THE key recommendation in the Native Fish Strategy for the Murray Darling Basin 2003-2013 – a document developed by the Murray Darling Basin Commission, (MDBC) and adopted by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) – was the need to address the issue of cold water pollution in particular from the Hume dam.
The strategy, published ten years ago, includes comment that cold-water pollution abatement is a “clearly definable, tangible, cost-effective intervention” that can be completed for the major storages in the Murray Darling Basin within ten years, through a combination of engineering and operating changes. The strategy was to run from 2003 to 2013 with the objective of returning native fish to 60 per cent of their pre-European levels.
Hume Dam, like most of the dams throughout the Murray Darling, have outlets for irrigation positioned at depth, so water release occurs as a jet of cold water. Releases are typically made in spring and this is the same time Murray cod and other native fish like to spawn.
Ecological studies undertaken in the 1990s indicate that in the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers, releases of cold water create an “eternal winter” making it impossible for spawning – for reproduction.
Everything published by the MDBC and MDBA suggests the problem could be solved by retrofitting dams with multi-level outlets.
There are other options, outlined in the many reports that have been commissioned and published over the years, including artificial destratification through mechanical mixing.
But absolutely nothing has been done.
The workshops and consultancies continue, but nothing has been done to help the fish in a practical way.
I found this curious. Indeed there has been no shortage of money.
Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent: buying back water to improve the river environment; installing fishways so fish can swim up to just below the Hume dam; tonnes of micro-chipped logs have even been tipped into the Murray River immediately downstream of Hume dam to create the best possible habitat for Murray cod.
So why not address this remaining key issue, indeed the issue identified as the most important and the easiest to implement ten years ago?
After reading everything I could find I tried my usual option of last resort – phoning a government bureaucrat. After some haranguing from me, it was finally admitted that it’s the trout lobby, the fly fish lobby – stupid!
They don’t want the cold water pollution fixed. The “eternal winter” is good for the European fish.
What a farce!
So all the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars spent luring Murray cod up the river to just below Hume dam are to be wasted. Indeed they may simply hasten the decline of this majestic species because the river remains freezing cold – in an eternal winter – because the fly fish lobby trumps the native fish strategy.
***
The Native Fish Strategy is reviewed in a recent conference paper by Jennifer Marohasy and John Abbot entitled ‘Deconstructing the native fish strategy for Australia’s Murray Daring Catchment’ published by the Wessex Institute and available for free download at
http://library.witpress.com/pages/PaperInfo.asp?PaperID=24656
This article was first published as a column in The Land newspaper last Thursday.
The photograph is from Wikipedia.
Re John Sayers comment about fish in schools. It does happen but most river fish are solo creatures and getting caught and thrown back doesn't hurt them unless poorly done. I have occasionally caught fish that have relatively good condition hooks in them, that alone indicates that being caught and released doesn't affect them.
Hi Jen, Love your work but I think you were fobbed off by the unamed government official. I live in the upper Kiewa Valley and am a keen fly fisher for 45 years. I've never heard of any fly fisherman speak about fishing below Hume Weir for trout, much less the temperature of the outflow. I suppose that there may be trout in those reaches but it's not a major fly fishing place. I reckon he told you that to get rid of you.
In the meantime I just watch the valleys up here get choked with blackberry while the parks dept drive around in their 4WD's telling people what to do.
So do I Deb and Bernard - I can't watch fishing programs. They also don't realise that fish travel in schools, it's their protection, remove them and then throw them back and they've lost their protection.
Yes Deb, I agree with Bernard too. He is dead right.
ha! 🙂
Good one Bernard.
Her husband and her father completely agree with you.
John, by the time the water reaches my patch it is warm. We also get plenty of Cod (among other things) in the main canal and major anabranches in the MIA.
Luke, while you are somewhat correct about the fact that the 'bidgee & the Murray & the Tumut are highly regulated below the major storages, you once again fail to see that human intervention has BENEFITS and that we CAN identify and repair mistakes.
Seriously, the Cod, the yabbies, the turtles etc ect, don't care if it's a river or a channel.
Directly below the dams, that water can be freezing.
But if you're looking for anomolies, look further downstream as well. . . some of the complaining SA contingent are claiming that the storages are making the water too warm!
BTW John,
I always read your comments and appreciate your perspective. Lately I have not had the luxury to spend lots of time commenting.
Hi js,
I agree with others . Some times when somethiung is stated it is complete and apart from saying rah rah , I for one don't comment.
Hi el gordo,
I know that I have banged on here about "mad" Bob Katter, but he is vowing to pressure any Govt to ditch the Water Act. (And the plan). He appears to be in a position to really hurt the other traitors in Qld in the next election. Perhaps after NSW virtually rubber stamped the whole MDBP , they got home to their electorates and the bubble burst.
( Much as actuallyhappened when Congress passed cap and trade in the US and some Congressmen filtting home for Thanksgiving, were apparently met on the tarmac by outraged constituents. )
Campbell Newman may be sniffing the wind and thinking of his next election.
We also can't discount the power of the new owners of Cubby Station , that little political movement called the Chinese Communist Party. They had the power to swing the deal over seeming better ones, so how much swing do they have.
The interesting tale of Mr Drinkworth and the local shires being overruled, (by Brisbane), on the use of local stock routes during a drought , to move thousands of interstate cattle, casts a little light on Mr Newman's Govt and influence .My thoughts anyway and local people there, on the news, seem to agree.
And Jen , as you know , the city voters solution would be simply remove the dams. So as usual, no votes in common sense. No crisis in trout vs cod.
Well John it's Murray and lower MDB is heavily flow modified and not a natural system in the slightest. The normal cut and thrust on here is that dams are great, development and agriculture rules OK, some lands set aside for ag production etc. So why are all so suddenly excited about the Murray being an irrigation ditch? Does it matter? Is the Murray Cod important? How can cold water suddenly be pollution - sounds like CO2 pollution doesn't it.
'THE future of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is under threat, with Queensland rejecting proposed commonwealth agreements on the first stage of the river rescue as NSW and South Australia refuse to sign-up to a $1.7 billion funding deal on water saving measures.
'Queensland Premier Campbell Newman yesterday wrote to Julia Gillard saying he could not support the planned implementation of cuts in water usage as he also attacked the commonwealth's failure to fund state proposals to develop alternate industries in the affected regions.'
McKenna and Neals in the Oz