Been living out here in the Riverina for 6 months now and am stuck out here for another 6 months.
The Irrigation set-up out here is pretty amazing and they take such 'Watery' things really serious out here - hence why officially there are Water Wars going on out here too. Apparently they want to cut quotas upon the farmers for water usage and thats where the stink has erupted. Its ironic considering the very 'wet years' of late.
There is a lot of water usage out here and its was strange seeing 'rice paddocks' glimmering under the sun when I first moved this way.

I guess WATER is POWER out here, more so than Gold could ever be. This is where a certain big nosed Victorian Polititian tried to start a 'Water Baron War' long ago too.

The farmers are happy for people in the city to pay twice as much as them for the same water. Apparently they own it and this country will stop functioning if we don't export rice to China.

LOL. Yes, I work in the Rice Mill down here, after getting shafted from the $1000 job I moved down here for. We export a lot of Rice to China ironically.

Yeah, its kinda crazy. There is a lot of water here in the Riverina. I guess it must be about 'control' more than quantity. Quite amazing seeing all the canals, from giant ones criss-crossing properties to small ones running behind Residential. Never expected it out here. Coincidence that you and I discussed such things here on this Forum FreeDiver. I still agree with you that Pipes are worthwhile too.
I think Sydney, if it managed its stormwater system properly, could be selling water to the state rather than need a Desal Plant and loosing 20 metres worth of good rainfall out to sea and keeping only 18 inches worth at Warragamba Dam.

So you are upstream of Adelaide, which keeps running out of water and needs desal plants? Which basically means we are desalinating seawater to grow rice.

True and very perceptive angle. Don't say that too loud FreeDiver - you may upset an national applecart right there. Especially when it was the SA premier who told the Feds and PM to take the 'overseas wars' for the USA and shove it - Water Issues are more important and thus won over for support by every other state. First time the States told the Feds to 'bow down'.
I'm still in two minds, maybe more, as to the right way to go about all this. The Farmers? I can see their immediate needs. The State Water and M.I.A? Well I can see their need for a controlled system. The Environmentalists ? I can see their need for revenge for truely, a lot of damage and loss has occurred. The fact that the Riverina needs a 'Fish Hatchery' just goes to show the extent of lost ground upon a fishing level. And still, people fish without duty of care for the future, with minimal regulation of just a  yearly fee.

So far, haven't been able to get any 'scubaDiving', let alone FreeDiving work out this way ...not even to look for a body.

For major rivers that cross state borders, they need to do away with state government involvement and switch to a catchment based management body - ie one body for the whole murray darling system.

Otherwise the state governments bow to the self interest of local farmers and nothing ever changes.

So true! ;)

I should also add that I've just got my ABN and am soon to work for the those who own the Wetlands here. Gonna keep it up to scratch for the Bird Watchers and Naturalists.
This is based upon a number of things: My back isn't getting any younger so I need to stop working pleb jobs that always involve backwork. I'm 40+ so there isn't really much work out there unless I'm running my own show.
The Wetlands have a special place in my heart for a Writing friend and I fell in love at a Bird Hide there. Ironically it was nicknamed the 'Biffle Cabin' which translates to something akin to Soul-Mates. Shame I was married at the time and she was still stuck 600km away with her Ex. We even wrote a short story together ...we eventually 'cracked' and fell away from one another sadly, but I wrote the story up in the Hide. I miss her muchly.
The Wetlands are the only decent peice of water in my local area that seems 'alive'. Originally enquired about snorkling it - but its pretty shallow.
A few Bird-Watchers who have sprung me ("Ahh. So you're the Writer!?") have complained about the over-growth of Reed. My only thought, rather than pumping the area full of chemicals, is when it dries out - to get the big excavators in (like they do in the Canals around here) and dig DEEP. Reed can only proliferate in 'shallow' situations.

I also go out there a lot after shifts (Dawn and Dusk) because it beats hanging out in a Pub and it is indeed a nice place. I also talk a bit to 'my love' ...wherever she may be. Maybe one day she might forgive me for whatever it was that went wrong. Maybe oen day she might come back to 'connect' again?

Not knowing what you did wrong is probably half the problem.

Shiiiit ! (I think you are right)

...you know I sometimes hate it when you're right FreeDiver.

Just enjoyed a local Writing Group today.
Been thinking...
I won't try to redo my 'major' writing work, but instead - considering that I am here in the M.I.A. I think it wise to concentrate upon an old short story called "The Canals of Mars" under the KISS philosophy. Yes - 'Pipes' will be included.

Wish me luck.

What a pair of short sighted dills you 2 are.

Over the last 10 years, Australian rice growers have improved their water use efficiency by 60 percent.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Agricultural Commodities 2006.
Not only that we also exceed worldwide tonnes/hectare (8.6 to compared to 5.4) 9.7 this year.

Australia exports less than 10% of its rice production. Actually not much of the world production is exported…. Annual world production totals 600 million tonnes with only 25 million tonnes traded outside the country of origin


So easy to sit their and blame farmers for decades of government inaction. The MIA is a classic example of infrastructure needing to be upgraded.

None of that means that it is a good idea to grow rice in the Australian desert while downstream cities are running out of water.

freediver wrote on Mar 19^th, 2012 at 7:33pm:

None of that means that it is a good idea to grow rice in the Australian desert while downstream cities are running out of water.

Which cities are running out of water Tim?

Adelaide. In fact most of our capital cities are now resorting to desalination of seawater, which makes it pretty absurd to use their alternative water supply to grow rice in the desert.

Don't call me Tim.

freediver wrote on Mar 20^th, 2012 at 12:24pm:

Adelaide. In fact most of our capital cities are now resorting to desalination of seawater, which makes it pretty absurd to use their alternative water supply to grow rice in the desert. Don't call me Tim.

Oh dear Tim, it won't do.

Adelaide's water storages are currently ( 53% of capacity ).

What is your point? Do you think we should only worry about rational allocation of scarce water when we have nearly run out?

What should be done is to dig out Lake eyre to a decent depth and then put back the salt as a glaze.

freediver wrote on Mar 20^th, 2012 at 5:56pm:

What is your point? Do you think we should only worry about rational allocation of scarce water when we have nearly run out?

The point is you need to look further than blaming irrigation.

Try it. :D

It doesn't have anything to do with blame. The water should go to the highest value user. At the moment our legislation is getting in the way of that, not enabling it.

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Jan 25^th, 2012 at 3:15pm:

The fact that the Riverina needs a 'Fish Hatchery' just goes to show the extent of lost ground upon a fishing level. And still, people fish without duty of care for the future, with minimal regulation of just a  yearly fee.

There are plenty of regulations in regards to recreational fishing. Bag limits, closed seasons, bans on fishing methods like gill and drum nets, bans on set lines, ban on keeping Cod over 1 meter etc.

Habitat degradation, over fishing in the past and the introduction and continued proliferation of introduced species, including government funded and sanctioned stocking of trout have all had a major impact on native fish numbers.

So true FriYaY. My apologies.

It was in the paper yesterday of how they have caught hundreds of POACHERS fishing in NSW both Coastal and Inland. Good Stuff :)

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 4:22pm:

So true FriYaY. My apologies. It was in the paper yesterday of how they have caught hundreds of POACHERS fishing in NSW both Coastal and Inland. Good Stuff :)

I get a bit excited when it comes to the MDB and the protection of our native species. :)

You are in red neck central up there (I worked in Griffith for 3 years) and the amount of “kill and grill”, lack of respect and little concern of impact is huge. I guess the problem with rules and regulation is that they only affect those that abide by them. I wish the penalties for illegal fishing were much harsher.

Our upland species such as Blue Nose Cod and Macquarie Perch need to have some streams and rivers classified as native only, so their stocks and natural distribution can be improved/restored away from the competition of introduced trout.  :)

In the MDB some 90% of man made impediments to water flows (weirs/locks etc) are still without fish ways or fish ladders, to allow fish movement, especially during spawning.  :(

Murray Cod (especially wild river stock) need to have a slot size of 60-70cm. All fish bigger or smaller should be returned. Large fish are too valuable to eat. :'(

Fishing needs to be banned 100 meters either side of weirs and locks. The legal slaughter of aggregations of spawning Golden Perch, trapped at weirs, is a blight. People line up one after another to take home their “bag”, often returning for yet another “bag”. >:(

Work on re-snagging of the Murray (many snags were removed to allow navigation passage for steam boats) is woefully slow and under funded.

I better stop….. 8-)

you should be more careful.

freediver wrote on Mar 19^th, 2012 at 7:33pm:

None of that means that it is a good idea to grow rice in the Australian desert while downstream cities are running out of water.

They are also encouraging people to move there.