Water Week has MOVED!

See current news, graphs and analysis at http://water.erisk.net
Register now for a FREE trial!

Weird: Farm management deposits increase in drought: av balance at $68,600 in the June quarter, an increase of $2600, or 4 per cent, on the previous record

The average farm management deposit was $68,600 in the June quarter, an increase of $2600, or 4 per cent, on the previous record set a year earlier while deposits rebound to $450 million during the quarter, canceling the earlier withdrawal, reported George Megalogenis, in The Australian, (26/09/2007, p.4), quoting latest official statistics, released last week.

More than $30m of endangered environments nationwide being bought convenanted and sold back to that special breed of private buyer

In the Nandewar Ranges of northern NSW, the Nature Conservation Trust of NSW has an entire valley up for sale — 2000 hectares of granite heights and woodland bottoms almost untouched since European settlement — all for just $560,000, reported Robert Harley in The Australian Financial Review (22/9/2007, p.17).

April 2008 Murray system disaster forecast; tree deaths, massive fish deaths, as water falls below the intake-pipes

Water-levels below Lock 1 were projected to fall from their current level of 0.25m Australian Height Datum (AHD), to negative 0.6m AHD in April 2008. Under these projected conditions, massive fish death in the Lower Lakes is more likely. For the worst case scenario, water levels will continue to fall, reaching negative 1.5m AHD in the latter half of 2008. Salinity would rise and make what small irrigation water which was available, poisonous to crops and trees.