Northern Rivers waterways & beaches clean up continues post-February and March 2022 flooding

ABC News, 24 June 2022:

Barges bring flood debris to the riverbank for waste sorting. (ABC North Coast: Bronwyn Herbert)

From caravans to water tanks, children's toys to surfboards, tonnes of rubbish have been removed from rivers in the far north of New South Wales as part of a mammoth clean-up of flood debris…..

2,600 cubic metres of waste is removed from the Tweed, Wilsons and Richmond rivers and Ballina beaches…..

EPA flood program manager Martin Puddey said the survey showed priority areas.

"We can use that to target areas or identify if something is really hazardous like a big drum filled with pesticides, water tanks, pieces of jetty and pontoons, stuff that is partially submerged and could be a navigational hazard…..

Specialist marine contractor Frankie Bryant said her team had been concentrating for the past month on the Wilsons River near Lismore, which was at the centre of the natural disaster.

Ms Bryant said the larger items were often easier to remove, while the most challenging was plastic waste entangled in trees on the riverbank.

"We can actually sometimes get stuck in little areas where you just find me up pulling small pieces of plastic," she said.

The rubbish is collected on smaller boats then moved to skip bins on barges.

Cranes then lift the skips onto trucks to be taken to a nearby waste facility.

Larger waste is collected with excavators that are floated around the river on barges.

Ms Bryant said there was a huge effort made to try and return items wherever possible.

"I kind of wish everyone engraved their name on every piece of furniture or equipment so we could get it back to them."

For contractor John Fletcher, it has been, at times, an emotional experience wading through personal items.

"It's finding people's bags of shopping still full with a docket inside, or finding a kid's school bag with all their books in it," he said.

The EPA expects it will take another two months to complete the clean up, including using sonar technology to detect large, hazardous items lodged on the riverbed.

"You can't see them," Mr Puddey said.

"They're a huge risk to navigation and people's safety."

 

Eight days out from the 21 May 2022 federal general election and much of the NSW Northern Rivers region is on flood watch again

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM):

Flood Watch for the Northern Rivers and Central West

Issued at 12:21 pm EST on Thursday 12 May 2022

Flood Watch Number: 3

MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE IN THE NORTHERN RIVERS AND CENTRAL WEST FROM THURSDAY

A trough over western inland New South Wales will generate further moderate to heavy rain in many areas of the Central West on Thursday. This may cause minor flooding along the Castlereagh, Macquarie and Bell Rivers from Thursday night.

* Reissue to include Castlereagh *

River level rises have been observed from recent moderate rainfall in the Northern Rivers. Further moderate showers expected on Thursday may see river levels rise to minor flood levels.

Renewed minor flooding is also possible along the Bogan River where a flood warning is current.

The Bureau is continuing to monitor the situation and will issue further catchment specific warnings if and when required.

Catchment soil moisture is average.

The weather system is expected to cause flooding for the catchments listed. Flood Classes (minor, moderate, major) are only defined for catchments where the Bureau provides a flood warning service.

Catchments likely to be affected include:

Tweed and Rouse Rivers - minor flooding 

Brunswick River and Marshalls Creek - minor flooding

Wilsons River - minor flooding

Richmond River - minor flooding

Castlereagh River - minor flooding

Orange, Molong and Bell River - minor flooding

Turon and Macquarie Rivers to Burrendong Dam - minor flooding

Macquarie River d/s Burrendong Dam - minor flooding

Flood warnings are current for the Culgoa, Bokhara, Bogan, Paroo and Warrego Rivers.

For the latest flood and weather warnings see www.bom.gov.au/nsw/warnings/

For the latest rainfall and weather forecasts see www.bom.gov.au/australia/meteye/

For the latest rainfall and river level information see www.bom.gov.au/nsw/flood

 [my yellow highlighting]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is a chance of above median rainfall across much of the continent from 14 May 2022 to September 2022.

According to BOM long range forecasting there is also a 50-60% chance of the Page and Richmond electorates in the Northern Rivers region being “unusually wet” between 14 to 27 May 2022.

Stream Flow Forecast

Click on image to enlarge

Climate outlook overview

Issued: 5 May 2022

Winter (June to August) rainfall is likely to be above median for most of Australia, except south-western Australia, the south-east coast, and southern Tasmania which have roughly equal chances of being above or below median.

June to August maximum temperatures are likely to be above median for northern, south-western, and south-eastern parts of Australia, but below median for broad areas of inland southern and central Australia.

Minimum temperatures for June to August are very likely to be warmer than median across almost all of Australia.

The weakening La Niña, the chance of a negative Indian Ocean Dipole, and other localised drivers are likely to be influencing this outlook.

Latest Climate Driver Update, 10 May 2022:

La Niña maintains strength

The 2021–22 La Niña event continues in the tropical Pacific, with little change in strength in the past few weeks.

Several indicators of La Niña, including tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures, cloudiness near the Date Line, and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), have maintained or slightly increased their strength over the past fortnight. However, beneath the surface of the tropical Pacific, waters have warmed closer to neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) levels.

Most climate models surveyed by the Bureau indicate a return to neutral ENSO by the early southern hemisphere winter. Only one of seven models continues La Niña conditions through the southern winter. La Niña conditions increase the chances of above average rainfall for much of eastern Australia, while neutral ENSO has little influence on rainfall patterns.

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is neutral. All climate model outlooks surveyed suggest a negative IOD may develop in the coming months. While model outlooks have low accuracy at this time of year and hence some caution should be taken with IOD outlooks beyond May, there is strong forecast consistency across international models. A negative IOD increases the chances of above average winter–spring rainfall for much of Australia. It also increases the chances of warmer days and nights for northern Australia.

The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index is currently positive and is forecast to remain positive for the coming four weeks. During autumn SAM typically has a weaker influence on Australian rainfall, but as we approach winter, positive SAM often has a drying influence for parts of south-west and south-east Australia.

The Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) has recently strengthened in the western Indian Ocean. Most climate models indicate the MJO will briefly weaken, and then re-strengthen again later this week in the Maritime Continent or western Pacific region. Should the MJO re-strength in the Maritime Continent region, it can enhance rainfall in north-eastern Australia. It also typically increases cloudiness to Australia's north.

Climate change continues to influence Australian and global climate. Australia's climate has warmed by around 1.47 °C for the 1910–2020 period. Southern Australia has seen a reduction of 10–20% in cool season (April–October) rainfall in recent decades. There has also been a trend towards a greater proportion of rainfall from high intensity short duration rainfall events, especially across northern Australia. [my yellow highlighting]

The flooding has not yet stopped in NSW but one of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's 'captain's picks' is publicly badmouthing flood victims

 

“You’ve got people who want to live among the gum trees – what do you think is going to happen? Their house falls in the river and they say it’s the government’s fault”. [Shane L. Stone, Coordinator General, National Resilience and Recovery Agency, quoted at news.com.au 4 March 2022]

Geoscience Australia (GA) was created in 2001 when the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG) merged with the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO).

It has gravitas.

So when it informs the general public that Australia is the lowest continent in the world with an average elevation of only 330 metres, I believe what this organisation is saying.

It points out that (excluding islands) 8,500 sq km of Australia is below sea level and another 2,909,500 sq km is within 0-199 metres of sea level – bringing the total low lying land to 38.9% of mainland Australia’s total land mass.

Additionally, another 3,728,700 sq km or 48.68% of mainland Australia is only between 200-499 metres above the current sea level.

Australia has over 330,000 sq km of coastal zone with an elevation of <30m above sea level. Major Cities only cover around 7,000km² (2%); Inner Regional areas cover about 25,000km²; Outer Regional areas cover around 44,000km² and Remote or Very Remote areas make up about 80 percent of the remaining low lying coastal regions.

To get some idea of the extent of land Australia has that could be considered vulnerable in regions where rivers run, just look at the pink on this map and, then look where coastal cities have been established since 1788.

Geoscience Australia, Elevations, retrieved 5 March 2022

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Topographic Drainage Divisions and River Regions Map, retrieved 5 March 2022. Click to expand

By 2011 Geoscience Australia’s national topographical mapping had identified approximately 15,000 sq km of New South Wales as being low coastal areas <30m elevation above sea level.

Its mapping had also identified 10,000 sq km of flood-prone inland locations across the state. 

While the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has identified 37 major rivers in the state - 19 coastal and 18 inland. Along with somewhere in the vicinity of 1,899 tributaries to these major rivers.

Geoscience Australia noted in 2011 that the then New South Wales Land & Property Management Authority (LPMA): recognises that it does not currently have sufficient resources to complete level 3 classification for all data captured, and has an estimated backlog of 9,000 sq km (2,250 tiles) requiring classification in the North Coast regions of Kempsey, Bellingen, Richmond Valley, Lismore, Ballina and Byron Bay. Additional funding is required to out-source this work and LPMA is seeking additional resources over the life of the current program to keep pace with capture, processing and classification tasks. [my yellow highlighting]

One has to wonder - were all 7 local governments in Northern NSW (Northern Rivers region) supplied with a complete topographical and bathymetric assessment of the land within their borders when they came to put their own floodplain management plans/strategies in place by 2014?

So the next time a public service czar wants to have a go at communities experiencing flooding by name calling, blaming entire populations for planning decisions often made a century ago and telling us we should live elsewhere – perhaps he could identify on a detailed map exactly which land across Australia won’t be further impacted by climate change-induced; flood events, land slips, erosion, permanent water level change or become so arid & hot as to become life threatening. Then advise governments of what land being free of such impediments could therefore be considered suitable to build new towns and required infrastructure far away from the 100km wide coastal zone.

Given the water course distribution in NSW, federal and state ministers along with public servants might like to consider which rivers are actually good water sources for large populations relocated from the coastal zone and at the same time guaranteed by science to be moderate to major flood free? A task of epic proportions and one I suspect none would consider undertaking.

Science has been telling us for decades that  Australia is on the frontline of climate change and only a fool would argue that federal and state governments as well as the general population did not have to consider how best to adapt to extreme weather events. Australian society is clearly running out of time in which to organise mass population movements in response to what is likely to be millennia-long changes to seasons of the years and precipitation.

However, before rushing to judgement on ordinary people it would be wise for self-important individuals to first reflect on how long colonial, dominion and then federation authorities have been aware of the effect adverse weather has had on built environments and, why this has never been adequately addressed when planning for residential and commercial buildings as well as town/city infrastructure anytime in the last 234 years.

Just a few of the historic floods which might have given former President of the Liberal Party of Australia 1999-2005 Commander The Honourable Shane L Stone AC PGDK QC RAN (Rtd)  pause for thought but obviously didn't......

"A flood in New South Wales" 1870

Maitland Flood 1893

Lismore Flood undated

Georges River Flood 1956
on Liverpool, Fairfield and Canterbury-Bankstown floodplain 

Nepean River Flood 1961

Picton Flood 2016

Parramatta River Flood 2020

NOTE: All photographs were found on Google Images.

Bushfire ash & debris as well as drought now killing fish in NSW coastal and inland rivers

"Fish kills are defined as a sudden mass mortality of wild fish. In NSW we are likely to see further severe fish kills across coastal and inland catchments during the summer of 2019/20....Fish can be directly impacted during fires through extreme high temperatures, loss of habitat, or be threatened from rapid declines in water quality if rainfall occurs in recently burnt areas. Run-off from rainfall events can wash large amounts of ash and sediment into rivers following fires, causing rapid drops in oxygen levels and threatening the survival of fish populations." [NSW Dept of Primary Industries]

The upper reaches of the Clarence River have been badly stressed by low water flows since 2018, so when bushfires began to eat their way through the severely drought affected Clarence Valley in mid-2019 it was obvious that the rolling impacts wouldn't stop when the fires diminished or when rain fell.

There has been a fish kill at Big Fish Flat, an area known for the protected eastern freshwater cod now only found in parts of this river system and commonly known as Clarence River Cod.

The most likely cause of this kill is bushfire ash entering a river which has all but ceased to flow - turning what water there is into a toxic brew.

At Baryulgil on the Clarence est. 1,000 fish died due to low dissolved oxygen within an isolated pool receiving minimal inflows due to drought conditions.

There was also a fish kill on the Mann River, a major tributary of the Clarence which reportedly coincided with ash in the water.

Two fish kills were experienced to the north at Emigrant Creek at Tintenbar in the Ballina Shire and the Brunswick River near Byron Bay - possibly due to low dissolved oxygen within an isolated pool and minimal freshwater inflows. 

Another fish kill occurred to the south on an 8km stretch of the Macleay River where locals describe the bushfire ash and burned debris turning that river's water into a thick sludge killing hundreds of thousands including Australian Bass, Bull Trout, Freshwater Mullet, Eel-tailed Catfish and Eels.

The Guardian, 17 January 2020: Results of a fish kill in the Macleay River in northern New South Wales, which locals said was like ‘cake mix’. Photograph: Larry Newberry

Similarly bushfire affected water ways in the NSW-Qld Border Rivers system appear to have been similarly affected by run-off from the fire grounds and reported fish kills there are being investigated.

All in all a total of 23 coastal and 17 inland NSW waterways have experienced small to large fish kills to date during the 2019-20 bushfire season.

NSW irrigators still have their heads buried deep in the sand of dry river beds

Ahead of the NSW Local Government Annual Conference to be held from 14-16 October 2019 irrigators' demands are becoming evermore unrealistic in the face of growing surface water shortages due to drought and climate change.

And once again damming and diverting water from the Clarence River system is mentioned.

One has to wonder if the irrigators in the article below realise that, at the point where all the main river tributaries have contributed to the Clarence River flow, water height was only 0.89 metres or slightly less than 3 feet on 28 August 2019, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology which publishes recorded river heights for NSW Northern Rivers.

Water NSW graphs

Further upriver at Tabulum water height was recorded as only -0.04 metres.

The wide full river that these irrigators see on the Internet only runs from Grafton to the sea (approx. 52 kms as the crow flies) and all that way it is saline because the lower river is tidal and that additional undrinkable water volume comes from the ocean.

The Irrigator, Leeton NSW, 27 August 2019, p.5: 

Community leaders agreed to work together to "claw back" water from the NSW government at a Build More Dams meeting recently. 

The meeting attendees agreed to lobby the state government to return "voluntary contributions" of water, which have been siphoned from MIA irrigators since 2002. 

Irrigators had been giving up five per cent of their high security allocations and 15 per cent of their general security allocations, which translates to billions of dollars worth of water - and magnitudes more in today's water prices. Griffith City Council and Leeton Shire Council's mayors also agreed to support the lobbying efforts and urge other councils within the Murray Darling Association to join suit. 

Leeton's mayor Paul Maytom was present at the meeting. 

The committee also agreed to lobby the state government for a feasibility study into the Clarence River diversion scheme that was suggested by engineer David Coffey. 

The scheme would capture Clarence River water in dams and pump it into the Murray Darling system. 

The third and final motion agreed upon by the committee was to take an official stance and throw their support behind a royal commission into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. 

The committee will be joining the ranks of the NSW Farmers Griffith branch, which has also recently thrown their support behind a royal commission.

The national scandal that is the Murray-Darling Basin continues unabated

On the morning of Friday 12 July 2019 NSW Water's real-time records showed that much of the Murray-Darling Basin river systems where they pass through New South Wales are still recording less than 20 per cent water flows, with some sections of the Darling River still regularly recording zero flows and water levels as low as 0.16 of a metre.  

Water sustainability and environmental water flows have been in crisis for decades within the Basin and no solution is in sight.

Here is a snapshot of the latest information........

ABC News, 7 July 2019:

Australian taxpayers have given a huge corporation more than $40 million, enabling it to expand irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin under an environmental scheme that has been labelled a national disgrace.

Four Corners can reveal that more than $4 billion in Commonwealth funds has been handed over to irrigators, which has allowed them to expand their operations and use more water under the $5.6 billion water infrastructure scheme — the centrepiece of Australia's $13 billion Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The scheme is intended to recover water for the rivers by giving farmers money to build water-saving infrastructure, in return for some of their water rights.

Some of the beneficiaries of the scheme are partly foreign-owned corporations that have used the money to transform vast tracts of land along the threatened river system, planting thirsty cotton and nut fields.

One of the biggest operators is Webster Limited, a publicly traded company that produces 90 per cent of Australia's walnuts and is 19.5 per cent owned by Canadian pension fund PSP.

Webster has received $41 million from the water infrastructure scheme to grow its empire in the Murrumbidgee Valley, in south-west New South Wales, where it has bought hundreds of square kilometres of land.

The funding covers more than half of an ambitious $78 million capital works program by Webster Limited to build dams to store more than 30 billion extra litres of water and irrigate an extra 81 square kilometres of land, developing much of it into prime, irrigated cotton country.

Maryanne Slattery, a former director at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, says it is horrifying that a scheme designed to help the environment is allowing irrigators to use more water.

"That program was supposed to reduce the amount of water that was going to irrigation, when it's actually increased the opportunities for irrigation … all subsidised by taxpayers," she said…...

Read full article here.

Note: It should come as no surprise that Chris Corrigan - who attempted to 'bust' a union and rob Patrick Steverdores workers of their jobs & wage entitlements via a version of the ‘bottom of the harbour’ scheme - is Chairman of Webster Limited. 

See PatrickStevedores v MUA [4 May 1998] HCA 

ABC Four Corners, 8 July 2019:

Taxpayer dollars, secretive deals and the lucrative business of water.

"It's a national scandal." Water economist

Two years on from the Four Corners investigation into water theft in the Murray-Darling Basin that sparked a royal commission, the program returns to the river system to investigate new concerns about how the plan to rescue it is being carried out.

"How extravagant is this scheme?... I'd just call it a rort." Lawyer

On Monday Four Corners investigates whether the contentious plan has become a colossal waste of taxpayers' money.

"The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is a triple bottom line fail. It's a fail for communities, it's a fail for the economy and it's absolutely a fail for the environment." Business owner

The river system is the lifeblood of Australian agriculture but right now it's in crisis. It's experiencing one of the worst droughts on record, and with mass fish deaths capturing the headlines and farmers struggling to survive, many are saying the scheme is failing to deliver.

"I would characterise it as pink batts for farmers, or pink batts for earth movers. It all had to happen in a short space of time." Contractor

Billions of taxpayers' dollars are being poured into grants handed to irrigators in an attempt to save more water. Four Corners investigates exactly how the money is being spent.

"I'm a taxpayer. I don't agree with the scheme. I think it's actually too expensive." Farmer

Some irrigators say this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform their businesses.

"With a bold initiative, having the basin plan and the government investing in irrigated agriculture, you get an opportunity to basically reset... for the next 50 years." Irrigation CEO

Others question who is actually gaining the most from the generous scheme.

"We're degrading the rivers at the same time as we're handing out money to a few individuals to realise huge economic gains at public cost." Ecologist

For those with access to water, there are lucrative sales to be made. Water prices have hit record highs turning it into liquid gold.

"Anyone can come in and buy water. You don't even have to be a farmer...You're going to make money out of it, and that's what a lot of people are doing, unfortunately." Farmer

Others worry that the scheme is encouraging the planting of crops even thirstier than cotton, creating a potential time bomb.

"There's been an explosion in the production of nuts in the Murrumbidgee, and more broadly in the Murray-Darling Basin...This may well be a time bomb." Former water official

Four Corners investigates how the scheme is being regulated and whether water users and the authorities responsible are being properly held to account.

"We're talking about billions of dollars in taxpayers' money on a scheme that many, many capable and reliable scientists have said, this isn't going to work." Lawyer

Transcript of Four Corners 8 July 2019 episode Cash Splash is here.

Abc.net.au, 9 July 2019:

Two years on from Pumped, the Four Corners investigation into water theft in the Murray-Darling Basin that sparked a royal commission, Monday night’s report Cash Splash investigated new concerns about how the plan to rescue the fragile and vitally important river system is being carried out, probing the infrastructure grants scheme which is now the centrepiece of the $13 billion Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The investigation revealed tens of millions of dollars intended to restore the Murray-Darling Basin is helping big businesses expand irrigation and access huge volumes of water that would have flowed into communities and habitats downstream.

The aim of the story was to speak with people who have first-hand evidence of how the grants scheme is operating. It drew on a wide cross-section of the community affected by the scheme, including farmers and irrigators who have received the funding or been involved in its expenditure, scientists and economists who have gathered and analysed data on its effects, community leaders, former government officials and current and former Murrumbidgee Irrigation staff.

The interviewees on the program were:

Julie and Glen Andreazza, NSW Farmers of the Year

Brett Jones, CEO, Murrumbidgee Irrigation

Anthony Kidman, former Murrumbidgee Irrigation Project Manager

David Papps, former Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder

Professor Richard Kingsford, Ecologist, UNSW

Richard Beasley SC, Former Senior Counsel Assisting the SA Royal Commission into the MDBP

Prof Sarah Wheeler, Water Economist, University of Adelaide

John Kerrigan, Earthmover and now irrigator and recipient of infrastructure grants

Maryanne Slattery, former Director of Environmental Water at the MDBA and now senior Water Researcher, Australia Institute

Kelvin and Glen Baxter, farmers

Prof Quentin Grafton, UNESCO Chair in Water Economics, ANU

Paul Pierotti, Vice President of the Griffith Business Chamber

Tony Onley, Business Development Coordinator, Murrumbidgee Irrigation

Emma Carmody, Senior Solicitor, Environmental Defender’s Office

Matthew Ireson, Grazier

Four Corners requested an interview with Environment Minister Sussan Ley, who is responsible for the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office and is the Member for Farrer, which includes the Murrumbidgee Valley where the story was filmed.

Minister Ley declined to be interviewed and her spokesperson told Four Corners no-one from the government would comment for the story.