Friday, 28 March 2008

After the recent rains in Queensland, the dams on Cubbie Station now contain over three years supply of water which will be used for the cultivation of cotton in a country ravaged by drought.

Sadly, Cubbie is only one of several huge enterprises, some at least partially-owned by overseas interests, which have directly impeded the flow of a vast and essential river system. Cubbie Station is licensed to take 460,000 megalitres ? more than enough to fill Sydney Harbour - extracted from the Murray-Darling catchment virtually free of charge.  There is strong evidence that dam construction continues on a huge scale.

Current data obtained by FWU from the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and relevant State water authorities reveal that around 4,000 gigalitres of water is currently held in public storage in the Murray-Darling Basin: including Menindee: 510 gl; Dartmouth: 730 gl; Hume: 620 gl; Eildon: 562 gl; Burrunjuck: 450 gl; Blowering: 650  gl. This total is increasing following recent, but by no means drought-breaking, rains in south-eastern Australia.

The volume currently impounded by private enterprise is estimated at 1,000 gigalitres (predominantly in the upper Darling catchment).

We are advised that the Federal Government has the constitutional authority to assume control of Murray-Darling water, including this total of around 5000 gigalitres currently impounded. It is therefore not unreasonable to ask Senator Wong why she has made no decisive moves to acquire the 1,500 gigalitres that the CSIRO tells us is urgently required by the system if it is to be given a reasonable chance of restoration.

It is interesting to note that that the CSIRO has determined that 1500 gigalitres is urgently required by the Murray-Darling to prevent its short-term collapse. Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that cotton-growers in the Murray-Darling basin consumed this volume in 2005-6.

Given the above, the Federal Government should move without delay to compulsorily acquire water from the massive private impoundments in the upper Darling region, in addition to that able to be sourced from reserves held by the States.

For those who have an interest in the scale of earthworks undertaken in the Upper Darling region by major  irrigators, courtesy of Google Earth, FWU can take you to  one such development, at Cubbie Station. The image below shows merely ONE INLET to the THIRTY THREE THOUSAND HECTARES of irrigated cotton country owned by the Cubbie Group - on this the driest continent on the planet.

To take a tour of this huge water-sucking enterprise, simply copy and paste the following coordinates into the "Fly To" window of Google Earth and you will see for yourself the lengths to which the Cubbie Group has gone to ensure that water is diverted from the nation's rivers into their irrigation system:  -28.6117048382 148.005713781 (don't forget the "-" )

This is only one example of the diversion channels put in place by organisations which  have the temerity to state publicly that they have an "almost negligible" impact on the Murray-Darling. 

If you feel motivated by this image you may care to contact the following entities and individuals who are invested in these selfish and destructive activities:

Tell them what you think.....

CUBBIE:  

Chairman  Keith De Lacy: Fax: 61 7 3229 1776 ; Director: Peter Forbes: Fax: 61 7 3360 3986

Joint managing directors: John Grabbe, Paul Brimblecombe: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it    

CUBBIE'S MAIN FINANCIERS:

National Australia Bank:
Ric Shadforth: Media Relations Business Partner - Agribusiness: +61 (0)2 9237 1518 / +61 (0)447 395 889 or via  http://www.nabgroup.com/0,,33879,00.html

 Suncorp: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 

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