Draining The Blackwood River

This thread was lost last time I posted it so heres another go.

Monday night I spent 3.5 hours at a public meeting held in Nannup, bye the Waters & Rivers Commission, Water Authority, and "Witcher water management group" (busso / capel flats irrigators!) & more highly paid consultants than you've seen blowflie maggots on a week old muley found in the bottom of the bream boat! :D

Why were we all there?

Well it seems we are developing a community owned groundwater management plan, for the Yarragadee Aquifier which lies under a geological formation called the "Bunbury trough", basically from Capel thru to the south coast below Nannup on the Scott River Coastal plain.

Why?

Well - the Water Authority have made application to extract 42 Gigalitres of water a year from this aquifier to export to Perth and Bunbury to solve the water shortage crisis before next state election is called bye the Gallup Govt.

Apparently they badly need more fresh water in the Capital city to pollute with nutrients and drain into the Swan River to kill bream - this years recent massive fishkill effort wasn't enough for them as there are some reports filtering out that NOT ALL of the bream were killed this time round - they hope to do better next year tho!! :mad:

Apparently in this 'Bunbury Trough' the Yarragadee Aqifier holds some 6 cubic kilometers of basically fresh water. Apparently thats a heck of a lot of water worth an immense amount of $ to anyone who can pump it out and sell it.

The water Authority can't pump this water unless they produce a management plan for the resource with of course full public consultation. The public will "own" the management plan, BUT the Water Authority willl have the 'final say' over whether the water is or isn't pumped.

They have spent some $6 Million so far drilling hundreds of test holes all over Nannup and surrounds so they can monitor effects of the proposed test pumping to see how much draw down there is and how long it tales to replenish.

The Govt & Water Authority will use a brand new "model" to determine whether or not to go ahead with this...it will be a "Triple bottom line decision".

1.This means there will be an exconomic analysis bye a bean counter to see if it can make money.

2. There will be a social impact study to see if country and city folks actually want it to go ahead,

3. There will be a further ecological study to see if any ecosystems like trees or rivers and their fish insects etc will be affected bye the pumping of 42 giglitres a year from the aquifier.

All this will happen of course BEFORE October next year 2004...when the projected first pumping of water to Perth is planned to happen. (Strange co-incidence, just before summer water restrictions are due to start and the elections due to be held).

Interestingly - the social impact study is already done - and with the city & country folks interviewed, basically 70% of both groups said - no phuk orf - we don't trust the Govt or the Water Authority/Water & Rivers Dept to manage this resource properly.

The economic study says the best high dollar return for the water is to sell it in the city, the ongoing environmental impact study is tending to suggest it will all be apples (of course thats what you get when you pay consultants megabucks to produce "science for sale to the highest biddder"....tell us your desired outcome and we will conduct the science you need to produce the outcome you want!).

So - when all of this is completed to the next stage for public comments in 5 or 6 weeks - the govt will 'consider' the "triple bottom line" (Social, Environment & $) and "decide if it's to go ahead or not.

Thats why the Water Authority have already called tenders for expression of interest to steel pipe manufacturers around the world to manufacture the steel pipe here & supply the pipe all the way from Nannup - to Perth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah - like the decision hasn't already been made! $6 million spent on drilling monitoring holes and tenders already called for Pipe and we should believe the public consultation will make one ounce of difference???????? :rolleyes:

How phukken gullible does this stupid coonassed State Labor Gallup govt think the people of this state really are???????? :p

How convenient the water gets to Perth, in time to avoid water restrictions in summer during the election year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes:

As I posted here before about the Yarragdee aquifier it actually comes to the surface around Nannup in the form of the Karri springs and their consultants OWN monitoring thru this past summer drought year has already confirmed what i previously posted from my own observations, that the water arriving at Nannup in the Blackwood is salty from the farms further upstream around Bridgetown, Boyup Brook and points further east into the wheatbelt on the Beaufort, Arthur & Cobolomine rivers which rise in the wheatbelt around Wagin, Dumbleyung, Kattanning, Narrogin etc and join together to become the 350 kilometer long Magnificent Mighty (salty) Blackwood River

In fact we are losing freshwater habitat capable of suporting the freshwater marron and 9 other families of freshwater aquatic insects (e.g mayflies, dragonflies, damsel flies, stoneflies, water beeltes etc..) which are native to this area and the Blackwood River, at the increadible and increasing rate of about 1.5 kilometers a year!

It is over summer and drought years, as I pointed out before - ONLY the freshwater influx from the Yarragadee in the vicinity of Nannup, via the Nannup Brook that, feeds the middle part of the Blackwood and keeps all thise species alive. The lower Blackwood some 40 miles inland from the hardy inlet at Augusta right up to Warner Glen bridge gets saltwater tidal influence from the Blackwood rivermouth at Augusta so the freshwater species like marron and the freshwater insects can't live down there.

They can ONLY survive here in the middle 50 kilometers of the Blackwood from just above Nannup - down to just above Warner Glen (Theres a a rockbar there which impedes navigable water upstream for boats and also is the furthest extent upriver of the tidal saltwater influence in summer droughts / during low flows).

The environmental consultants OWN monitoring over this last drough summer we've just had confirms that it's ONLY this recharge of some 148 gigalitres of FRESH Yaragadee groundwater into the Blackwood River via the Nannup Brook and springs in the bed of the deep holes in the Blackwood below my place here in Nannup which is keeping the last precious middle section of the river fresh..and ALL thiose species from becomming extinct!

The salinty levels are too high for Marron and other freshwater species above Nannup, they plummet back to almost fresh when they hit Nannup, the inflow of Karri Springs fed Nannup brook and the Yarragadee aquifier springs in the bed of the river where it's excised it's way deep into the water table, and they go High in salt again when they hit Warner Glen bridge due to tidal salt from the ocean.

50 K's of freshwater river left, (out of over 350 kilometers that was once fresh) and being lost at 1.5 kilometers per year....148 gigalitres or thereabouts of Yarragadee summer FRESH groundwater recharge into the Blackwood....and they want to pump 42 gigalitres of that to Perth a year to supply to Perth residents to pollute and dump into the Swan to kill more bream.
:rolleyes: :mad:

The people of the whole state have already told them they don't want this via there consultants social impact study, AND that they don't trust the Water Authority/ Waters And Rivers commission or the State Governement to manage these resources properly and yet seemingly Gallup has already made the decision anyway, and ordered the bloody drilling and pipes!

This is what happens when a little area like the southwest who arent a marginal labor seat and never have been since white settlement get shafted bye a state labor government BECAUSE THEY CAN.

We down here cannot change this.

Bunbury Voters can, it's a marginal seat with only about 200 votes deciding which party gets a seat in parliament. I bet theres over 200 anglers in Bunbury who could turn the tide come election time...

Same thing in many of the marginal Perth seats.

The solutions to this problem lie clearly with the urban voter not the rural dweller - all we can tell you is whats going down out here in the bush - it's up to the city folk to change this if they want to and bye the sound of it over 70% do want it changed.

I hope this message gets spread far and wide. there is a website link to all the fancy slides and overheads - it was a VERY impressive presentation bye a whole raft of professional scientists bought at great expense. There was a huge nosh up to get us all onside as well.

It didn't work- the people at the metting clearly told these folks to 'bugga orf and leave our water and river alone'. They were embarrased but it didn't seem to unduly deter any of them...they all clearly knew the "fix was already in" and it's a done deal.

Please feel free to cut n paste this far n wide - email it to all the green groups and anyone else who will listen, to Liam Bartlet maybe - and the newspapers etc.

It also came to light durting the meetings question and answer session, that a "coproate body" like the water corp can be sold off, just like telstra.

We could well end up with a foreign corporate water baron in the USA owning the sole water extraction license for the yarragadee aquifier...6 cubic kilometers of fresh water in the driest continent on earth.

part 11 follows

Water Authoirity will PAY us down here nothing for the right to extract this water- they will likely SELL that water reserves in the ground resource right, to some Corporate Water Baron overseas for a pittance (See Last weeks 4 corners expose on the Water Barons) and WHEN you come to pay your water bills - your hard earned $ will be sent overseas tax free thru some cayman islands tax haven to benefit some wealthy Yanks, at the expense of your kids futures in this state and nation.

They aren't paying for this water - they are stealing it pure n simple.

In the old days of range wars for grazing and water for stock - these battles for water would have been fought to the death with guns. Those days loom ever closer again with the way this great water heist has been so cleverly orchestrated.

When the last freshwater from the Blackwood is gone - those beleagured black bream in the hardy inlet at Augusta will no longer be able to spawn as they need that *********freshwater flush********* to stimulate them to school and spawn, These are the SAME Black bream being currently netted bye pro and recreational angler alike, at the same time federal funds are being spent to 're stock' the river with aquacultured fish...

Has this freaking govt gone totally stark raving MAD?

It its the ONLY logical conclusion I can come too I'm afraid. As ol Spock from Startrek said - "when all illogical possibilities are removed - what remains no matter how illogical it may sound is the only logical answer".

Great Scott!!! Scott me up beamey, im in trouble!!!!

Start the emails to papers and TV and the govt boffins opposition parts etc people BEFORE it's too late!

Cheers!:p

[Bear]

Now we know why they won't offer more for the pro license. He'll have to leave eventually any way.

[dan_WA]

Well put Trouty,

pumping huge amounts from aquifers seems ludicrous, regardless of where they are !
It seems such a band - aid solution.
Many of these aquifers have accumulated their huge reserves of water over thousands of years - the water corporation is looking at pumping such huge amounts of water out that it's seems difficult to believe their assurances that it will "replenish itself"
Even now the pumping of aquifers to top up some of the Perth-supplying dams, seems a short term solution.
If you look at the graphs in the paper about annual rainfall vs Dam inflow, over the past 5 or so years; on average the rainfall has been relatively consistent, though the inflow to dams has decreased; why ? .......well one finger to point I believe is at CALM, who oversee the management of much of the land that make up the catchments for these dams. Apparaently in previous years, regular vegetation management was undertaken to reduce the amount of vegetation surrounding dams, - now I'm not saying clear bulldozing, but reducing the amount of trees etc, that are very effective in trapping runoff after rainfall/absorbing into their roots, instead of water flowing into Dams.
I believe CALM has it's place in protecting our natural places; but there ain't much natural about a dam/catchment area, special management principles need to be put in place to allow for effective inflow to our dams, - not just a band-aid solution of pumping more from the ground, the water is falling from the sky dammit !, we just need to collect it better !!
Another gripe about aquifers/the number of bores must surely contribute to aquifer depletion, plus the associated excessive watering; leading to more runoff, leading to more "lawn greening" chemicals washing into our waterways, leading to algal blooms and fish kills.
I spent a bit of time living in an estate down near mandurah, and when taking the dog for a walk, noticed all the coastal lagoons (behind the dunes), were dry as a bone - could it perhaps be that every new house, with it's bore installed, has lowered the local water table (that the aquifers feed) to an extent that these (very fragile) environments have been lost ???

......ahh well, doesn't matter, they're probably gazetted to be bulldozed in favour of a new canal estate anyway !!

who wants to read the governements and waters 7 rivers comissions "scientific propaganda" on this issue to get a better understanding of the issues the following link contains a list of individual links to all the social impact studies, drilling info and ecological bullcrap they tried to foist on us in just under 4 hours.

Government / Waters & Rivers Commission Scientific "propaganda" links HERE (http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/whicher/)

Happy reading - it really is some pretty colourfull and detailed work to try and bamboozle folks while they steal our rivers water.

You gotta hand it to these consultants - they write some neat crap to justify their nose n the public purse pig trough.

Just a Pity they don't point out all the pitfalls about the decision having already been made and it costing the life of our river.

http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/whicher/swybga_logo_sm.gif

This is the area of the southwest of the Bunbury Trough containing the Yarragadee aquifier and as you can see it will impact MANY rivers of the southwest including but not limited just to the Blackwood - it will also impact the Capel river, The Donnelly river as well as the Warren river.

Time to tell these govt bozo's to leave our water well enough alone - they already have our timber abnd our jobs - now they want our water as well.

Cheers!

[mark savage]

Where is the environmental/public component? Just about all the people listed (bar 1 - 7%) are primarily interested in money generation in the Busselton/Caple Shires.
There is no (fore)thought to the trickle down effects (pun intended) the pumping will have to other shires with direct relations with the Blackwood (Nannup, Augusta-Marget River).
:mad:

You guys can help ratchette up the pressure bye emailing Liam Bartlett

I already have.

Heres his email addy if you feel so inclined.

liam@your.abc.net.au

Cheers & thanks in advance.

[DAWS]

Here's a good one for you trouty.
Eric Wright who works for the Ag Department of WA , the man handling the submissions for the Agricultural interests, used to work for the Water Coporation.
How Convenient!!!!!
It will go ahead whether we like it or not.
Daws

source - Busselton Margaret River Times. Thusday August 7, 2003 Page 3

"Aquifier review backed".

Proposals for an independant review of the WA Governments plan to extract water from the Southern Yarragadee aquifier to supply Perth have been backed bye Vasse MLA Bernie Masters.

The WA Liberal Party, resolved at it's anual conference last weekend to insist on the review of the water cororations assessment of sustainable yeild from the aquifier by non- government hydro geological consultants.

I believe most importantly, that in addition to hydrogeological consultants study - that flow regimes studies need to be carried out as well as aquatic macroinvertebrates and endemic fish studies of the Blackwood and ALL of it's tributaries....again bye NON governement experts.

Fat chance of getting that 'd say!!!

Cheers!

[DAWS]

Things Have Changed.
The government has changed its mind on the amount of water to be pumped to Perth from 42 gigs to 135gigs.
1 gig of water can irrigate 250 acres of pasture a year so times that by135 equals 33750 acres of gardens and lawns in Perth to be watered anually.
Someone please explain.
Daws

I hadn't heard it had jumped Daws - where did you find out that gem?

Wouldn't surprise me of course...

Just curious what I've missed.

I've had no reply to my email to them a week ago...

Cheers!

[Evileye]

Trouty, i dont want he capel and other rivers to stuff up, so what would be the right thing to say to this, liam guy, im wanting to help as this country is going to F$^k up badly.:mad:
Evileye

[DAWS]

Trouty I was talking to someone in the Witcher catchment group.
Apparently there is alot of information the water corp hasnt released and proablely wont until it is too late.
Great little government we have here.
Daws

[PlakaBoy]

Trouty, since Jan I have been working on the downhole geophysical side of the drilling down at Nannup, in Fact ive driven down there and back 31 times so far often doing a couple of Jobs while i'm there.
Here's a couple of Facts

1) Basically from 70m down to 750+m deep the water is fresher than wat comes out of ur tap, a hell of a lot of Water and recharge can easily sustain these levels
2) Nannup area has already been selectively Logged extensively aswell as theres a heap of Dieback, less tree's mean less groundwater needed, therefor some groundwater can be taken
3)The Yarragadee aquifer runs from further south up to Derby in the NOrth, so when u say its YOUR water, u mite aswell be saying its YOUR air that u mite breathe in ur area
4) There's no way these wells will affect any waterways or waterlife in the area
5)If u can come up with a better soln to Perth's Water prob then tell someone about it...Desalination produces a hell of a lot of emissions which would stuff up the swan a hell of a lot more than this plan (which won't)

tim

Lets deal with deforestation first.....and dieback fungus (Phytophthera cinnomomi).

As a forester I have to agree with you in that Diebacks spreading (mostly bye agency of man such as vehiclular movement of soil particles on vehicles and machinery).

That said it only affects SOME species of trees like the Jarrah and Banksia's, while others like say marri remain unaffected.

Wehn Jarrah's die of Dieback disease (Pc fungus), Other species like Marri rreplace them and we alter the environment bye changing the species Mix within that production forest.

Production Forest (that which the community allows to be selectively logged) = about 50% of the total forest. The other 50% is locked up within one or another land vesting which precludes logging such as National Park, Consrvation park, Flora & Fauna Reserve, Road, River & Stream reserve.

The Area of forest logged is "regenerated" it isn't deforested and turned into paddocks as in many of the tropical rainforests of the world which ARE being deforested.

These Regrowth Jarrah / Marri forests in the 900 - 1200 mm Annual rainforest belts do suck up less groundwater for the first 4 years after logging and water tables rise somewhat - but afte thisperiod - the regenerated forest which grows from lignotubers on the roots of the welll established trees felled - grow much more vigorously than "old growth forest" which has plateaued in it's growth rates as the crowns meet and cover over and each tree starts t compete with it's neighbour for space, light, water and nutrients.

So - this vigourous growing regrowth forest uses almost TWICE the amount of water than an old growth forest, not less as you suggest..due to deaths of Jarrahs from dieback disease, - where jarrah's die out Marris germinate from seed or grow from lignotubers and replace the forest that existed there.

The common perception that "all logging is bad" is about as illogical as saying bream fishers are as bad for the bream stocks resource as the pro Netters..because "All fishing is bad"...

We all know it's a nonesene but average Joe Public doesnt.

Now

recharge can easily sustain these levels

Unfortunately no one knows this for sure - it may or may not be true - afterall the reason to drill all the monitoring holes, that you are now drilling, is to 'watch' the level of the aquifier as it is pumped to see if indeed recharge CAN keep the aquifier from being depleted.

We will only know for sure AFTER we pump..IF the aquifier stays UP..

If t drops - the springs whch feed the Blackwood where the yarragadee breaches the surface will likely stop flowing and the Blackwood will die from upstream salt in the first drought year.

The Blackwood will still have water in it - it will just be salty is all and all the freshwater species like its Marron will be gone - for good.

The Yarragadee aquifer runs from further south up to Derby in the NOrth

The Waters & rivers web site link shows it running from north of Capel to the Coast west of Pemberton.

If it runs up to the Pilbara...good. - let the water authority go pump it from up there and leave our bloody part alone. :D

Another solution????

Hey no problemo - at all.

This state labor Govt backed out of funding the Derby Tidal power development....up there we have 11 meter tides - some of the largest in the world.....the daily movement up there could produce the environmentally clean power we need to desalinate sea water for Perth forever, with NO environmental discharge to our atmosphere of burning fossil fuel to do so.

Just run a ruddy great Powerline down to Perth - MUCH cheaper than the proposed ord to Perth water pipeline idea of Ernie Bridge.

SEC run such powerlines all over the countryside - it shouldn't be too big a task for them at all. All the surplus power could feed the Perth power grid and we wouldn't be having these brownouts due to shortage opf power now would we and we wouldn't be so reliant on coal / fossil fuels to bugger our air quality..(Global warming).

The Bye product of desalination is SALY NaCl..(Sodium Chloride which is already mines in hiuge uantities at Useless Loop in Sharkl bay(a world heritage area with a MINE in the middle of it???? :rolleyes:

Whats the salt used for (Besides putting on ya fish n chips?)..

To Make PVC Plastics (PVC = Poly Vinyl Chloride). The Chloride in PVC comes from the Cloride in Salt.

So - close down Useless loop - save the Shark Bay World heritage area, and use the salt from desalinating perths water with FREE tidal energy from Broom Derby and points north on the Mitchell plateaux / horizontal waterfall etc etc etc...

Theres enough tidal pwoer in the Kimberleys to desalinate enough seawater to irrigate ALL of western Australia...for FREEEEEEEEEEEE (in case it escaped anyones attention!)
;)

I dunno - no one in this sate shows any leadership these days...

OK, The Ord water is too dear to pump down to Perth $5 a kiloliter or something...so se the tidal power for free electricty cabled to Perth to desalinate seawater, with the surpluds power to feed thegrid...ALLL FREEE

How much of a Rhodes scholar do you have to be to realise, That we don't have to kill our forests and rivers bye stealing their water...when we have the free tidal power and freee saltwater to meet western Australia's needs forever in perpetuity, and the environment and our fish would thank us for it - hell - the Salt from the desalination could even make the PVC pipe to irrigate Western Australia for free...

We could feed the world - no poverty no starving millions dieing in the world every day...

The answers are so simple but the 'experts' like to keep it hard because they can't get rich off something thats FREE.

Cheers!

[PlakaBoy]

"Theres enough tidal pwoer in the Kimberleys to desalinate enough seawater to irrigate ALL of western Australia...for FREEEEEEEEEEEE (in case it escaped anyones attention!) "

Do u know how much Capital it would cost to put such a plan together? BILLIONS! And imagine the maintenence costs of having a barge that had to deal with those huge tides when something went rong! And all those Barras getting chopped up in those turbines.....i shudder to think!
However, its a good Plan, but lets face it, there aint no way it's gonna happen in the next 50 years ;)
And by the way us drillers are sick of getting abused by u nannupians at the pub, we are after all, just pawns for the water corp ;)

Coz I don't go to the pub.

And I don't abuse no one...in case they are bigger than me...:D

So how you find in Nannup in Winter?...cold?...wet?

Hey, wanna drill me a new water bore for a few cartons on the sly? ;)

I could do with enough water to irrigate the whole place, as it is I keep running out in summer....gotta git me some a that yarragadee stuff before these Perth bugga's pump it all!!! :cool:

You drill me the new bore and I'll take you boys fishing - deal?;) :D

Cheers!

Has the issue gone away?

I hardly think so - it's all systems go in fact from what I've heard, they NOW intend to TRIPLE the amount of water to be pumped from 42 gigalitres to 135 Gigalitres.

Thats right, 3 X as much water as we were originally told and ALMOST exactly the same amount as their OWN research suggests is the TOTAL Blackwoood river summer ground water discharge!!! (What will the fish swim in?)

Apparently the Busselton Water Board who are a private non govt body have ALSO applied for an 42 Gigalitre extraction license (same amount water as the Govt Water Corp.!!)

When you add that to the amounts irrigation farms on the Scott River Coastal plain also applied for you get ~ 135 Gigalitres.

Now - ARE we having information with held deliberately from the public????

You be the judges!;)

Hi Neville,

Any progress pls?

Cheers

Shann
----- Original Message -----
From: WELSH Neville <neville.welsh@environment.wa.gov.au>
To: 'Shann Low' <troutman@compwest.net.au>
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2003 7:05 AM
Subject: RE: Investigation of Southwest Yarragadee Aquifer


Shann,
I have put together the reference material and spoken to the consultant. I will be forwarding a package to you early next week.
Regards
Neville
-----Original Message-----
From: Shann Low [mailto:troutman@compwest.net.au]
Sent: Thursday, 9 October 2003 23:12
To: WELSH Neville
Subject: Re: Investigation of Southwest Yarragadee Aquifer

Hi Neville,
It's been a bit over a month - how are you making out with all that marcoinvertbrates studies info?

Just curious if you've had any luck?

Cheers
Shann Low
----- Original Message -----
From: WELSH Neville <neville.welsh@wrc.wa.gov.au>
To: 'Shann Low' <troutman@compwest.net.au>
Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 7:44 AM
Subject: RE: Investigation of Southwest Yarragadee Aquifer


Shann,
I will start to put together the information your requesting. This could take about one week or so. I will keep you informed of my progress.
Talk shortly
Neville

-----Original Message-----
From: Shann Low [mailto:troutman@compwest.net.au]
Sent: Saturday, 30 August 2003 13:53
To: WELSH Neville
Subject: Re: Investigation of Southwest Yarragadee Aquifier


Neville,

I got to the "feedback" page off a link on your Yarragadee website - up in the little blue boxes on the top left.
I tested it again tonight - and the feedback form still doesn't
work.....but apparently it's NOT the feedback form afterall????
It sure looks like the one, I mean its linked off your Yarragadee main page as "feedback?????

That was why I sent two emails via the "contact us" email links at
Waters and rivers Home page for Water Authority and Waters & Rivers, in the hope at least one would get to someone who could deal with the issues.

As it happens I wasnt aware anything had to be filled out after the meeting - it was late and I left, after discussiuon was necessarily cut short due to the hour.

My request was via my email as above.
MY email included my postal address, but here it is again.

Shann R Low
Blackwood Fly Fishing Sevices
P.O. Box 9
Nannup W.A. 6275

Basically I wanted copies of any macroinvertebrate studies carried out in the Blackwood R & it's tributaries.
The last one I have on hand was supplied bye CALM during the Regional Forests Agreement process some years ago & is entitled:- "A Review of the Knowledge on the effect of Key Disturbances on Aquatic Invertebrates and Fish in the South West Forest region of WA" By P Horowitz, EJ Jasinska,
E Fairhurst & JA Davis". Oct 97

Basically, that one just says no ones done any specific work on the south west rivers but based on their collective 'best guess' utilising what work has been done within easy day trip of Perth universitys (read lake monger and joondalup etc) everything should be honkey dorey if CALM reduce vegetated river and stream reserve widths from 100 meters to 50 meters.

Basically the report says they don't know enough to be able to comment really and that more time & $ should be invested to do the research which to my knowledge has never been done outside the Perth metro area. (ALL of Jenny Davis and Faye Christides published work seems to refer again to the
swan coastal plain, NOT our southwest Rivers and streams).

In my experience a LOT of the aquatic insects in the almost still water lake systems of Perth coastal plains are the algae scraping / decaying vegetation eating type insects moreso than the types found in clear fast flowing highly oxygenated riffles and runs of the Blackwood and it's tributaries...

I'd like to see the surveys and research conducted since the above "Review of Knowledge" report...

The summary of Key Points @ 3.4 on page 60 of that report states and I quote:-

"4. Crucial data are not available for individual species. Experimental data on single issue disturbances are not available. Interacting disturbances have not been evaluated experimentally due to their complexity. Research is required to improve this situation. Research examining impacts beyond the short-term with a specific objective of testing the recovery or otherwise
of ecological communities to known and quantified disturbances is urgently required".endquote

I would like to see the subsequent reasearch where the impacts of flow regime disturbance thru aquifier pumping / extraction has now been tested experimentally against other quantified and known disturbance events such as fire, dieback disease, drought, logging, mining, salinity and so on - and what the tested recovery capacities of these individual species and ecologica communities is.

I am yet to be convinvced that this work has been done...and I believe quite strongly that until it is done - no groundwater extraction should be allowed to take place.

I was curious to see any flow reigmes results as well, suspecting that the figures quoted at the meeting for St Johns Brook inflow are actually whats being fed in bye the East Nannup Brook.

In my experience the St Johns doesn't flow into the Blackwood in
summer - especially in a dry year like the one we just had as the mouth of the St Johns has a large sandbar across it....

It's understandeable that an error could have been made - the Blackwood does a bit of an oxbow near my place - where the East Nannup Bk - which is a perennial karri spring fed brook runs all year even in drought, not far below that is the St Johns which contributes NO WATER discharge at all to the Blackwood in summer IMHO.

If the sample readings were mistakenly taken below the inlet of the Nannup brook, then the results observed below St Johns could well have been as I suspect - East Nannup Brook summer inflow...mistaken as having originated out of St Johns. I'm pretty confident of this - I've fished both for may years thru summer and winter, what we were told at the meeting about St Johns Bk summer contribution to the Blackwood doesn't stack up.

In Fact, I've been up the St Johns in Summer when water temps are so elevated and flow non existent that even marron were getting out and walking from the water, conditions were so bad...

It would have been an easy mistake i your not a local - theres not much more than a half kilometer separation from where they both flow in and access for taking reading is hard to gain thru private property there (I Know - one of em's mine and it's fenced 7 ft high with locked gates for deer).

Anyway - I have a major interest in potential impacts on
macroinvertebrates.....so i want to see everything you have on that.

Looking forward to anything you can send me in this respect.

Many thanks in advance.

Shann Low

----- Original Message -----
From: WELSH Neville <neville.welsh@wrc.wa.gov.au>
To: <troutman@compwest.net.au>
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 1:59 PM
Subject: FW: Investigation of Southwest Yarragadee Aquifier


Shann,

It appears that your e-mail did not reach the Department through the website. As far as the computer technos within the organisation are concerned, I have asked them to investigate the problem and fix it.
They have done this and believe that everything should work well. Please let me know if it doesn't and I will make other arrangements.

The site you entered as indicated below;
http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/feedback/index.html
is used to order department reports found on our website and is designed to make comments on the Southwest Yarragadee project.

Can I suggest that you either e-mail me directly or comments can be sent directly to the Blackwood Project team on the attached email: blackwoodproject@wrc.wa.gov.au

Your request for the Macro -invertebrate data was noted by myself at the Nannup meeting, however I did not receive your request. I will chaser it from this end. Can you remember if you did complete a form at the Nannup meeting requesting the macro -invertebrate information? I did need this form to obtain your postal address details? If not could you please
provide.

What I would like to offer you is a copy of the EWR Phase 1 Report reference lists. From this list you can highlight the documents you want and return the list to me. I will put the package together and arrange for it to be mailed to you.

Please let me know if this is a way forward to providing you with the information.

I await your response. In the meantime you can contact me on 9726 4178 if you want to discuss the e-mail sites or my offer for the literature.
Neville Welsh
Senior Project Officer
Allocation and Planning
Phone: (08) 9726 4178, Fax: (08) 9726 4100
Mobile: 0408 300 153

-----Original Message-----
From: LIAROS Suzie
Sent: Thursday, 28 August 2003 8:35
To: WELSH Neville
Subject: FW: Investigation of Soutwest Yarragadee Aquifier

Neville,

Further to our discussion, please provide the information requested by Mr Low below.

Many thanks

Suzie.

part 11

-----Original Message-----
From: Shann Low [mailto:troutman@compwest.net.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 26 August 2003 12:29
To: LIAROS Suzie
Subject: Fw: Investigation of Soutwest Yarragadee Aquifier
----- Original Message -----
From: Shann <mailto:troutman@compwest.net.au> Low
To: info@environ.wa.gov.au <mailto:info@environ.wa.gov.au>
Cc: correspondence@wrc.wa.gov.au <mailto:correspondence@wrc.wa.gov.au>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 9:53 PM
Subject: Re: Investigation of Soutwest Yarragadee Aquifier

For the attention of Regional Manager Wayne Tingney

http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/feedback/index.html
<http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/feedback/index.html>
It may interest you to know that your websites feedback link re the above issue above doesn't work at 9.30PM Thursday July 31 2003 !!!
Is this how the Govt "Stifles" negative feedback??????



The page cannot be found

The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

_____


Please try the following:

* If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.

* Open the www.wrc.wa.gov.au <http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/> home page, and then look for links to the information you want.

* Click the <javascript:history.back(1)> Back button to try another link.

* Click search.gif (114 bytes) <file:///C:/Program Files/Common
Files/Microsoft Shared/Stationery/search.gif> Search to look for
information on the Internet.


HTTP 404 - File not found
Internet Explorer



Hence MY feedback is below!!!


Draining the Mighty Blackwood River.

Monday night July 22 2003, I spent 3.5 hours at a public meeting held in Nannup, bye the Waters & Rivers Commission, Water Authority, and "Witcher water management group" (busselton / Capel flats irrigators!) & more highly paid consultants than you've seen blowflie maggots on a week old muley found in the bottom of the bream boat!

Why were we all there?

Well, it seems, WE (and I use the term VERY LOOSELY) are developing a "community owned" groundwater management plan, for the Yarragadee Aquifier which lies under a geological formation called the "Bunbury Trough", basically from Capel thru to the south coast below Nannup on the Scott River Coastal plain.
Community Owned but the community doesn't get to make the final decision - those with a vested interest do!

Why?

Well - the Water Authority have made application to extract 42 Gigalitres of water a year from this aquifier to export to Perth and Bunbury to solve the water shortage crisis before next state election is called bye the Gallup Govt in Nov 2004.

Apparently they badly need more fresh water in the Capital city to
pollute with nutrients and drain into the Swan River to kill bream - this years recent massive fishkill effort wasn't enough for them as there are some reports filtering out that NOT ALL of the bream were killed this time round - they hope to do MUCH better next year tho!! :mad:

Apparently in this 'Bunbury Trough' the Yarragadee Aquifier holds some 6 cubic kilometers of basically fresh drinkable water. Apparently thats a heck of a lot of water worth an immense amount of $ to anyone who can pump it out and sell it.

The water Authority can't pump this water unless they produce a
management plan for the resource with of course full public consultation. The public will "own" the management plan, BUT the Water Authority & Minister will have the 'final say' over whether the water is or isn't pumped.

They have spent some $6 Million so far drilling hundreds of test holes all over Nannup and surrounds so they can monitor effects of the proposed "test pumping" to see how much draw down there is and how long it takes to replenish through natural recharge.

The Govt & Water Authority will use a brand new "model" to determine whether or not to go ahead with this...it will be a "Triple bottom line decision".

This means:-

1. There will be an economic analysis bye a bean counter to see if it can make money.
2. There will be a social impact study to see if country and city
folks actually want it to go ahead,
3. There will be a further ecological study to see if any ecosystems
like trees or rivers and their fish aquatic insects etc will be affected bye the pumping of 42 giglitres a year from the aquifier.

All this will happen of course BEFORE October next year 2004...when the projected first pumping of water to Perth is planned to happen.
(Strange co-incidence, just before summer water restrictions are due to start and the elections due to be held).

Interestingly - the social impact study is already done - and with the city & country folks interviewed, basically 70% of both groups said - "no bugga orf - we don't trust the Govt or the Water Authority/Water & Rivers Dept to manage this resource properly" or words much to that effect.

The economic study says the best high dollar return for the water is to sell it to heavey INDUSTRY & domestic use in the city, the ongoing environmental impact study is tending to suggest it will all be "apples" (of course thats what you get when you pay consultants megabucks to produce "science for sale to the highest biddder"....tell us your desired outcome and we will
conduct the science you need to produce the outcome you want!).

So - when all of this is completed to the next stage for public
comments in 5 or 6 weeks - the Gallup Govt will 'consider' the "triple bottom line"
(Social, Environment & $) and "decide if it's to go ahead or not".

Thats why the Water Authority have **already** called tenders for expression of interest to steel pipe manufacturers around the world to manufacture the steel pipe here & supply the pipe all the way from Nannup - to Perth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah - like the decision hasn't already been made! $6 million spent on drilling monitoring holes and tenders already called for Pipe and we should believe the public consultation will make one ounce of difference???????? :rolleyes:

How bloody gullible does this stupid coonassed State Labor Gallup govt think the people of this state really are????????

How convenient the water gets to Perth, in time to avoid water
restrictions in summer during the election year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes:

As I've posted before about the Yarragdee aquifier, it actually comes to the surface around Nannup in the form of the Karri springs that rise in the escarpement to the east of Nannup. There consultants OWN monitoring thru this past summer drought year has already confirmed what I've previously posted in this regard, from my own observations, that the water arriving at Nannup in the Blackwood is salty from the farms further upstream around
Bridgetown, Boyup Brook and points further east into the wheatbelt on the Beaufort, Arthur & Cobolomine rivers which rise in the wheatbelt around Wagin, Dumbleyung, Kattanning, Narrogin etc and join together to become the 350 kilometer long Magnificent Mighty (salty) Blackwood River

In fact we are losing freshwater habitat capable of supporting the
freshwater marron, endemic native freshwater fish and at least 9 other families of freshwater aquatic insects (e.g mayflies, dragonflies, damsel flies, stoneflies, water beeltes, water snails etc..) which are native to this area and the Blackwood River, at the increadible and increasing rate of about 1.5 kilometers a year!

It is over summer and drought years, as I pointed out before - ONLY the freshwater influx from the Yarragadee in the vicinity of Nannup, via the Nannup Brook that, feeds the middle part of the Blackwood and keeps all these unique and in some aquatic macro invertebrate insect cases, as yet unidentified bye science, species alive. The lower Blackwood some 40 miles inland from the Hardy inlet at Augusta right up to Warner Glen bridge gets saltwater tidal influence from the Blackwood rivermouth at Augusta so
the freshwater species like marron and the freshwater aquatic insects can't live down there.

They can ONLY survive here in the middle 50 kilometers of the
Blackwood from just above Nannup - down to just above Warner Glen (Theres a a rockbar there which impedes navigable water upstream for boats and also is the furthest extent upriver of the tidal saltwater influence in summer droughts / during low flows).

Part 111 follows

The environmental consultants OWN monitoring over this last drought summer we've just experienced confirms that it's ONLY this recharge of some 148 gigalitres/annum of FRESH Yaragadee groundwater into the Blackwood River via the Nannup Brook AND the springs in the bed of the deep holes in the Blackwood below my place here in Nannup which is keeping the last precious 50 odd kilometer "middle section" of the river fresh..and ALL those
species from becomming extinct!

The salinty levels are too high for Marron and other freshwater
species above Nannup, they plummet back to almost fresh when they hit Nannup, the inflow of Karri Springs fed Nannup brook and the Yarragadee aquifier springs in the bed of the river where it's excised it's way deep into the water table, and the salt levels go High again when they hit Warner Glen bridge due to tidal salt from the ocean.

~50 K's of freshwater river left, (out of over 350 kilometers that was once fresh) and being lost at 1.5 kilometers per year....148 gigalitres or thereabouts of Yarragadee summer FRESH groundwater recharge into the Blackwood....and they want to pump 42 gigalitres of that to Perth a year to supply to Perth residents to pollute and dump into the Swan to kill more bream.
:rolleyes: :mad:

The people of the whole state have already told this govt thru the completed social impact study that they don't want this, AND that they don't trust the Water Authority/ Waters And Rivers commission or the State Governement to manage these resources properly and yet seemingly Gallup has already made
the decision anyway, and ordered the bloody drilling and pipes!

This is what happens when a little area like the southwest who aren't a marginal labor seat and never have been since white settlement get shafted bye a state labor government BECAUSE THEY CAN.

We down here in the southwest cannot change this.

Bunbury Voters can, it's a marginal seat with only about 200 votes
deciding which party gets a seat in parliament. I bet theres over 200 anglers in Bunbury who could help turn the tide come election time...

Same thing in many of the marginal Perth seats.

The solutions to this problem lie clearly with the urban voter not the rural dweller - all we can tell you is whats going down out here in the bush - it's up to the city folk to change this if they want to and bye the sound of it from the social impact study, over 70% do want it changed to "SAVE THE BLACKWOOD RIVER"..

I hope this message gets spread far and wide. There is a Waters and rivers commission website link for Yarragadee to all the fancy slides and overheads (link provided below) - it was a VERY impressive presentation bye a whole raft of professional scientists bought no doubt at great expense.
There was a huge nosh up to get us all onside as well.

It didn't work- the people at the meeting clearly told these folks to
'bugga orf and leave our water and river alone'. They were embarrased but it didn't seem to unduly deter any of them...they all clearly knew the "fix was already in" and it's a done deal.

Please feel free to cut n paste this far n wide - email it to all the
green groups and anyone else who will listen, to Liam Bartlet maybe - and the newspapers etc.

It also came to light during the meetings question and answer session, that a "coporate body" like the Water Corp can be sold off, just like Telstra.

We could well end up with a foreign "Corporate Water Baron" in the USA owning the sole water extraction license for the Yarragadee aquifier...6 cubic kilometers of fresh water in the driest continent on earth (along with all of the rest of the states water resources).

Water Authoirity will PAY us down here nothing for the right to
extract this water- they will likely SELL the extraction rights license to those water resource reserves in the ground, to some Corporate Water Baron overseas for a pittance (See Last weeks 4 corners expose on the Water Barons) and WHEN you come to pay your water bills - your hard earned $ will be sent overseas
tax free thru some cayman islands tax haven to benefit some wealthy Yanks, at the expense of your kids futures in this state and nation.

They aren't paying for this water - they are stealing it pure n
simple.

In the old days of range wars for grazing and water for stock - these battles for water would have been fought to the death with guns. Those days loom ever closer again with the way this great water heist has been so cleverly orchestrated.

When the last freshwater from the Blackwood is gone - those beleagured black bream in the Hardy Inlet at Augusta will no longer be able to spawn as they need that *********freshwater flush********* to stimulate them to school and spawn, These are the SAME Black bream being currently netted bye pro
and recreational angler alike, at the same time federal funds are being spent to 're stock' the river with aquacultured black bream... how dumbassed is that?... when we want to then drain the river of its freshwater as well??????

Has this freaking govt gone totally stark raving MAD?

It its the ONLY logical conclusion I can come too I'm afraid. As ol
Spock from Startrek said - "when all illogical possibilities are removed - what remains no matter how illogical it may sound is the only logical answer".

Great Scott!!! For Gods sake, Scott us up beamey, were ALL in deep trouble!!!! ;o)
This link is to the waters and rivers commissions web site with yet
more links to all the consultants reports (in pdf format) for the research into the management plans formulation.

http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/whicher/swybga_logo_sm.gif
<http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/whicher/swybga_logo_sm.gif>

Just about all the people listed on the witcher committee (bar 1 - 7%) are primarily interested in money generation in the Busselton/Caple Shires thru use of groundwater in one way or another. There is no (fore)thought to the trickle down effects (pun intended) the pumping will have to other shires with direct relations with the Blackwood (Nannup, Augusta-Marget
River).

I do hope you can help me to aware anglers and the good folks of Perth that killing off the Blackwood rivver bye diverting it's groundwater recharge to the Perth and hence the Swan river will only hasten the death of the Swan River and it's few remaining fishstocks as well.

If ever there were a time for the citizens of Western Australia to
form a riverkeepers organisation (see www.riverkeepers.org
<http://www.riverkeepers.org> ) that time is right Now, If not we
soon wont have any of the essential elixir of life - fresh water left
unfortunately.

Many thanks in advance.

Shann Low.Blackwood Fly Fishing Charters Nannup
Licensed Fisheries Dept Charter Guide Lic 80 & 194 (South Coast, West Coast & Gascoyne regions)
16ft Barra Punt SPV Surveyed Passenger Vessel "Steelhead Maru"
Qualified Coxswain, Full Public Liability Ins.
As Seen on Bushy N Starlo's "Hooked on Adventures" TV Show
Freshwater Trout, Estuary Bream and Saltwater Salmon Fly Fishing Safari's on Blackwood and Donelly Rivers and South Coast beaches, Saltwater Fly Fishing packages to Shark Bay & Abrolhos Islands.
Ph/Fax A/h 08 97 561207
Ph Bus Hrs 08 97 561365
Sat Mob 0404 271 203
http://www.compwest.net.au/~troutman <http://www.compwest.net.au/~troutman>
Fisheries, Forestry and Environmental Consultant.
Freelance Fishing Journalist.
Former CALM Forester & Wildlife Officer
Fisheries. Forestry & Environmental Consultant
P.s

At the meeting in Nannup - I was promised publicly full copies of ALL research on the Blackwood rivers macroinvertebrates, held bye the Waters & Rivers, Water Authority, their consultants and the Water Corps staff.

To this point in time it HASN'T as yet been provided.

I want it, I don't believe any worthwhile macroinvertebrate studies have been carried out on the Blackwood - I WANT to see ALL such published (and unpublished) work upon which the consultants and management committees government etc will be basing their environemental threat analyses.

I also want to see ALL copies of any and all environmental flows
assessment undertaken on the Blackwood river.

P.P.s Don't bother putting any stupid "disclaimers" on your replies to me - this is a public issue - it WILL be discussed publicly bye me on public forums such as internet forums, Radio And TV and I WILL be quoting from all scources of information available on the public record.

If the information I've sought and been promised publicly isn't
provided to me in a timeley fashion I WILL take "other measures" to obtain such informationm and I WILL make public the fact that information is apparently being with held from the public.

Lets see now. I've been asking now for this information which I was PUBLICLY promised on July 22nd at the Nannup meeting for Yarragadee and STILL they can't supply it!

You know why?

Because they havent DONE any scientific studys of the insects in the Blackwood River period!

Thats why - they have publicly promised something they CAN'T deliver.

The decisions are totally electorally driven by Govt they have absolutely NO basis in sound scientific research.

Again our Governement is caught out lieing to us publicly.:rolleyes:

Cheers!

[Bear]

Here's one for you Trouty.

My in-laws have just come back from a trip up to Narrogin and Bruce Rock.

Guess what the BIG talk of the Shire big wigs was.........

A canal system that take the salt laiden water from the systems in the wheat belt and drain them out into the Avon River and then into the Swan.

Am I the only one who hears alarm bells??

My contacts in the wheatbelt are telling me the same thing.

I was told on the quiet that the Farmer in narembeen that CALM Dept are prosecuting for breaking a branch off a tree in the reserve next to his farm, is in trouble over just this very issue.

Remember he was grading a track in CALM's reserve for the local landcare group and CALM officers from Narrogin (no names, no packdrill) to come and inspect salt problems comming to the surface in the reserve.

He was asked to grade the track and a turn around at the end so the bus could turn around and get back out after the inspection. In doing so the cab on his tractor broke 1 branch on 1 tree.

CALM up n the wheatbelt are all for this "cheap easy fix" of draining the salt to the waterways and let it flush down the river systems. To do this they wanted to drain the salt rom their reserve THRU this guys paddocks and to the creek - and eventually the river.

He stoood up and spoke against the idea to all his Farmers buddys on the Landcare group - saying that CALM should deal with their salt on their land and not drain the problem into neighbours propertys and then the creeks and rivers thus killing off all the Marron etc downstream (and of course he was right).

This was his "sin", speaking out against a Govt cheap fix problem and leaving CALM stuck with a problem on their own land they don't know how to fix.

For his troubles CALM are now persecuting him thru the courts with a wildliife act offense of "taking protected flora". :rolleyes:

This is CALMs non too subtle way of telling him to keep his trap shut or else. :mad:

Wouldn't you think CALM would be concerned about the native freshwater fish & marron in our waterways and the overall health of the Swan and other rivers of the state to NOT even consider draining salt affected land into our waterways, given the recent algal blooms and fish kills in this state????

There ARE Farmers with salt affected land who ARE having some success rehabilitating their salt affected land. Some of them are draining it into Large Dams and then raising bream and trout in the Salty water (trout will live in salty water after they get over 12 months old and their livers can handle the salt - they only need the fresh for spawning).

So theres an example of Farmers dealing with their salt water on their own land and turning the problem into a money spinning aquaculture opportunity.

Why can't CALM be equally resourcefull?...rather than going around persecuting people who speak out against their sometimes "ecologically unsound" idea's.

Nothing that Govt Fisheries or CALM does of late surprises me anymore Sean... :rolleyes: it seems "common sense" is no longer a very common commodity.

One of the "biggest" problems I think, I see, Sean, isn't really just CALM or Fisheries or Water Authority or even the State Govt itself making major blunders...what i think we are seeing is a LACK of a "Whole of Government Approach"......to problem solving...

By this I mean.

One department (Water Authority) gets told "Fix the water crisis before the next election...and they obviously decide the quick cheap easey fix is Yarragadee aquifier at nannup (thus robbing the Blackwood if it's LAST freshwater recharge which is the only thing keeping the river alive.

Meanwhile, breamers are screaming blue murder about netting in the Hardy Inlet - so they run around like headless chooks organising all these meetings at which really nuthing gets resolved, trying to SAVE the fish in the Blackwood.

At the same time, CALM are crreating a marine park which by including the Hardy inlet suddenly overlaps whatfisheries are doing with netting / breanmers resource sharing problem...in that now NOBODY will be able to fish in the Blackwood.

In the meantime CALM up in the wheatbelt are trying to increase the salt burden in our rivers and DRAIN the salt problems from inland down to Nanniupo and Augusta, where the freshwaters been pumped, the Bream and marron are all dead - in a brand new marine park that no one can fish anyway!!!!!!

Does this sound like a Governement who have adequately thought thru all the problems and potential solutions and come up with a viable solution to you?

To me it sounds like 3 oir 4 departments who all don't talk to each other, and work together to affect solutions to problems rather than all working against each other and each exacerbating the problems in turn until they are totally unfixable.

That is the crux of the problem, each of the departments think theyare doing something 'constructive' about a problem within their charter - but collectively they are making a giant clusterphuk out of it and in fact making the problem worse thanit needs be.

I guess thats where we expect our Govts to be "leaders" and to take responsibility for adequately directing their various departments works programs to "complement" each other in comming t a successful solution for MAJOR environmental problems.

OK so if we KNOW what the problem is...what could we do different?

Well,

For a start.

Why pump the water to Perth? Perths alreadty too large it takes a full bloody day to travel frommandurah to wanneroo Quinns rock now - and the Swan Coastal plain / Swan river can't cope with the people pressure.

We could keep making perth more hi rise - bigger sjkysrapers for everyone to work in - but what for?....doesnt that just make them more lucrative targets for terrorists to fly planes into???

Why not create more regional citys in WA WHERE the water resources are....Nannup, Kimberlies, Busselton etc etc and move the people there thus developing pur state and releiving Perth and the swan coastal plain / swan river of some of it's nutrient burdens?

WHy not encourage (and fund) aquaculture on wheatbelt farms to effectively use the saline water on farm so it doesnt end up in our rivers killing our fish.

Why not create FHPA's (Fish Habitat Protection Area's) under fisheries instead of marine parks under CALM...so that "some limited catch and release fishing trials can be conducted to assess the inpmacts on such species as bream?, while at the same time buying out the netters to ease the pressures on fishstocks (especially at spawning time). Then you have a saving on restocking funds that could be redirected to the wheatbelt farmers saline water aquaculture research and funding grants needs. (a win win solution).

The Blackwoodkeeps ity's much needed freshwater, we get to fish for bream - the netters get bought out the Farmers get to keep their salty water and make a quid outta it...and small rural towns that are struggling get t grown with their new found regional city status with JOBS for people out of the citys...where they ARENT such lucrative terriorist targets and their quaklity of life is better with larger blocks of land, fresh water room to move etc...

Why does the Eastern seaboard have Melboyrne Sydney and Darwin while the whole west coast just has one city, "Perth"?

It's time we all stopped trying to live in each others back pocklets and spread pout and developed this state.

We have so much water in the Kimberleys it's staggering, we have potential cheap renewable non polluting tidal power, you name it and WA Has it but instead of developing it we are choking the rural areas out of existence closing down industries and towns at the same time overcrowding perth and killing the Swan River.

Thats just plain Dumb in a State the size of Western Australia.

The 'problems' are surmountable IMHO - it just requires leadership and vision - something the current (and past) governments haven't been showing much of for quite some years.

Ol Sir Charlie Court was about the LAST elder statesman who showed any leadership in this state as a politician, - with the Argle dam construction - now if his son Tricky Dicky had shown some of the same instead of building us a flippin bell tower no one wanted THEN likely he;d a still been in power - his arrogance for the needs of the people of WA was what got him and his Govt kicked out.

The Gallup Govt will get kicked out for FAILING to show that very same leadership.

You'd think they'd have woken up by now what the people want - leadership.

It's not that hard - too many pollies are only worried about their next election and their parliamentary pension.

BUt if someone DOES try and get up on their hind legs whos just a common man (or woman) and form a party and try to sjhow some leadership...lets say your local corner fish n chip shop woman the two party political system lock em up and throw away the keys..like Pauline Pantsdown. :rolleyes:

I mean a Bank manager robs 19 million he gets 3 years but Thepolitical Fishn Chip shop owner gets 7 years?????

In any other country Pauline Pantsdown would be classed a political prisoner like Nelson Mandella was for 20 something years during the appartheid era.

I mightn't have voted for her or even liked her policys but I still think we need to start worrying when the commonman can't getup n have a go at making thiongs better of they think the current crop of pollies aren't doing a good enough job of it.

What Aussie having seen what happened to Hanson would now have a go at starting a party and running in an election?????

You'd need balls of steel to even think about having a go, given whats transpired.

While our whole political system is so badly outof control - it's not that hard to see why we AREN'T getting leadership and a whole of Governemtn approach to the environmental problems with our rivers and fish stocks management.

In a lot of ways it reminds me of the decline that befell the mighty roman empire in the last days.

Cheers!

I've been verbally promised bye Water & Rivers Commissions Neville Welsh, that I WILL finally get the info on flow regimes for the Blackwood and Macroinvertebrates studies, that I've been seeking for the last 4 months with regard to the Yarragadee groundwater aquifier pumping, sometime next week.

Interestingly - in support of what I've been saying about lack of left hand and right hand knowing what each other is doing - Waters and Rivers weren't at all aware of the plans to create a marine park in THEIR RIVER in the Hardy inlet up to Molloy Island!
:rolleyes: .

They haven't allowed for that at all in their management planning for the Yarragadee Aquifier pumping.

They accept that there is a critical need to ensure any water pumped from Nannup (upstream) didn't potentially have an adverse impact on downstream aquatic flora/fauna (weed & fish) in a marine park. :rolleyes:

Waters and Rivers commission are ALSO likewise unaware that Fisheries Dept are trying to resolve a resource sharing issue between anglers and netters in THEIR (waters & rivers Commissions) river!!!!

So just WHO IS looking ater our resources?????.

It seems like Fisheries only look after the fish dead or alive while Waters and Rivers Commission look after the river itself until CALM come along and take it away as a marine park without telling them at which time Fisheries who also weren't aware, lose control over the fish dead or alive and the revert to becoming CALM's fish & water.

I STILL maintain that a Riverkeepers Organisation is about the ONLY hope our rivers ever have of any body actually looking after the river itself against ALL competing forces (Govt & Private) looking to exploit it in some way or another. :rolleyes:

So - what now?

Cheers!

Will this make any difference?

Will the Federal Government step in to put a stop to this water Theft from the Blackwood?

Whos comming?

AN INVITATION TO THE
O
O Western Australian
O Rural Water Users’
Summit

Recently, the Western Australian Government released its State Water Strategy which it believes will ensure a sustainable water future for the state. The document has raised deep concerns among many water user groups throughout the state with a result that a high level Rural Water Summit is to be conducted in the South Western town of Nannup during 10-11 December 2003.

The Summit is an industry response to the Gallop Government’s State Water Strategy and has eventuated through several recent combined industry meetings which have specifically discussed the South West Yarragadee proposal and Water Resource Management Charges.

There are several other issues contained within the State Water Strategy that have the potential to severely impact on rural and regional WA.

The Summit is strongly supported by the Combined Shires Association and the industry representative bodies which include WAFarmers Federation, PGA, WA Fruit Growers Association. Whilst the Government to date has paid token consideration to individual industry voices, a united lobby approach will produce a different outcome. This summit is to be the first united industry response to the Government’s proposed direction on water management in Western Australia.

A copy of the programme is attached and as you will observe, the quality and experience of the speakers together with the range of topics to be addressed are first class.

The Summit will be held in Nannup which is a small thriving rural town set on the Blackwood River some 290 kilometres from Perth and is some 60 kilometres from Busselton along the Vasse Highway with private or hire cars being the only means of accessible transport.

Transport from Perth provides train, bus and air services to Bunbury with bus and air services extended to Busselton.

Accommodation facilities are adequate in Nannup and plenty more can be found in the surrounding districts, including Busselton.

An invitation is extended to anyone who has an interest in the future, fair and effective management of Western Australia’s most precious resource – water – to attend this dynamic Rural Water Summit.

To assist you to make arrangements to attend the Summit, the following information is provided.

 Registration of your attendance – The Shire of Nannup (08) 9756 1018
 Accommodation – The Nannup Tourist Information Centre (08) 9756 1211
 Transportation
Hire cars: Hertz (08) 9721 9022
Avis 0407 444 209
Bus services: South West Coach Lines (08) 9754 1666
Train services: Transwa (Westrail) 131053
Air services: Cape Naturaliste Tourist Assoc. (08) 9752 1288

When registering your attendance, it will be necessary for you to indicate:

 Your desire to participate in the Field Trip and/or …
 Your desire to attend the evening event of drinks and dinner

Availability for these two events is limited and applications will be accepted on a first in basis.

The cost of the non-profit Summit is FREE with the only exception being the cost of the dinner.

This will be a dynamic Summit where you will hear exciting speakers discussing a wide range of topics all of which focus on our Western Australian water supply. Your attendance will not only show your support but will keep you abreast of current and future events and planning plus provide you with the opportunity to network with a wide range of people and ask questions of the speakers.

Queries relating to the Summit may be directed to the
Summit Management Consultancy South West People Care – John Wilkins
on (08) 9753 1293 or 019 915 042.

Water – our precious lifeline for survival


WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RURAL WATER USERS SUMMIT

Community Centre, Warren Road, NANNUP

WEDNESDAY 10 TH AND THURSDAY 11TH DECEMBER 2003


WEDNESDAY 10TH

11.30am Field Trip to three local sites

6.30pm Drinks and Dinner

Keynote speaker – Peter Corish, President, National Farmers Federation

THURSDAY 11TH


8.30 am Registration – tea and coffee

9.30 am Introduction and welcome - Barbara Dunnett – President, Nannup Shire

Chairman – Chris Scott

Keynote speaker – John Anderson, Deputy Prime Minister

 The COAG Water Initiative

 Questions from the audience

Water Resource Issues

 Financiers View – Stephen Carroll, Australian Bankers Association (TBC)

 Farmers Water Rights – Craig Underwood, Pastoralists & Graziers Assn

 Government Regulation & Consultation – Andy McMillan, WAFarmers

 Panel Session – Questions from the audience

12.00pm Lunch and Networking

1.00pm Future Rural Water Demand – A Reality Check

 Population Trends – Greg Trevaskis, Local Government Representative

 Irrigated Agriculture – Steve Dilley, WA Fruit Growers Assn

 Mining Industry – Chamber Minerals & Energy

 Panel Session – Questions from the audience



2.30pm Afternoon tea

3.00pm The Real Cost of Water – Geoff Calder, Harvey Water

Local Water Management – Diane Fry, Warren Lefroy Advisory Group

Irrigation Co-operatives – Lindsay Innes, Ord Irrigation Co-op

 Panel Session – Questions from the audience


Summary

 Peter Corish, President, National Farmers Federation

The way forward – Chris Scott, Chairman

 Resolutions from the floor


5.00pm Close and refreshments
































SPONSORSHIP FOR THE
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RURAL WATER USERS’ SUMMIT

Recently, the Western Australian government released its State Water Strategy which it believes will ensure a sustainable water future for the state. This document has raised deep concerns among many water user groups throughout the state.
As a result, a high level Rural Water Summit is planned to be conducted in the South Western town of Nannup during 10-11 December 2003. The summit will provide a strategic response, from a rural water users perspective, to the State Water Strategy.
A copy of the programme is attached and as you will observe, the quality and experience of the speakers together with the range of topics to be addressed are first class.
An opportunity exists for organisations such as yours to support the Summit with financial sponsorship.
The objective of the summit is to be non-profit in nature and free to all participants with only one element of the programme to be charged for. Sponsorship will support all costs.
It is anticipated that at least 500 people will attend the summit from all walks of life across Western Australia.
This Consultancy is charged with the responsibility of arranging the summit and would appreciate it if your sponsorship cheque is made out to:
South West People Care

Your cheque should be sent to:
South West People Care
24 Gelorup Rise
GELORUP WA 6230

In being a Sponsor you will be entitled to have an advertising stand or exhibition, the option to hang a company banner in the centre and your logo will be visually displayed during the lunch break period.
Should you choose to be a sponsor, we would appreciate your contribution as soon as possible together with a copy of your company logo emailed to swpc2@westnet.com.au
We will acknowledge your sponsorship with our company receipt.
We look forward to your support for this important and far-reaching Summit.
Inquiries should be directed to John Wilkins on (08) 9753 1293 or by facsimile on (08) 9753 1273 or by e-mail on swpc1@westnet.com.au.

Our kindest regards

John Wilkins
Senior Consultant
South West People Care

So - what about it Are Breammasters interested in sponsoring the event?

Will recfishwest be attending to make an address on behalf of anglers?

Cheers!

[Bear]

Have you contacted Frank or the guys at Recfishwest Trouty?

I gather you'll be going? Is so, how can those of us who can't help you out?

Yes I've forwarded this to Frank, but only yesterday evening so likely he hasn't seen it yet.

What can we do?

Well i really don't know to be honest...

What I'd like to do if it was possible would be convince the Deputy PM John Anderson -= that our ,most precious water resource needs to be protected from the depredations of the WA Labor party.

I'd LIKE him to pass FEDERAL legislation to protect our water from being Pilfered to other catchements - and to create a Federally funded Riverkeepers Organisation for all of Australia.

I'd like that deprtment to emplouy ME as theRiverkeeper for the Blackwood - with Powers that allow me to start prosecuting individuals, businesses, farms, corporations AND STATE GOVT DEPARTMENTS who FAIL to meet their obligations to our waterways (and their fishstocks).

I've tried bein nice - I've written to Genial Geoff and his Minions Edwards and Chance - lets see how they like it when I take em to court!!!! ;)

I can't see any other way to save my precious Blackwood river Sean.

I could die ahappy man if i spent my days protecting that beautiful river from those out there who see it variously as either an industrial drain, or a resource to be corporatised and pumped away and sold for profit etc..

I think the Legislation will need some seriously large fines AND mandatory jail time in order to give a riverkeeper any real teeth.

I'd like to be the one to send these stupid state politicians to jail for messing with my River - i could live with that! :)

The river comes first - whatever it takes...and if it takes federal legislation and federal $ and a Federal Riverkeeper to protect it then so be it.

Theres only ONE way to keep the current State Govt honest and thats too hold theor cpolective asses to the Brazier, and i'm just the bastard mad enough to do it.

Lets hope the Federal fella Anderson sees it the same way.

Maybe recfishwest / breamamasters could lobby for the same thing...Federal Riverkeepers....

One a my first official jobs will be to dynamite these ruddy great holes plugga's been drillin all over the countryside down here to steal our water for Perth.

I'm not against people havin water to drink and live - but I am against killing the Blackwood to feed Perth which will then feed that polluted water in the Swan and kill it...

Taking one river to kill another (hence killing both) is just plain stupid.

Perhaps if the Premier andenvironment minioster had time in jail to ponder their mistaken plan they'd see the error of their ways.

If those people up there need water, then pack up the ol wagon with ty worldly goods and chattels and move on down to the southwest - we could do with a few more people down here to keep our town viable - we got heaps of water, but we AINT giving it away to Perth.

This could yet end up like the USA's range wars - let em come take our water - over our dead bodies.

Just like them Iraqi's insurgentsa keep blowin up the Yanks oil stealin pipelines - us nannupians might hafta blow up the pipeline stealin our water and pumpin it to Perth.

Anyone know any online Dynamite web sites - just needs to figure out how much I need and which end the detonator goes into!! ;) :D ;) :p Jokin Jokin,,,:rolleyes:

Cheers!... anyone got a match?:D

These Canuks a got more water than you could poke a stick at compared to us in the desert we live in.....and they are DohDohDohDohDohin about a shortage of water!:rolleyes:

Fresh-Water Sources
Under Threat
By Oliver Moore
The Globe and Mail
12-4-3

Supplies of fresh water in Canada are under increasing strain as glaciers recede in some places to levels not seen for as many as 10 millenniums, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

Canadians have historically been among the highest users of water in the world, a habit that many ascribe to the enormous masses of fresh water the country possesses. But the latest research by Statscan suggests that these bountiful resources are under threat.

The St. Lawrence Seaway has dropped far enough that navigability is at risk. A decade ago, the port of Montreal was two metres above the long-term average low-water level. It has since dropped a metre. About 1,300 glaciers have lost between one-quarter and three-quarters of their mass in the past 150 years, with most of this reduction occurring in the past half-century, the Statscan report says.

"Along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, glacier cover is receding rapidly, and total cover is now close to its lowest level in 10,000 years," the authors write.

The report - Fresh Water Resources in Canada - was published in the 2003 edition of "Human Activity and the Environment," a yearly portrait of the nation's environment and human impact on it. It draws particular attention to water pollution and the heavy demand for water in areas not always blessed with it.

The authors single out the Okanagan-Similkameen river basin in British Columbia, saying it has the fastest-growing population of the major river basins in Canada but enjoys access to only a tiny percentage of the nation's water.

In the 30 years before 2001, the number of people living in the Okanagan-Similkameen basin more than doubled, climbing to about 285,000. The burgeoning population has left the region ó which has only 0.1 per cent of the country's renewable supply of freshwater - with the highest number of people per square kilometre of surface water.

The Okanagan-Similkameen river basin had nearly 439 people for every square kilometre of surface water, almost as many as the second and third most dense put together. Conversely, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, has only 131 people for every square kilometre of water.

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region was most densely populated, though, when measured by the number of people (30) for every square kilometre of land in the basin in 2001. By this measure, the Okanagan-Similkameen basin fell to second place, supporting about 18 people for every square kilometre of land.

Canada still has one of the largest renewable supplies of fresh water in the world, Statscan stresses, but Canadians insist on using a phenomenal amount of water. The most recent data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development show that each Canadian used an average of 1,471 cubic metres of water in 1999, second only to the Americans (1,870 cubic metres).

Statscan also warns that what water Canadians do have access to remains at risk of pollution, noting that many municipalities have been forced to issue boil-water orders and that agricultural run-off and industrial discharge have regularly contaminated drinking water supplies.

Most Canadians get their drinking water from municipal treatment plants, Statscan says, but these are aging and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association has said that billions of dollars in investment is needed every year.

"Millions of people still rely on shallow ground water resources, which are generally safe but have a higher risk of exposure to contaminants," the report says, adding that barely one-third of farmers who rely on their own wells had their water supply tested regularly.

© 2003 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.
20031203.water1203_2/BNStory/National/


One things for certain - if they reckon they got problems - then we are in dire bloody straights.

The biggest tthreat to freshwater / inland fishing in this state is as I've been saying now for 10 years - that we will be denied access to it..

Water will become (already is) as valuable as gold - and people will do ANYTHINg to own some of it.

It will be corporatised, and sold off to foreign owners like every other bloody resource in this country (Gold diamonds iron ore etc etc etc)

You know if we hadn;t siold off ownership of our natural resources to foreigners for a pittanvce back in the 70's every one of you reading this would be a multi millionaire 3 times over - never have to work again and could spend every wakin hour of every waking day just fishing...forever more and your kids and their kids...

As it is - we are now about toallow our last scerics of freshwater to be corporatised and later sold off and theres dick all any of us can do about it.

Unless we put a stop to it - all we'll have left to drink is beer....oops - thats right, we already sold that off to the Kiwis when Bondy went under.:rolleyes:

So - whos commin to the Water Summit in nannup next week toput the recreational anglers right to access to freshwater to fish in?

How many bream boats and banners are we going to see parked out the front of the Nannup Shire offices to get the message across to the deputy PM John Anderson - that we want our RIGHTS to freshwater streams & rivers enshrined in FEDERAL legislation to stop these State goverments corporatising it all and selling it poff to their mates for a quick backhander into their re election campaign coffers???

Any takers?

As usual - will I be one of the FEW there actually standing up and saying / doing something positive about it?

The silence people - is deafening!:rolleyes:

Cheers!

[Bear]

Trouty,
Do me one favour mate. I, and I'm sure a lot of others, appreciate what you AND OTHERS like Madfish do by turning up to these meetings, but it grinds me a bit when you have a dig at those of us who can't take time off to be there as much as we would like to be.

Generalisations are not fair.

We do what we can and I'm sure if it were possible a lot more of us would be there. Especially if they even had it at a decent time. eg. the weekend.

As always, keep us informed and we'll do what we can from here.

Thanks,

Sean,

I 'll take 1 short leave day and 1 RDO to cover it - no problemo!.

Lets see now..

Outta the

104 weekend days
15 RDO's
12 Public Service and Public Hols
20 Days ARL
9 Days Pro Rata LSL
5 days sick without med cert
3 days short leave
2days compassionate leave

Thats a total of 170 days outta 365 I don't hafta show up as a public servant to still get "paid every fortnight" the full quid.

It's only 46% of the year or 5 &1/3 months outta 12, I don't hafta show up, so I can swing the time off to be there no sweat. :) :cool:

Oops...:rolleyes: Hang on a minute - i work for myself :rolleyes: :( silly me - if i take 2 days off thats 2 days I won't be earning a cent! :mad:

But - it's alright guys - I got it covered - don't worry bout it!:)

Cheers!

[Bear]

Like you Trouty, I don't get paid for my days off. Having just spent a small fortune at Pemby, I need to recoup a few losses.

Here's an idea for you.

Why not put up a post about who on the sites has some comments or who supports the cause. These can then be printed out and if needs be, the names can be verified through BM as the users join. That way there can be no doubt about people registering multiple user names.

At least then you have something to take with you even if we can't be there.

Hey, you can even set up a poll to make sure users have a few options.

Thoughts???????:)

Thats a very good idea indeed,

The difficulty I will have is that wheni stand up to say something - make a point , comment, suggestion or whatever, itis just one voice with a vested interest (axe to grind).

People will inevitable think, "we;; yeah he would say that because he does fishing charters and wants the water for himself so he can make a quid - just like the irrigators will be saying they want it anfd the water authority will be saying they want it - and the Busseltonm water board will be saying they want it...and so on.

I can't stand up and speak on behalf of averge joe fisher, because I have a vested interest as part of an industry, and my comments etc will only carry the weight of me - the same as all the other combatants representing their own interests.

Recfishwest for example or WATFAA could stand up and speak on behalf of recreational anglers.

Fisheries Dept WA could stand up and speak on behalf of their constituents.

A Fishing club could likewise stand up and speak to the Depty PM of this country about enshrining some basic public rights to access to water for rec anglers throughout Australia.

IF there were enough people and enough support - who knows maybe federal govt could mandate the oopening up of water authority dams to artificials fishing and electric only comps or whatever.

A GROUP of anglers pushing for their rightds would be listened too because to Deputy PM Anderson they represent Australia Wide a damn huge viting block -= potentially half of the nation! (Thats ~10 million votes!).

I think he would be astute enough to listen.

If justtrouser trout jumpos up and says his piece - it won;t have the same effect and the recreational anglers will have missed their 1 shot at speakin face to face with someone MORE powerfull than those state Pollies who currently want to take our freshwater away from us.

This guy could legislate to REMOVE the power to manage those resources from ALL state governmenets if he thought thats what the people of Australia (half of whom fish) want.

You think he's gonna do that coz trouty who has a vested interest suggestes it without any support from rec anglers?

Sometimes these pollies are just HANGIN out for issues while running up to an election that can win them big time votes and securing access to water to fish is potentially a very big one IF anglers makeit one.

It looks to melike they might miss their chance sadly - but hey i can't do much about that.

I spoke at length with Craig today on the phone - he went away to think up some points to be raised, a "LIST"...that maybe we can start off a poll or threadto deal with and yes I'llgladly present it on your behalfs but without bums on seats holding banners it might not carry the same weight.

Recfsishwest can't make it, seemingly no one else can either....so basically i think we will mioss the proverbial freshwater boat.

IF al anglers were there Askin for the same thing...RIVERKEEPERS, federal dept federallt funded to keep all these STAE govt departments accountable with prosecutions and fines if they fail and we get sewage spillages mass mortalitys algal blooms red spot etc..THEN it might be different...THEN we might see some accountability...

We won;t get a Federal riverkeepers organisation funded by Liberals unless we can convince Anderson face to face ourselves as a group - trouty on his own can't pull that one off.

When we've missed our opportunity, and the waters pumed - the river dead - the bream all gone - the marine Park in place anyway and the swan River and it's fish all dead n gone too - will be too late.

IF we don't get a committment from federal Govt to Commence a federal riverkeepers Dept to ensure accountability from state authorities vested with that responsibility - we will have collectively signed the death knell for our waters and fish - one chance and I can't believe we are going to blow it.

Put up your comments lists polls petitions etc and yes i'll gladly hand em over - but i don;t think that will carry the weight of the day - but 20 delegates and 10 colourfulll boats parked outside with Banners all asking for a FEDERAL RIVERKEEPERS Organisation would likely get a LOT of press attention not to mention Andersons.

If we pulled it off, Anglers all over Australia would be the winners...and we seemingly only have this one chance.

Sean - the reality is mate - my dads dieing, he could be gone this week or next - maybe I'll get to the meeting maybe I won't - as long as he lastsa few weeks longer maybe I'll get there, but ifhedioesnt then i won;t because I will have other more important responsibilities.

The amount of interest / responses to this thread despite all my letters to pollies etc tells me all I need to know about angler apathy.

It;'s alive and well and thriving as always....10% of the people always do 90% of the work...hell at the moment i'd be very happy with a 10% support at the monent it's very small.

Is anyone on DohDohDohDohDohDohDoh talking about it or posted it? (I can't I'm banned there!).

Can we get Madfish and his wife Cath to come along - they really have their heads screwed on and could make very valuable input.

At the moment - no anglers have "been invited" (with the exception of me and I was invited along as a local farmer/ charter guide).

So Angling per se and the rights of anglers to have enough freshwater left in the rivers to support fish and marron stocks etc isn't really even on ANYONES agenda with the Yarragadee pumping issue.

Unless anglers show up in numbers (and register with the shire to say they are comming) and MAKE it part of the issue, then it simply won't be.

The issue will all be about carving up the water for those with vested interests.

Only Anglers can change this and they so far don't seem too concerned.

MAybe once the fish and water are all gone they will be concerned.

Let me put it in a nutshell.

The Blackwood gets 148 gigalitres a year of freshwater recharge from groundwater in summer when theres no rain.

Its that recharge of freshwater that flows down the Blackwood that dilutes the salt comming from the wheatbelt further upstream, which perks the quality of the river up sufficient to keep all tje Marronbetween nannup andwarner Glen bridge alive along with all the freshwater insects that keep the native fish and trout alive also.

The current applications to withdraw water from:-
Water Authority 45 Gigs
Busselton Water Board 45 Gigs
Scott River& busselton irrigators 45 Gigs

Thats about 135 Gigs of the total 148 Blackwood recharge (91%) they want to pump to places north including Perth.

You really think the Blackwood will survive the salt encroachement from upstream when 91% of the last freshwater keeping the system alive thru summer is gone?

I don't - I KNOW for a fact th river must die - hell without pumping we are losing 2 KM's a year of freshwater marron Habitat to salt encroachment (i.e. it's come from Bridgetown to Nannup in the 16 years I've been here).

Pump 91% of the summer freshwater recharge away and inside 2 years the river will be salt from Kattaning to Augusta.

You really think we can aford to miss our 1 chance to get Federal legislation enacted to stop that vandalism by vested interests and our own state government?

I think Only a "Riverkeeper" with federal powers to prosecute and get court injunctions etc could do it.

If we miss this chance - it's a done deal and it's too late period....like the tasmanian Gordon below Frankland Dam - once the rivers dead is too late.

But it's all right - I'll manage on my own.

Cheers!

This is what I propose to say at the Water users summitt in Nannup to deputy MP John Anderson this week.

(Hang onto ya hats another trouty epistle follows).Pumping The Yarragadee Water

Please permit me to introduce myself to those of you here today who don’t know me.

My name is Shann Low, a rural landowner here in Nannup for the last 16 years with a small property fronting The Blackwood river on which I run a few deer. My background in Nannup is 8 years as a Forester and Wildlife Officer with the Department of Conservation and Land Management in Nannup. The last 8 years I’ve been self employed in a variety of roles, as both a Fisheries, Forestry and Environmental Consultant, as a Charter Fishing tour Operator conducting fly fishing tours on the local Blackwood & Donnelly rivers, not to mention my involvement in the timber industry thru fine furniture manufacturing.

I’ve been fortunate in life, to get chances to do some “interesting things” like conducting rock lobster research for the Fisheries Department along the West Coast and offshore at the Abrolho’s islands and to write research papers for AQIS on disease risks associated with importing frozen bait from overseas after the last Pilchard mass mortality event on our south coast. It’s been an interesting ride I must say.

I’ve been blessed in that time to work with some of the most environmentally conscientious people you could possibly wish to meet. I’ve surveyed native fauna with Harry Butler, and I’ve fished all over this great state with Steve Starling. I’ve fished for trout in the Blackwood river with the Fisheries Departments past senior Freshwater research scientist Doctor Noel Morrissy, who was conducting salinity trials here on the Blackwood river 35 years ago and warning us back then of the situation we face here in Nannup today.

I’d like to think I’ve learned a little something from all of these fine people along the way.

This presentation is hopefully not that lengthy but I hope you’ll humor me with the indulgence to listen to my thoughts about this water resource allocation process we are embarked upon here today.

We need to get a grip on the scope of the problem, which I’ll attempt to do As briefly as possible – it’s a big problem and tough to keep it brief, so please bear with me if it seems to be taking a little while.

Energy for Food

Human beings (like all other animals) draw their energy from the food they eat. Until last century, all food energy on this planet was derived from the sun through photosynthesis. You either ate plants or you ate animals that ate plants, but that food energy was ultimately derived from the sun.

Sunshine is an abundant, renewable resource, and the process of photosynthesis fed all life on this planet.

It doing so, it also set an “upper limit” on the amount of “food” (energy) that could be generated at any one time, and therefore placed a limit upon population growth. Solar energy has a limited rate of inflow to this planet. To increase your food production, you had to increase the acreage under cultivation, and displace your competitors. There was no other way to increase the amount of energy available for food production. Human population grew by displacing everything else and appropriating more and more of the available solar energy and land & water resources.

The need to expand agricultural production was one of the motive causes behind most of the wars in recorded history, despite any other “political causes” we might like to believe were the causative agents.

When Europeans could no longer expand cultivation, they began the task of conquering the world. Explorers were followed by conquistadors and traders and settlers.

Certainly, to this day, landowners and farmers fight to claim still more land for agricultural productivity, but they are fighting over crumbs. Today, virtually all of the productive land on this planet is being exploited by agriculture. What remains unused is either too steep, too wet, too dry or lacking in soil nutrients.

Just when agricultural output could expand no more by increasing acreage, ‘new innovations’ made possible a more thorough exploitation of the acreage already available. The process of “pest” displacement and appropriation for agriculture, accelerated with the industrial revolution as the mechanization of agriculture hastened the clearing and tilling of land and augmented the amount of farmland which could be tended by one person.
With every increase in food production, the human population grew apace.

At present, nearly 40% of all land-based photosynthetic capability on this planet earth has been appropriated by human beings.

We have taken over all the prime real estate on this planet. The rest of nature is forced to “make do” with what is left. Plainly, this is one of the major factors in species extinction’s and in ecosystem stress.

The Green Revolution
In the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, agriculture underwent a drastic transformation commonly referred to as the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution resulted in the industrialization of agriculture

Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production increased by 250%

That is a tremendous increase in the amount of food energy available for human consumption. This additional energy did not come from an increase in incipient sunlight, nor did it result from introduction to agriculture, of vast new vistas of land.

The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and (hydrocarbon fueled) irrigation water.

The Green Revolution increased the energy flow to agriculture by an average of 50 times the energy input of traditional agriculture from the sun.

In the most extreme cases, energy consumption by agriculture has increased 100 fold or more

31% for the manufacture of inorganic fertilizer
19% for the operation of field machinery
16% for transportation
13% for irrigation
08% for raising livestock (not including livestock feed)
05% for crop drying
05% for pesticide production
08% miscellaneous

To give an idea of the energy intensive-ness of modern agriculture, production of one kilogram of nitrogen for fertilizer requires the energy equivalent of from 1.4 to 1.8 liters of diesel fuel. This does not consider the natural gas feedstock used in the fertilizer manufacture process.

In a very real sense, we are literally eating fossil fuels.

However, due to the laws of thermodynamics, there is not a direct correspondence between energy inflow and outflow in agriculture. Along the way, there is a marked energy loss. Between 1945 and 1994, energy input to agriculture increased 4-fold while crop yields only increased 3-fold.

Since then, energy input has continued to increase without a corresponding increase in crop yield.

We have reached the point of marginal returns. Yet, due to soil degradation, increased demands of pest management and increasing energy costs for irrigation, modern agriculture must continue increasing its energy expenditures simply to maintain current crop yields.

The Green Revolution is patently becoming bankrupt.



Fossil Fuels

Solar energy is a renewable resource limited only by the inflow rate from the sun to the earth. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are a stock-type resource that can be exploited at a nearly limitless rate. However, on a human time-scale, fossil fuels are non-renewable. They represent a planetary energy deposit which we can draw from at any rate we choose, but which will eventually be exhausted without renewal.

The Green Revolution tapped into this energy deposit and used it to increase agricultural production.


Fossil fuel use has increased 20-fold in the last 4 decades. We consume 20 to 30 times more fossil fuel energy per capita than people in developing nations. Agriculture directly accounts for 17% of all the energy used

We have reached “peak oil”, the point in the time scale of history, where the world demand for oil outstrips the world supply of cheaply extractable oil, and as a result – we have only several choices available to us to “find” alternative energy.

1. Attack oil rich foreign sovereign nations in an illegal war of aggression, in order to usurp their god given natural fossil fuel reserves for our own needs.

2. Vigorously pursue finding and drilling and exploiting more sources of oil and natural gas,

3. Develop and force the use of fuel cells and a "hydrogen" economy (never mind all the problems that cannot be solved prior to 2020 or even 2050),

4. Open up the building of new nuclear reactors again, and

5. Continue to fund hot fusion research, even though in the nearly half century it's been ongoing it has not added even ONE single extra watt to the power line, and will not do so for at least the next 50 years.


Clearly we are in an energy crisis for Agriculture (not to mention transport, heating, manufacturing etc.)

Part 11 follows

Soil, Cropland and Water

Modern intensive agriculture is unsustainable. Technologically-enhanced agriculture has augmented soil erosion, polluted and overdrawn groundwater and surface water, and even (largely due to increased pesticide use) caused serious public health and environmental problems. Soil erosion, overtaxed cropland and water resource overdraft in turn lead to even greater use of fossil fuels and hydrocarbon products in Agriculture to maintain yields.

More hydrocarbon-based fertilizers must be applied, along with more pesticides; irrigation water requires more energy to pump; and fossil fuels are used to process polluted water.

Modern agriculture also places a strain on our water resources. Agriculture consumes fully 85% of all freshwater resources. Overdraft is occurring from many surface water resources, especially in the southwest and the Swan Coastal Plain.

A typical “world” example is the Colorado River, which is diverted to a trickle by the time it reaches the Pacific. Yet surface water only supplies 60% of the water used in irrigation. The remainder, and in some cases the majority of water for irrigation, comes from ground water aquifers.

Ground water is recharged slowly by the percolation of rainwater through the earth's crust. Less than 0.1% of the stored ground water mined annually is replaced annually by rainfall. The great Ogallala aquifer that supplies agriculture, industry and home use in much of the southern and central plains states of the USA has an annual overdraft up to 160% above its recharge rate. The Ogallala aquifer will become unproductive in a matter of decades.

I can illustrate the demand that modern agriculture places on water resources by looking at a farmland producing corn. A corn crop that produces 118 bushels/acre/year requires more than 500,000 gallons/acre of water during the growing season. The production of 1 pound of maize requires 1,400 pounds (or 175 gallons) of water.

Unless something is done to lower these consumption rates, modern agriculture will help to propel the United States into a water crisis, and the situation in a dry nation like Australia is far worse.

Americans (and Australians) are also grand consumers of water. As of one decade ago, Americans were consuming 1,450 gallons/day/capita (g/d/c), with the largest amount expended on agriculture. Allowing for projected population increase, consumption by 2050 is projected at 700 g/d/c, which hydrologists consider to be minimal for human needs.

This is without taking into consideration the already mentioned declining fossil fuel production.

Total energy consumption is more than three times the amount of solar energy harvested as crop and forest products. The United States consumes 40% more energy annually than the total amount of solar energy captured yearly by all U.S. plant biomass. Per capita use of fossil energy in North America is five times the world average.

Our prosperity is built on the principal of exhausting the world's finite fossil fuel resources as quickly as possible, without any thought to our neighbors, all the other life on this planet, or our children and their futures and the futures of their children’s children

In short we are stealing from our progeny….and we are stealing from – the wildlife that depends upon our lands and our waters for their very survival, in turn placing so much pressure upon them that we are making them extinct at a rate unknown before this point in time.

So where to from Here?,

Here we are in Nannup today as “stakeholders” discussing the resource allocation of the Yarragadee Groundwater Aquifer below Nannup which is an integral part of the groundwater recharge keeping the Blackwood river alive & fresh thru summers and droughts.

Understanding the Blackwood

What we need to understand here today about the Blackwood river is that “it’s a river in reverse”.

Most rivers in the world are snow fed from mountain ranges, and the further we go upstream from human habitation into the mountains, the better the water quality becomes.

Not so the Mighty Blackwood river of WA.

The upper reaches of the Blackwood river rise in our wheatbelt, an area over cleared of deep rooted native vegetation, and suffering some of the worst salt encroachment problems anywhere in the world today.

That salty waste water flows down our Blackwood river every winter displacing freshwater organisms like our wonderful Native marron and all the aquatic insects such as dragon flies and so on who rely upon fresh clean water to breed thrive & survive.

Habitat Loss thru Salt Encroachment

We are losing freshwater habitat in the Blackwood river capable of supporting these endemic organisms to salt encroachment at the recorded rate of about 2 kilometers riverbed distance / annum.

Already salt problems are working their way steadily downstream from Bridgetown to Nannup displacing the Marron as it goes.

What we need to keep in mind also – is that the Lower reaches of the Blackwood river – fully 40 miles inland from the river mouth at Augusta are subject to tidal saltwater influence from the Ocean meaning these precious freshwater macro invertebrates and freshwater native fish like the Marron, our Pygmie Perch and Galaxid Minnows along with all the aquatic insects, cannot survive down stream from Warner Glen bridge to Augusta either…due to salt.

The Fresh Bit That’s Left

All that’s left with enough freshwater capable of supporting these organisms is the last 60 or 70 Kilometers of Blackwood river that winds it’s way thru the Jarrah/Marri forests and hills surrounding Nannup.

Like a man with 3 out of 4 of his coronary arteries blocked and in need of a multiple heart bypass surgery to stay alive – the Blackwood river can only be described as a critically ill patient.

In drought years many of the normally perennial freshwater streams that feed the Blackwood River around Nannup to sufficiently dilute & “freshen up” the saline water arriving downstream from the salt affected wheatbelt, sufficient to sustain these freshwater dependant organisms, become dry, with but one or two local spring fed streams exceptions.

So in fact it’s the spring fed streams in Nannup in summer in drought years, that are the one last hope for survival of freshwater organisms of the Blackwood river.

How Much Groundwater Recharge Does the Blackwood receive from the Yarragadee?

Figures from WA Water Corp web site show that the Blackwood River receives about 148 Giga litres/annum of fresh ground water recharge from the Yarragadee aquifer under Nannup.

How Much groundwater Do the Current Applicants wish to Pump from Yarragadee

The best advice I have so far is that total demand for Yarragadee ground water among all the various stakeholder applications for extraction licenses is ~ 135 Gigalitres Per annum, made up of:-

45gigs for Water Corp,
45 Gigs for the Busselton Water Board and:
45 Gigs combined for the Busselton irrigation farmers and Scott river plateau irrigation farmers.
Total 135 Gigs/annum.

Part 111 follows

The point that I would like to make is that this amount represents a full 91% of the total summer fresh groundwater water recharge of the Blackwood river during dry summer & drought years…

Is 91% of total groundwater recharge a sound decision to reach for extraction?

The question in essence really is – who in their right mind as a medical practitioner – would try to draw 91% of the remaining lifeblood of a critically ill multiple heart bypass surgery patient, from the one remaining functional coronary artery he has left?

Surely to anyone with even half a brain this is sheer lunacy, given that we know the fossil fuel reserves of the world are not sufficient to maintain the current unsustainable agricultural practices this water would be put to.

To extract this water from the Yarragadee will most certainly kill what little remains of the Blackwood river and her endemic freshwater species during Low summer and drought year flows.

I want us to look closely at, what potential end use this water would be put too (and whether it is sustainable)?

If we wish to kill the Blackwood River by extracting the last of it’s freshwater lifeblood, will that “life blood” be used for a transfusion - to save another terminal patient at least?

In fact – the water will be sent to Perth where current shortages & restrictions are an electoral nightmare for the incumbent Gallop labor government at the moment.

And just what will the people of Perth DO with this extra water?

Well if past practice is any indication – they will use it to irrigate lawns, wash cars, and in septics & sewerage and industrial use. And just where does a LOT of this now polluted / nutrified water from Perth users already end up?

Of course – in the Swan River…

And whats the result of that?

Can anyone say Massive Algal Blooms – fish mass mortality events, sewerage spills, Red fungal spot infections on fish from sulphated acidic water leaching into the river and so on…use your imaginations.

So in effect we the people of Nannup are being asked to allow our own Blackwood river to be killed by starving it of 91% of its last fresh ground water recharge, in order to help kill the Swan river – the icon of the City of Perth?

As I’ve said, this is madness…killing off one river in order to use & pollute it’s water, to speed the demise of yet another river, there is no other way to describe this than Lunacy.

The idea of stakeholders dividing up the resource in a resource allocation process here – is as crazy as the Roman guards drawing lots for our savior’s clothes as he hung dying on the cross…

Those not represented here to speak today.

There are two huge “resource stakeholder groups” not represented here at this meeting about allocating the freshwater resource among stakeholders today.

The first group is the Wildlife and Aquatic fauna we are displacing from the Blackwood with our unsustainable industry decision making process’. In Many instances – some of these freshwater insects are as yet un-described by science – and we are sentencing to death species that we as yet haven’t even discovered or named. The Freshwater Marron is a unique western Australian resource with enormous aqua-culture industry benefits to our community & export revenue earning potential for our nation, being developed HERE right now!

The second group not represented here today, are those members of the public in this nation (about 600,000 in Western Australia alone, which is a powerful voting block in anyone’s language) who enjoy angling as a recreational pursuit. Those who require healthy rivers & freshwater resources in order to be able to follow their chosen recreational pursuit.

The implications of the loss of the health of the Blackwood river on ongoing tourism revenues for this region are indescribable,



Potential downstream ecological consequences

Indeed – without a significantly large annual freshwater flush event in our states rivers many saltwater estuarine fish species like bream may not even spawn. The annual freshwater flush is the “key to triggering the spawning event” – and without it, reproduction may not occur at all – thus leading to ecosystem collapses in our estuaries and eventually our abundant oceans…

The Future?

So after so much doom and gloom – is there ANY hope at all for our future and the future of our rivers, and the species which depend upon them for survival in this water resources allocation process?

Well – in fact there COULD be, if we have the right political will…examples do exist around the world, where severely degraded rivers have been restored to health. Perhaps one of the BEST examples and one Australia NEEDS to follow urgently…is that of the “Riverkeepers” organization with the Hudson River in the USA.

Look them up on the internet for a good news story on River health thru citizen action with Government support. http://www.riverkeeper.org.

Many different competing interests from Govt. corporate, small business and domestic users as well as recreational users ALL want to access an ever diminishing resource in a time when the demands placed upon that resource are clearly unsustainable from an energy viewpoint alone.

The ONLY way to protect this precious freshwater resource and ALL the organisms that depend upon it (including ourselves) is for Federal Govt to enact Federal “River Keepers” legislation, empowering the people in each Catchment to protect their rivers & ground waters from the depredations of those who would seek to corporate-ize, lease, license or otherwise OWN our water resources for profit, thru exporting them directly, or selling the legal ownership of them to some foreign multinational…

Federal Help Needed.

Don’t take our rural water to the cities, our towns are doing it tough economically at a time the rest of the nation is prospering, due to logging industry decisions of State Governments. De-centralize, bring the people and industry to our towns that we desperately need for economic survival into the future.

Invest here in Infrastructure and community building in an ecologically sustainable manner.

Riverkeepers!!!

I call upon The Federal Govt, thru deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, here today, to take steps to empower us locally as Riverkeepers, thru appropriate federal legislation with REAL legislative “teeth”, to protect our rivers for everyone including those I represent, unable to speak for themselves here today. Namely the native animals and fish of the Blackwood and the anglers of Australia who enjoy the rural amenity of freshwater in our rivers upon which to recreate.

Question to the deputy PM John Anderson

And so my Question is – to the Deputy Prime Minister…John Anderson is:-.

Will you give us your commitment here today, to legislatively empower us, to protect the waters we hold so dear for the sake of the futures of our children and their children – to protect those waters from the profiteering eyes of all who would usurp them from us, from corporate raider to beleaguered State Govt. and from polluters and other despoilers.

The patient lays before you here in Nannup today, Mr Anderson, on the operating table – the life support system is all that’s keeping it alive – and it’s your call Mr Anderson – will you operate and perform the necessary bypass surgery (Legislatively speaking) – or are you about to pull the plug?

In making your decision Mr. Anderson I’d urge you to remember the 50% of the 20 million Australians who like to dangle a line for a fish at least once a year and what a potentially large voting block they represent for ANY political party.

Cheers and thanks for listening!

Shann 'trouty' Low
Blackwood Fly Fishing Charters
Nannup Western Australia
Licensed Fisheries Dept Charter Guide Lic 80 & 194 (South Coast, West
Coast & Gascoyne regions)
16ft Barra Punt SPV Surveyed Passenger Vessel "Steelhead Maru"
Qualified Coxswain, Full Public Liability Insurance.
As Seen on Bushy N Starlo's "Hooked on Adventures" TV Show
Freshwater Trout, Estuary Bream and Saltwater Salmon Fly Fishing Safari's
on Blackwood and Donelly Rivers and South Coast beaches, Saltwater Fly
Fishing packages to Shark Bay & Abrolhos Islands.
Ph/Fax A/h 08 97 561207
Ph Bus Hrs 08 97 561365
Sat Mob 0404 271 203
http://www.compwest.net.au/~troutman
email: troutman@compwest.net.au
Fisheries, Forestry and Environmental Consultant.
Freelance Fishing Journalist.
Former CALM Forester & Wildlife Officer
P.O. Box 9
Nannup W.A. 6275

[dan_WA]

Sheesh Trouty ! - I think you just broke (your own) record for longest post ! :D - Good one !
The speech carries some good info, I just wonder that the initial bit (history of the world bit) drifts a bit too far off, and by the time you get to the most important stuff (the Blackwood) that everyone will be too busy thinking about the early stuff and miss a lot of what you said about the rest ?

Just a comment anyway, good luck with the presentation

Dan

[mark savage]

I'm with dan.
With all due respect - I think alot of that first part can be left out or at least summarised to a couple of paragraphs.
The inclution of 1. Attack oil rich foreign sovereign nations in an illegal war of aggression, in order to usurp their god given natural fossil fuel reserves for our own needs. won't earn you any kudos from the libs - more likely you'll be labled a lefty fundamentalist and they won't seriously listen to anything else you have to say;) .
Perhaps just stay locally, ecologically focused - salination, recharge etc.

Thanks indeed.

Organisers have printed up copies to hand out, and I'll make sure they get into the right hands.

Point taken about embarrassing political sensibilities...i'll take it on board (but may still choose to embarrass them if i think they are sensitive to a potential politcally damaging position - the failure to find WMD's in Iraq has been a very damning thing for Libs as well as Dubya and Blair....wackin em with it might just make em sit up n listen.

Specially coz it's commin from Andersons Home turf - famrers in the Bush...not some radical leftist hippy.. only time will tell.

Linking in the energy dependance of agriculture in order to utilise more water and that neither are ecologically sustainable on a word wide basis is important to the overall problem and suggested solution.

How I can leave it out without losing the impact of the inevitable failure of current policy I'm not sure but will work on it.

Does anyone have any more positive points to add that I've overlooked?

Cheers!

[MATTY]

Trouty,
2nd story in on nova 93.7 news this morning was about the aquifer down your way.
very strange for it to be on a commercial station not know for "big" issues.
the amount quoted was 300 gig not the 135 or so you have mentioned.
any ideas?
cheers

Hadn't heard that as we don't get that channel down here.

Have been talking however to Layla Tusak of ABC news whos going to interview Environment Minister Judy Edwards and Myself this afternoon for tonights ABC news about the pumping.

Lets see if anyones listening.

Cheers!

[Bear]

Thanks for that Trouty. Will watch it tonight.

Have a look for me - I won't get to see it as I'll be dining out with John Anderson the deputy PM tonight, hoping I get a chance to bend his ear about "Riverkeepers" legislation...

Hey might make a nice change for you Sean - instead a readin one a my diatribes - you can have a listen instead!:D ;)

Ya reckon it'll make any difference?

I have my doubts - I think this is just 'going thru the motions or paying lipservice as I see it. They will still do as they please, because it's an electoral imperative for genial Geoff.

People with dead lawns dont feel happy and wont to vote for Govt who can't supply plentiful cheap water.

In a desert nation like ours that takes some real forward planning and extensive capital developments like Ord river schemes - the water pipe to Kalgoorlie etc...

Without leadership like that in WA- it's gunna be a bloody dry argument bye the end of this century...

Harness the tidal power in the Kimberley, cable the power generated from it to Perth and use it to desalinate the ocean, then you'll have all the fresh water Perth could ever want for free from there on in poerpetuity.

The by products salt which canbe sold for pmanufacture of PVCplastics (to pipe all the free fresh water!). :rolleyes:

Leadership Sean - thats what this state needs...

Trubble with these pollies is...neither side could find a leader in a fit - heck they couldn't find a turd in a fruit salad! :p

Lemme know how the interview goes, I said plenty but they were only looking for one or two sound bytes and I gave em about 100 so what they use and what doesn't get used is anyones guess...

I did what i could....can't say I haven't given it a fair shake.

Wheres all the angling press on this issue?.. Hopefully Ira's makin notes for DohDohDoh - but it'd be nice to see Stagles & Roennfeldt, Phil Stanley & Hal Harvey etc all writing about it too - theres is such a thing as effective lobbying!

Cheers!

[Bear]

Trouty,
Any chance on getting us the REAL figures they are planning on taking from the system?

The ABC mentioned only 45 gig's to be taken per year and figures of 400 gig's going back in each year to justify their amount.

Seemed very sussed as these figures seemed to have been plucked from thin air as their experts admitted they are yet to ACTUALLY run their proper studies\simulations.

The true answer is probably anybodys guess.

However, as I've typed - and this is as i heard it direct from the chairman of the witcher water management group...the applications are for 135 Gigalitres per year made up of:

45 GL Water Corp
45GL Busselton Water Board
~45 Gl for the Busselton Flats, Capel, and Scott River irrrigators combined.

Thats a total of 135 Gl.

Water Corps website says that Water Corp has applied for 45 GL which is true - thats all they are after - but the TOTAL is a lot higher when everyone else is factored in.

Total recharge annually to the Blackwood is 148 GL according to the URS consultants figures done for Water Corp in the Phase 1 report for the southwest Yarragadee interim EWR's.

According to section 10 of that document the TOTAL Groundwater absrtaction for all defined aquifer systems , a totoal of 12,829.250 kl /annum has been allocated for abstraction in the Blackwood Groundwater Area (i.e existing exrtraction license holders..already account for combined 12 gigs...hiowever they have aplied between them all to increase that to 45).

So Yes - the Water Corp wpould takllk about THEIR license application for 45 Gigs on the News because thats all THEY are unterested in, however the Busselton water board have applied for a further 45 Gigs ...and as stated the total requirements of this group WILl end up being about another 45 Gigs..

Whichever way you slice it, it comes out at 135 Gl total out of 148 Gl recharge to the Blackwood is what fraction they wish to extract which is 91%

Yes theres 400 Gigs a year total recharge to the aquifer (if you believe their best guess - how will they really know until the pump it down and measure the redraw..to find out annually what the recharge rate is?

So far they don't know they are guessing - the figures however that I quoted (0.1% are verifyable) Less than 0.1% of the stored ground water mined annually is replaced by rainfall. Ibid.

Something that shoul;d concern anglers (and any one else concerned with the environment - is that license allocations for water are under COAG likely to be issued "in perpeturity" and to be publicly tradeable commodities (with an overiding duty of care clause)

For the layman What in effect this will mean is this..

Farmers ? irrigators - Corporate owners of the license will be issued it in perpetuity - meaning it's theres for ever. The Farmers claim they need this security of tenure in order to be able to convince banks that they shpould loan $ for the very latest most efficient irrigation equipment to best utilise that resourse in a responsible manner (to the rest of the community).

No Banks going to loan millions of $ for the latest hi tech "efficient" irrigation equipment, IF that license can be taken back, cancelled, not renewed etc, at some 1 2 or 5 year interval - likely the loan will be a 10 15 or 20 year financial instrument so Farmers need the security of resource for long periods to be able to best utilise that water in the most efficient ecologically friendly way..

It's a sound argument.

However - the potential downside is this.

IF - the water is "over allocated based on wishfull thinking assumptions...about how much is there and how fast it will recharge...then we could have a problem - because these water licenses will be just like inland netting licenses..

We the taxpayer - when we find out theres not enough to go round will actually have to PAY to BUY BACK water for our rivers aned fish - the "perpetual license holders, will OWN IT - a publicly tradeable commodity - who knows - maybe that license will have been sold to a foregn owned coroporation along with the land they bought for a big irrigation fam project..

WEe find that suddenly the rivers hsort and the fish are dieing and we under the "duty of care clause" in COAG should have the right to compulsoprilly reclaim that water for the river _BUT we will have to BUY it Back...

So - why would we be dumb enough to give it away under this process now?

It's like the old neting licenses - hundreds of fiolks had em - the retired ones in Augusta cost somewhere in the vicinity of 45 - 70 or more Thousand dolars each to "buy back"..

Just how much will a freshwater recreational fishing license COST if we have to BUY BACK enough water to keep our rivers alive?

Whos gunna pay sunshine?

I have a clue for you - it's gunna be US the ones who don;t own any water...

Who will get the "benefit economically of the hundreds or thousands of 4 you payfor water?..will it be your own state thru the water corp - or WIL thiose water license rights have been traded wioth some fporeign multinational to pay off foreign debt just like Telstra and every other govt dept makin a quid?

So - your Water bill proceeds will buy some wealthy Yank investor a new boat or SUV for his snotty nosed 17 year old Kid to drive to College while your kid won;t be able to afford a college education!

How much are you n I getting paid to give up these publicly owned water rights to private ownership?

I'll give you the tip - it aint much in fact it's a big fat ZERO..

Yup, we are going to give away OUR water to private individuals and govt corps, who will then onsell themto multinationalsand when we wake up that it's too much water and the rivers are dieing we will dig into our own pockets yet again to buy that water back...

When G Dbya said that Jackboot Johnny was his Official Deputy Sherrif, of the south pacific, he wasn't kidding. We've jpoined up with the Sherrif and all he wants in return is our kids water and every other resource in this country...for his OWN Yank kids...abd for that we sell it to him for a pittance..and eventually go cap in hand to try and buy it backl for our starved rivers???

What if he says - sorry chum I aint sellin any water this week? what then?

This whole COAG thing so far sounds like a crock of crap to me - sounds like we've been sold yet another pup by our clever American buddies. :rolleyes:

My guess is Anglers couldn't give two hoots!

Cheers!

This weeks nannup Times lead Article is on the Yarragadee water pumping issue.

This is reproduced here below FYI with the expresss written permission of Nannup Times Editor Mark Schneider.

The Nannup Shire has rejected a Waters and Rivers Commission document that says a half metre drop in the Blackwood River’s lowest summer level and a 10 per cent increase in its salinity is an acceptable environmental outcome of piping water from the Yarragadee aquifer to Perth.
The Commission’s planning prescription for managing the extraction of 45 gigalitres of water will be considered by state cabinet in April.
Nannup Shire believes the planning process is totally flawed. It has criticised the short deadline for public comment and claimed it is being pushed forward before a proper scientific assessment of how the aquifer works has been carried out.
The board of the Waters and Rivers Commission will make a decision on the Water Corporation’s bid for 45 gigalitres of water from the aquifer on March 26. It will then be taken to cabinet.
The Waters and Rivers Commission said all stakeholders were emailed a copy of the matrix management document shortly before Christmas. However Nannup CEO Shane Collie said the Shire only received the document on January 12. While the period of public comment on the Commission’s policy framework formally ended on January 19, this has now been extended to February 6.
Nannup Shire President Barbara Dunnet said the Shire could not accept the level of environmental damage deemed acceptable by the Waters and Rivers Commission.
“I do not believe that an increase of up to 10 per cent in the salinity of the Blackwood and its tributaries and a reduction of up to half a metre in the Blackwood’s current summer minimum water level is an acceptable environmental outcome,” she said.
“Our hydrologist told us that not only are there going to be impacts on the Blackwood River, but also on the Donnelly that are just as significant,” she said, adding that the chemical analysis of the water is yet to be done as well as work on the hydrogeology.
“Before you can even look at the matrix to start assessing anything, we don’t know two critical bits of information - what the recharge is, and what the draw down is going to be with 45 gigalitres being pumped out,” she said.
The Shire is concerned that extracting the water could have serious consequences including increased salinity, increasing soil acidity, degraded wetlands and a loss of vegetation. Its concerns are shared by the Shires of Augusta-Margaret River, Bunbury, Busselton and Capel.
The combined shires believe the short deadline for decision making has forced the Waters and Rivers Commission to develop “rules of thumb” criteria developed for the Gnangara water mound to predict the environmental impact in the absence of solid scientific data.
“Extraction from the Yarragadee may be the cheapest option for Perth water at this moment, but scientists still do not know if the proposed extraction is sustainable,” Barbara said.
“There is still little information available on the interdependence of the South West aquifers and what affect major sustained pumping will have. The impact on existing bores and their infrastructure is not even included in the Commission’s decision making criteria,” she added.
She also believes the economic study has undervalued horticulture in the region and criticised the public consultation carried out by the Waters and Rivers Commission
“I thought it was particularly well done to begin with, then when I think the feedback that was getting back to Perth showed negativity they decided that they would tell us what we needed to know, rather than seek the people’s opinions and allow them to have input,” she said.
She added that the only form the matrix document was made available was in email, which discriminated against those without the technology.
Barbara hopes the decision is not a fait accompli.
“I’d like to think that they are going to go through due process because it would be political suicide to make a decision without the proper scientific information being collected and collated, and that has not happened to date.
She added that the study was only addressing the Water Corporation’s bid for water, and not the question of what was a sustainable yield for existing users of the aquifer.
Fionnula Hannon, Project Leader for the Waters and Rivers Commission, said the criteria for the Blackwood’s water level and salinity was derived by incorporating the results of its studies into a set of rules to achieve the desired outcomes.
“Where there’s been a gap in the information we’ve applied the precautionary princicple,” Ms Hannon said.
She said it was up to the public to tell the Commission if this was acceptable.
“Water is the property of the state, not the property of the South West,” she added, “We need to set a position whereby decisions on resources are made from good decision making and good science, and not from politics, whether that be from the position of the views of people or the views of politicians. We need to make sure that we maintain a standard of rigorous resource management decision-making.”
She added that clear decision making processes were required if resource management was to be carried out carefully and appropriately. If the community was not willing to tolerate any drop in river levels or an increase in salinity then all water users needed to review its decision making on water.
Ms Hannon said the Commission had maintained a very high level of scrutiny of the policy process, presenting all the information and it was important that this process was maintained.
“The work may show that we need to do more research before a decision is made,” she said.

Anyone saw the Blackwood this summer would realise these not a foot of water left in it - to drop the level half a meter basically means it will be dry - (read dead!) as I predicted.

Cheers!