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Queensland floodwaters won't reach Murray mouth: As feared by Fair Water Use, despite initially optimistic forecasts from governments and Basin administrators, the reality is that, as a result of the combination of long term drought and rampant over-harvesting of water in the upper Darling catchment, recent record rainfall in the region will result in little or no nett benefit to the river system as a whole: ABC Rural On-line: 28th May 2010: [ARTICLE HERE]
Case for water equity investing 2010: this article, from an investment company with significant involvement in Murray-Darling water, makes fascinating if disturbing reading. Better the devil you know: Summit Global Management, 2010: (ARTICLE HERE)
Jordan River could die by next year: The Murray-Darling is only one of the world's major river systems facing collapse as a result of inept management and over-exploitation: ABC News, 3rd May 2010: (ARTICLE HERE)
Measuring the performance of Australian water utilities: The National Water Commission is an independent statutory body within the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts; its role being "to drive progress towards the sustainable management and use of Australia's water resources". Why then, despite mounting evidence that rampant infrastructure development, and especially the construction of desalination plants, is no solution to the water crisis, does this latest NWC report laud the outlay of vast sums to this end? National Water Commission, 28th April 2010: (ARTICLE HERE)
Desalination's eco-damage studied: Australian governments have been massaged by multinational water privateers into believing that desalination has an important role to play in the nation's water future. Latest evidence from overseas confirms the errant stupidity of such an approach: ZAWYA, 26th April 2010: (ARTICLE HERE)
Economics of water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin: excellent paper out of the ANU which defines the processes whereby the Commonwealth can improve environmental outcomes whilst allowing irrigators to adapt to reduced water availability: Centre For Water Economics, Environment and Policy, ANU, 15th February 2010: (ARTICLE HERE)
Water deal details fudged: The impacts of the de-facto privatisation of Australia's water. FWU details some of its concerns: The Independent, 15th January 2010: [ARTICLE HERE]
Is water the new oil?: Revealing interview by CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, involving Gerard Payen, president of Aquafed, a group representing global private water companies, environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., founder and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance and founder of the Blue Planet Project, Maude Barlow: CNN, 7th January 2010: [FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE]
High Court rejects compo bid: A landmark decision, which tends to support FWU's assertion that water allocations are not protected under the Constitution and can therefore be amended by Governments if deemed to be in the public interest:The Land, 10th December 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Productivity Commission draft report commends water-buy back, but is highly critical of costs, efficiency and environmental impacts of many infrastructure projects: 9th December 2009: [DRAFT FINDINGS HERE]
Desal plant figures do not hold water: Brumby Government plumbs the depths of deceit in defence of the indefensible: The Age, 7th December 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Secret files on protesters given to desal consortium: Victorian authorities apply Orwellian measures in an attempt to stifle dissent: The Age, 5th December 2009:[ARTICLE HERE]
River Murray plight makes French News: The Independent Weekly: 20th November 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Storm clouds threatening wine industry: Australian wine producers reveal that at least 20% of their vines are "surplus to requirements": The article does not indicate how many gigalitres of Murray-Darling water has therefore been wasted over recent years:The Australian, 19th November 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Paper mill salt plan "flawed": FWU reveals major problems with Albury paper mill's "green offsets" project: The Border Mail, 13th November 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Despite reasonable rains in some parts of the Basin, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is predicting that water storages will return to very low levels by June 2010: MDBA Drought Update, November 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Baked Australia - How much longer long can our legislators continue to ignore the weight of international evidence as to the cause of the global water crisis? : The Scientific American, November 11, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
State of Emergency - a prescription for Basin repair by FWU coordinator, Ian Douglas: ABC Unleashed: November 4, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Threat to turn of tap to water grants: Three billion reasons why Basin States should be removed from the equation: The Australian: October 16, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Troubled waters: A summary of the biennial review of national water reform: a process which Fair Water Use and many others feel is doomed to fail under current governance arrangements: Water Planning Tools: October 9, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Coliban Water welcomes usage figures: well of course they would; they have no interest in the health of the Murray-Darling and are merely seeking to maximise profits, selling our water back to us, encouraging us to use as much as we like. Did anyone ask us whether we approve of this lunacy?: ABC News On-line: October 6, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Economic rationalists have hijacked water policy, at our peril: A concise review of the clandestine and divisive process that is privatisation of Australia's water. However, Mr Davidson does not appear to comprehend the need to maintain a healthy environment if we are to be able to use natural resources into the future; water in excess of that used by humans is not "waste water". Tasmanian water must be left in Tasmania: The Sydney Morning Herald, October 5, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
South Australian project turns storm-water into drinking water. FWU hopes the Victorian Government reads this article, as it recently described such proposals as "silly": CSIRO, September 22, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Californian State Assembly passes public water-rights Act. Australia must follow suit: Causecast (USA), September 17, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
The shape of things to come - and it's truly ugly: Coliban Water's plan for our water: ABC News On-line, September 11, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Thomson River: Victorian Government breaks yet another environmental promise, whilst Melbourne's storm water still wasted: The Age, September 9, 2009: [ARTICLE HERE]
Why water privatisation fails: a synopsis from US-based Food & Water Watch: [ARTICLE HERE]
The water market: speculating on the Murray-Darling: an extract from a recently published book by Melbourne author, Michael Cathcart, which provides a succinct background to the current crisis. However there are many who disagree with Mr Cathcart's assertion that the privatisation juggernaut cannot now be turned around: August 28, 2009: [EXTRACT HERE]
The Stockholm Statement - The participants of the 2009 World Water Week in Stockholm unanimously state that water must be included in the COP-15 climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December August 21, 2009: [FULL STATEMENT HERE]
Fair Water Use adds its voice to calls for Federal Government purchase of Cubbie Station: The Australian, 17th August 2009: [FULL ARTICLE HERE]
The State-driven water grab continues: ABC News On-line, 3rd August 2009:[FULL ARTICLE HERE]
Senior United Nations advisor on water issues, Maude Barlow, states her concerns regarding Australia's water policies and supports FWU's calls for declaration of a state of emergency and for establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry: Adelaide Now,13th July 2009: [FULL ARTICLE HERE]
Confirming what we all know: "Since the Murray-Darling Basin agreement in 1992 a string of government initiatives have been implemented along with substantial public investment. For all the effort, there is considerable underachievement as a result of poorly informed investment decisions and persistent institutional weaknesses": ANU Report, 2009: [FULL TEXT HERE]
How embarrassing Premier: Brumby's white elephant gets the thumbs down from UN water- advisor: The Age, 27th May 2009: [FULL STORY HERE]
Great Southern goes belly-up: but not before the fat-cats grab whatever they can: The Land, 25th May 2009: [FULL STORY HERE]
Minister Wong, we pay you to take action, not to day-dream: The Australian, 18th May 2009: [FULL STORY HERE]
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Drought Update April 2009: "The Murray–Darling Basin Authority is responsible for planning the integrated management of water resources of the vast Murray–Darling Basin — Australia's food bowl." - or should that read "responsible for overseeing the demise of the water resources of the M-D Basin? : [FULL STORY HERE]
It's a hard lesson and a saluatory one: Water intensive agricultural practices are not sustainable in the Murray-Darling Basin:ABC Rural News, 30th March 2009: [FULL STORY HERE]
Where is the action? Talking about how to improve is not the same as "improving": CSIRO media release, 5th November 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Water thief charged: but only one of many involved in this form of criminal activity: Stock Journal, 28th October 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
One agricultural community accepts the grim reality and acts accordingly: ABC News On-Line, 17th October 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
BOM report on rainfall trends confirms what is evident: Bureau of Meteorology Special Climate Statement, 10th October 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
What on earth? - Managed Investment Schemes continue to suck the river dry to produce grapes no-one needs, while mature stands of productive fruit trees are ripped up and burnt: The Herald, 25th September 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
The water-barons are at it again, and the NSW Government turns its back : The Weekly Times, 3rd September 2008 [FULL STORY HERE] and [MORE HERE]
"Ending Australia's Water Torture": Op-ed article written at the request of the ABC by FWU coordinator, Ian Douglas: ABC On-Line, 16th September 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Cotton industry, having sucked the rivers dry, now targets ground-water: The Land, 5th September 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
The report that the NSW Department of Water should have waited for: MDBC, 2nd September 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Is this really a commonwealth? - NSW Department of Water increases Murrumbidgee high-security water allocation to 65% whilst the M-D system continues to experience record low inflows: Stock& Land, 1st September 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Twelve years ago the alarm bells were being rung: The Green Left, 15th May 1996 [FULL STORY HERE]
I'ts not just about river flows: Stock & Land, 28th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Metrocentricity and dodgy deals suffuse Brumby's water agenda: The Age, 27th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Privatisation continues: Cubbie to be allowed to trade water rights worth up to $100 million: The Australian, 22nd August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Brumby Government seeks to promote need for desal plant and north-south pipeline by attempting to shaft rainwater tank requirements for new housing: The Age, 25th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Tandou: Farmer or water-trader? - Our water-future(s) as currently proposed by Canberra: The Australian, 21st August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... How Queensland's politicorporate club bottled up the nation's water: Crikey, 21st August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
"The Rise and Rise of Cubbie": The seminal article on the outrageous circumstances surrounding the establishment of of this vast irrigating enterprise: Phil Dickie, Meleleuca Media, originally published in 2000 [FULL STORY HERE]
Report confirms dramatic increase in volume extracted from the headwaters of the Darling by Queensland irrigators: The Australian, 21st August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Cotton where it should be: ABC Rural, 21st August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Fair Water Use agenda under discussion: ABC Rural, 18th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
The destructive anathema that is state-determined water allocation: The Australian, 16th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Toorale purchase would enable more than 50 gigalitres per annum to be returned to the Darling: Sydney Morning Herald, 16th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Notably absent from the list of "urgent measures" announced by the Federal Government to address the Murray-Darling crisis is any commitment to allow a drop of extra water to be released in the near future: ALP Media Statement, 16th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Molonglo dam proposal: ACT Government accused of deceit: The Canberra Times, 13th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
If the lakes were more visible to the Australian electorate, would Government attitudes be different? - You betcha: The Adelaide Advertiser, 8th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Australian Conservation Foundation supports FWU stance on Toorale, Cubbie, Ballandool et al: ACF, 8th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
An old article, but very relevant to current discussions regarding abuse of the upper Darling catchment, as the large, overseas-owned, cotton property,Toorale, is to be auctioned in the next few weeks: The Australian, 24th January 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Government water buy-back harvest, a drop in the ocean: The Australian, 5th August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Major implications for Murray water security if Snowy Hydro "privatisation by stealth" proceeds: The Australian, 2nd August 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Professor Wayne Meyer, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide believes that governments should declare a state of emergency: The Adelaide Advertiser, 31st July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Penny Wong still in denial and sitting on her hands, waiting for rain: The Canberra Times, 21st July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Tim Flannery calls for sea-water flooding of lower lakes as part of long term measures to save the Murray-Darling - while Premier Rann's inertia persists: The Australian, 12th July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Where is the leadership? The "Big Dry" has only just begun: The Canberra Times, 15th July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Volunteers work to save wildlife threatened with local extinction due to water crisis: ABC News, 14th July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Cubbie likely to be allowed to trade the $100 million worth of water given to it by its Queensland Government mates: The Australian, 10th July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Murray-Darling Basin Commission: Just one more salary-fest?: Alan Ramsay, Sydney Morning Herald, 12th July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Is this the best you can offer the Murray-Darling, Dr Craik?: Murray-Darling Commission media release, 10th July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
The world is watching, Mr Rudd: " Australian prime minister says water-saving plan will not end crisis on drought-stricken river": The International Herald Tribune, 3rd July 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
The days of cut-price water must end: Tim Colebatch, The Age, 24th June 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Sixteen Sydney Harbour's worth of water entitlements in southern Murray-Darling Basin alone: Is it any wonder we're in strife?: Dr Mark Siebentritt, Water Find, 24th June 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
Australia?s water problem seems to be quite beyond the nation?s politicians: Alan Kohler, 19th June 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
"A leaked scientific report on the Murray-Darling Basin warns part of the river system are beyond the point of recovery unless they get water by October" ABC Radio National 18th June 2008 [FULL STORY HERE]
?Millions down drain in wetlands battle? Sydney Morning Herald 12th April 2008 [ FULL STORY HERE ]
ABC 7.30 Report segment highlighting the Cubby Group?s dismissive attitude to the plight of the Murray?Darling and the downstream irrigators: [ FULL STORY HERE ]
From Murray Bridge, South Australia: ?I still don?t think people in the city and upstream have grasped the grim reality: the Lower Lakes and the Coorong are literally dying before our eyes,? Ms Hanson-Young said. ?People are crying out for help now, not in 2011? [ FULL STORY HERE ]
?The future will demand an agricultural industry that is smarter, more cost effective and not so thirsty. On this basis, it is unlikely that water-intensive rice and cotton will be part of the future.? The Age 28th March 2008 [ FULL STORY HERE ]
SBS reports ?The Murray-Darling Basin: A catchment in crisis? [ FULL STORY HERE ]
Cotton corporates continue their environmental rape, commencing AQUACULTURE whilst the Murray-Darling dries-up: The following is an extract from an article published by ?Cotton Catchment Communities CRC? on the 25^th March 2008. One of the stated aims of this development is to increase environmental sustainability ? do they really believe this ?! [ FULL STORY HERE ]