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May 18, 2008
The autumn rains have finally come to South Australia. The landscape is beginning to green and the creeks starting to flow. We look forward to winter in the Fleurieu Peninsula---it will be is very pleasant after the long harsh summers we've experienced.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, near Port Eliot, Fleurieu Peninsula, SA, 2008
Alas the rains are nowhere near sufficient to increase the flows in the Murray River. Judging by what we saw at Goolwa, the river is in a poor state. We had lunch just across from the bridge at Hectors and we noticed just how low the water level of the River Murray had fallen---a year or so ago the water was just above the pontoons of the bridge.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, Hindmarsh Island Bridge, Goolwa, 2008
There is next to no water flowing down to the mouth from upstream. Few downstream expect the situation to change soon. We think that the River Murray is dying bit by bit. So that means Adelaide needs to reduce its dependence on water from the River Murray. It needs to find alternative supplies of water to help it adjust to a drier climate.
The Rann government is addressing this in terms of its Water Proofing Adelaide strategy.
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gary,
It is estimated by the CSIRO that 160 gigalitres of stormwater flows out to the gulf each year based on an average annual rainfall of 500mm.
Why isn't that harvested?