The recent flooding in Victoria and consistent rain in NSW has seen a great boost to storage levels in most of the major dams feeding the Murray Darling Basin. It is a timely reminder of the key feature of the Australian climate-massive rainfall variability. After some ten years of drought (on and off) and the … Continue reading Water and Irrigation →

I was recently asked to write an overview of the politics of Australian irrigation with emphasis on the Barwon-Darling River. This is what I wrote:-Big Picture-BackgroundAustralia is claimed to be the most urbanised country on earth with the great majority of the population clustered in coastal cities. The very strong democracy, highly visible in a … Continue reading Irrigation-Politics and Sovereign Risk →

Arguably the world's leading weekly, "The Economist" recently ran an article on this subject. A well informed commentator wrote the following comment."There are great misunderstandings about Australia's water/irrigation situation. I contend that 90% of current water problems are the result of drought and around 10% mismanagement and over-allocation. It is disturbing to see Ken Henry … Continue reading Australian Irrigation Misunderstandings →

As of today just under 1,400,000 megalitres of water has flowed down the Darling River past Bourke since Christmas. Water "saved for the river" as a consequence of the Government buying Toorale Station and its water licenses, remains at 10,000 megalitres-0.7% of the flow since Christmas.How's that for an investment of $23.75m.?

Could someone please explain to me (As one lakes region comes to life, another is saved from death-The Australian February 13th-14th) why returning the Lower Lakes (Alexandrina and Albert) to more like their natural state and allowing sea water to enter as it always did when upstream rainfall and flows were low, would be such … Continue reading Lakes-Letter to The Australian 13th February,2010 →

Letter Sent to the Sydney Morning Herald on 10.02.10Water Management in the Murray Darling BasinPaul Myers (Only rain can solve riddle of the rivers -SMH 10th February,2010) is so right in his central point that only rain can solve the water shortages in the Murray Darling Basin. The Government buying back water licenses, when there … Continue reading River Management →

At Christmas time the Darling River at Bourke had ceased to flow and real fears were held for the towns future water supply. Irrigation was out of the question. Then it poured across north/western NSW as the remnants of a cyclone made their way across the continent from the n/w of Western Australia.The Darling River … Continue reading Darling River-Flow Variability and Magnitude →

The recent publicity about the flood flows in the Darling, the return to the river of Toorale irrigation water, the Menindee Lakes and the needs of the Lower Lakes in South Australia, highlights some of the misunderstandings that prevail.I contend that the unique feature of the Murray Darling Basin and of Australia generally, is massive … Continue reading Flood Water Flows in the Darling →

Submission to Productivity Commission on Water RecoveryOverviewThis submission is brief, long on assertion and short on evidence. This is not because the assertions are not defensible, but rather because of limited resources. I would be happy to enlarge verbally should the Commission be interested.Assertions1.The key characteristic of Australia’s inland rivers (where most irrigation takes place), … Continue reading Submission to Productivity Commission →