What impact does the Darling River flow have on the Goulburn Valley?
The Darling dilemma
When I became an irrigator in 1970, hoping to have 100 dairy cows on a 100 acre property with 150 Ml water right, I knew about 3 Ml/per cow was needed.
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Sales water was to be the key and indeed it was for the first three decades.
Initially, predicting its availability depended on two indicators — how much was in Hume and noting how much water was at Menindee Lakes and Lake Victoria.
The Darling situation was important because it used to provide Victoria with a significant part of the Murray-Darling Basin requirement to send at least 1860 Gl to South Australia.
Darling River flows were an important part of this due to a long-standing rule that allowed Victoria and NSW to share water stored at Menindee when these lakes held more than 640 Gl.
It used to happen regularly because Menindee Lakes can store 1700 to 2000 Gl. ‘Store’ is debatable because up to 40 per cent can evaporate.
An aerial image of the Darling/Baaka River just east of Wilcannia in north-western NSW earlier this year. (AAP Image/Stuart Walmsley)
Over the past couple of decades, Darling River water has been subject to controversy, innuendo and mystery.
Private harvest of overland flow, dodgy extraction and major fish kills have been part of the story in large part due to inadequate data to monitor situations, especially stream flows and water condition.
In 2023, the NSW water minister took action to review the situation.
A Connectivity Expert Panel was formed. In July 2024 their report and recommendations to the minister were released.
Their website Connectivity Expert Panel/Water (www.nsw.gov.au) provides an excellent report over some 240 pages examining various reaches of the Darling and its northern tributary rivers and streams plus flows beyond Menindee.
The NSW water minister has been provided with recommendations to use as a framework in negotiations with various groups that could achieve quite different approaches to managing the Darling River.
The current approach of trigger points set by volumes in various storages could be replaced by mandated increased flow rates at numerous points in the system, together with data on temperature stratification of water in stream pools.
We could expect Victoria’s DEECA to be part of these negotiations although there is no evidence of their awareness or having determined implications.
This is another factor to join the long list of factors that will shape our region’s eventual water availability.
The list includes further entitlement buyback, eventual portion of the 450 Gl taken from our region, the success the Wentworth Group have in achieving more water to be taken from the consumptive pool, the consequences of the $100 million allocated to Aboriginal people’s water, and the ongoing encouragement to have more water used in the arid zone.
Irrigation requirements are determined primarily by rainfall and evaporation, with arid zones (250mm) requiring 60 per cent more water than temperate zones (500mm) for good plant growth.
When will our water predicament be determined by a group capable of properly integrating all factors that assure water is managed most prudently for the nation’s economic and environmental outcomes?
Barry Croke, Shepparton
Thanks for the stories
It was so great to see Taylah Baker’s article in Shepparton News about Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell’s proactive organisation of the roundtable meeting on Monday, August 5.
Representatives were a good selection and the visits to businesses and other groups with Victorian Senator and Shadow Minister for Finance Jane Hume to discuss the cost-of-living crisis impact and food security was pleasing.
I have looked at the Federal Government's inquiry into the cost of food at the two major supermarkets.
Some of those results have been reflected in Country News articles, such as the grocery code legislation and the independent review of costs at several supermarkets.
Geoff Adams' Not so peachy article was also a highlight on the loss-of-jobs impact.
Three generations of my women friends have worked at the SPC to supplement the family income for education and other essentials.
My hope is that the momentum in our newspapers can keep the issue on the table for all of us to make a difference and a way forward. It seems that your journalists are researching it well.
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