A FREE, full day community forum will be held on the banks of the Marrabor River at Swan Hill’s Pioneer Settlement on September 2.
Woorinen stone fruit grower Peta Thornton is one of the event organisers in what is billed as an opportunity for an honest, community-led conversation about rivers and water policy, with locals and experts participating.
“We are pleased to be bringing water experts Maryanne Slattery and Bill Johnson to Swan Hill, amongst others, to help us understand water accounting – and in particular floodplain harvesting, which is currently being licenced in NSW,” Peta says.
“Many Southern Basin irrigators, such as myself, want to know if NSW is following the Basin Plan and if their proposed valley limits exceed Basin Plan limits,” she says.
“Following the rules is paramount and ensuring a level playing field for all water users is imperative.”
Floodplain harvesting, which involves irrigators capturing vast quantities of water in their private dams – water that should flow across the floodplain and into the river systems that combine to create the Murray Darling Basin, – has grown out of control in recent years.
There is a strong body of evidence this disruption of the ‘natural flow’ is most likely contributing to mass fish kills, the drying/dying of the Darling Barka River and heavily impacting the Southern Basin when South Australia’s water needs are left to be filled by the Murray system.
Peta says the NSW government’s recent regulation of floodplain harvesting in a number of catchments “is deeply concerning”.
“Despite the warnings of communities, despite advice from officials the rules were inadequate to protect the river, despite climate change impacts, despite ICACs findings of systemic privileging of vested irrigator interests – it seems as though the NSW Government has signed off on gifting billions of litres of new water licences for floodplain harvesting in the Northern Murray Darling Basin,” she added.
“With brimming storages, a newly elected Federal government and the issue of floodplain harvesting still to be resolved, it will be a great time to come together to share knowledge and reset priorities.
“Forums such as these are incredibly important to build literacy in water policy, learn about rivers together as one community and to strengthen our capacity to deal with this dynamic and challenging issue.”
Other topics covered will include The Water Act and the Basin Plan, Importance of the Floodplain and Flooding, Water Recovery Methods and the 450 GL, The economics of Water, The Poon Boon Lakes and the Lower Darling, Indigenous Perspectives.
The River Peoples Forum invites the whole community to understand water policy, not just leave it in the hands of water users.
The forum acknowledges the river system as the community’s lifeblood and important for everyone.
Visit the Sustainable Living in the Mallee Facebook event and register through the Try Booking platform.
