sunshine Coast mayor Bob Abbot said he was concerned that taking that much water from Baroon Pocket could threaten the region’s water security. He said there was no guarantee the regular downpours of recent times would continue.
The opposition said the delay in building stage two of the pipeline was a sign that the Traveston dam was less likely to proceed.
HOWEVER, infrastructure minister Paul Lucas said the decision was based solely on increased supplies being available on the Sunshine Coast.
“The good rain we’ve had this year on the Sunshine Coast means stage one of the pipeline will be able to supply the water we need through until 2011,” Mr Lucas said.
“The Sunshine Coast’s dams were filled to overflowing by rain in June and the combined levels remain over 95%. Stage one is now more than 70% built and on track to finish by the end of this year.”
The coalition’s infrastructure spokeswoman Fiona Simpson said the delay could be an indication that the government was preparing to dump the Traveston dam down the track.
“I think it is a sign that Traveston dam might be wobbly because you wouldn’t build one without the other,” Miss Simpson said.
“The cost of stage two of the pipeline has increased from $400 million to $500 million in the last estimates and it would be an expensive white elephant without the dam.”
Mr Lucas dismissed the suggestion it was planning an exit strategy.
Just to underline that, he revealed a preferred route for stage two of the pipeline.
He said the additional time would allow it to follow existing easements and reduce the impact on landowners and the environment. “This will provide certainty not just for the people affected, but also anyone whose property has been looked at previously but isn’t on this route,” Mr Lucas said.
“I’ve directed LinkWater Projects (which will build the pipeline) to start contacting people immediately and also make this route available online.
“There are 95 landowners around Yandina and Bli Bli who will receive letters explaining they are no longer affected.”
Mr Lucas said the Environmental Impact Statement for stage two was expected to be released for public comment by the end of this year.
July 08, 2008 12:00am
THE proposed Traveston Dam near Gympie could pump up to 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere each year, a new report says.
The University of Technology Sydney report said the Queensland Government had not accounted for thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions which would be produced each year by pumping up to 70 million tonnes of water from the dam to Brisbane.
The report put the $1.7 billion project, the state’s biggest piece of infrastructure, squarely at the centre of Australia’s proposed Emissions Trading Scheme.
It raised serious questions about whether it would stack up financially if emissions permits sold for the expected $20 a tonne under the ETS.
But Infrastructure and Planning Minister Paul Lucas said a forest was being planned to offset emissions from the project and said it eventually would be carbon neutral.
“When complete the entire 2000ha of timber plantation will offset up to 850,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – more than offsetting the 140,000 tonne construction carbon footprint of the dam,” Mr Lucas said.
Parts of the report by the university’s Institute for Sustainable Futures were commissioned by Mary Valley councils opposed to the dam.
The report said the State Government neglected to consider emissions from pumping water and emissions coming off the dam’s surface when assessing its carbon footprint.
“Even desalination, itself a last resort in a severe drought, would result in fewer emissions at 280,000 to 350,000 (annual tonnes) to yield the same quantity of water,” the report said.
National water expert Professor Stuart White estimated 110,000 to 270,000 tonnes of methane and carbon dioxide could be released from the dam’s surface each year.
“Not only are these impacts a cost to the environment but the forthcoming national emissions trading scheme, as recommended by Professor (Ross) Garnaut, will mean these emissions place a significant financial burden on the community,” he said.
Anti-Traveston Dam campaigners, led by Kevin Ingersole and Kandanga farmer Glenda Pickersgill, yesterday suggested that Premier Anna Bligh’s pro-dam position might have softened in recent months.
“Previously the Premier and other ministers have been saying they are absolutely determined the dam would proceed,” Mr Ingersole said. “Now they are adding the caveat ‘if it stacks up environmentally’.”
The claims of co2 sequestration from the plantation are innacurate , the figure is likely to be the total capture for the life of the pantation , 30 years . Pumping is a yearly emission figure , and totals 1.2B tonnes for 30 years.
The Minister for Sustainability ( CO2 emissions) travelled to Bali for the Kyoto meeting with Peter Garrett , and yet he still claims the science stacks up , what science ?, the EIS does not contain a shred of science .
Save the Mary Campaign awarded recognition at Homage to Defenders of Rights for Rivers and Life.
For immediate release 7th July 2008
The World Expo city of Zaragoza, Spain erupted into Worldwide community action over July 5 and 6. Homage to the Defenders of Rights for Rivers and Life were held in a historical Zaragoza Theatre. Filmed excerpts from people suffering the consequences of draconian policies of Government imposing large dams and privatization of water were shown. Musicians, dancers and poets performed along with presentations and speeches of selected community action groups.
Australia was included as one of the eight selected case studies to be awarded recognition for their efforts in the “Save the Mary River” campaign. Glenda Pickersgill representing the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group received the world activist award ‘The Green Dragon’, founded from the initial actions on the Erbo River where the symbol was used on the front of activist’s boats.
“The people of the Mary River catchment have already suffered unjustly by this dam proposal. The Australian Government has good water policies. But the eyes of the world will be focused on this water shed decision that Peter Garrett must make in the next few months as to whether the damming of the Mary River will be stopped’, she said to the international audience. ‘In the face of climate change there are more reliable and lower cost alternatives including demand management, water recycling and desalination for water supply.’
This campaign to save the Mary River from destruction of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam has been taken to heart by other non government organizations in Europe, Americas and Asia. This is the first time grassroots groups from Australia have joined their counterparts overseas.
The production was followed by a demonstration and street march through the historical city of Zaragoza.
End
Media contact and further background information:
Glenda Pickersgill 0061 411443589 pickerg@bigpond.com;
Wayne Cameron alanacameron@optusnet.com, b4c@bulimbacreek.org.au or
Heather Barns (Bulimba Creek Committee) 07 34204800
SaveTheMaryRiver website www.savethemaryriver.com.
The el faro pavilion www.elfaro2008.org
Traveston Dam protest goes to Hervey Bay
Damian Bathersby & AAP
Queensland government ministers are poorly informed on the impact of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam, protesters say.
The Greater Mary Association yesterday gathered more than 300 people to protest against the $1.7 billion dam at the government’s community cabinet meeting in Hervey Bay.
It follows the anti-dam rally at the state Labor conference on the Gold Coast on June 22.
Inside yesteday’s Hervey Bay protest, the group met with premier Anna Bligh and six other ministers, including treasurer Andrew Fraser, water minister Craig Wallace and primary industries minister Tim Mulherin.
The government is standing by the unpopular dam, proposed for the Mary River near Gympie, north of Brisbane, to help solve the region’s water shortage.
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett will have the final say in coming months.
Greater Mary Association spokeswoman Tanzi Smith said tourism minister Desley Boyle refused to meet the group, revealing a lack of understanding about how the dam could impact tourism.
“A lot of people come here for boating and the whale watching industry, and all that depends on the health of the eco-system,” she said.
“It would be essentially starved of nutrients and fresh water which would have such a negative impact on everything tourists come to see.”
Ms Smith said there was a general ignorance about the dam among the ministers.
“They often say the project will benefit the Fraser Coast region, but when we asked them why, they really couldn’t answer those questions in any detail,” she said.
The group says the issue could see Hervey Bay MP Andrew McNamara, also the environment minister, lose his seat at next year’s election.
“It’s about time he started to really listen to what the people say and stop kidding himself (by) thinking that only people who don’t vote Labor are opposed to this dam,” Ms Smith said.
Meanwhile, Traveston Dam opponents will be in the international spotlight this week when the project is featured as one of the world’s most inappropriate water developments at the 2008 World Expo in Spain.
Glenda Pickersgill from the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group is heading to the expo where she will join Wayne Cameron from Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee, and others in the team, to tell a global audience about the Queensland Government’s proposal to dam the Mary River.
The European Rivers Network has supported the Mary River campaign by including it in a major international display at the 2008 World Expo, which runs for three months.
The exhibit highlights the effects of water infrastructure developments throughout the world on the communities they displace.
The Queensland Government’s actions against residents of the Mary River basin have been included in the list of 22 inappropriate water developments chosen by the European Rivers Network to be placed under the spotlight of international shaming at the expo.
Below is a link to the report I presented to the Premier , Deputy Premier, Minister for Water Resources and the Local Member and Minister for Innovation , Climate Change and Sustainablity . The report details both the Febuary and June flood innundations of the water holes and recommendations for the potential offences .
