Life returns to river as Australia states battle over further flows

By BEN CUBBY
January 19, 2010 Life is blooming in Lake Pamamaroo, western NSW, as the Boxing Day floods wind their way down the Darling River. From the air the pale green, swollen river is a striking contrast to the scarred, orange plains on either side. On the ground the water level is visibly rising by the minute over cracked earth, as millions of litres an hour are diverted from the Darling to a lake bed that was bone dry days ago. There will soon be enough water stored to keep Broken Hill going for two years if necessary. But how much will be allowed to keep flowing downstream is the subject of an interstate feud as irrigators in South Australia beg for more water. The NSW Water Minister, Phil Costa, said a decision on flows would be made this week, in consultation with other states, and possibly as soon as today at a meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Council. … Lake Menindee, next door to Lake Pamamaroo, had been left dry, the water diverted away by a network of canals, said David Hariss, the deputy director-general of the Department of Water and Energy. ”It’s a big lake but it’s shallow, so you would see a lot of water just evaporating. It’s a balance between storing some and letting the rest keep flowing.” … ”If we were to just let 50 to 100 gigalitres of water go down the river to Lake Alexandria [in SA], it wouldn’t do any good at all because the lake’s so big,” said a citrus farmer, Alan White. ”I don’t mind which state gets it but it wouldn’t make a difference letting a lot of it go to South Australia.” …

Life returns to river as states battle over further flows