OK.
I'm gonna stop wingeing about the cold (13 deg & blowing today) & lack of wind (when I can get out).
At least we've got water...
(a) to drink
(b) to sail on
Hope you guys in S.A. get some water soooon
From SMH today + photo of dead turtle
Death Stalks on a parched lake shore 
ON THE shores of the beautiful but beleaguered Lake Bonney - where the turtles have started dying as the water retreats, stagnates and grows increasingly salty - live sceptics of man-made climate change.
Robyn O'Dea, who runs the newsagency in Barmera, the South Australian Riverland's town on the edge of the lake, is one.
"I think we are more in a cyclical thing," she says of the conditions that have left the Murray-Darling Basin parched in recent years.
Professor Garnaut has warned that without action against climate change, temperature rises are likely to greatly exceed that range and leave the Murray-Darling Basin an apocalyptic wasteland by 2100.
But while he is calling for urgent action to cut carbon emissions, Mrs O'Dea believes the Federal Government should be putting much more money and energy into buying back water for the environment if it wants to save Lake Bonney. Otherwise it will be dead long before 2100, she fears.
The natural lake - a major tourist attraction - was cut off from the Murray River a year ago to save water for irrigation and human consumption. Its normal surface area of 1700 hectares loses 29,000 megalitres of water a year to evaporation.
The move has already seen the shoreline of the lake retreat by up to 200 metres in places, and its salinity more than double, Mrs O'Dea says.
Among the creatures that live in Lake Bonney are broad-shelled turtles, which have been declared threatened in South Australia. Before their winter hibernation this year, unusual numbers were found dead or sick.
The aquatic vegetation and crustaceans the turtles feed on have been decimated, Mrs O'Dea says. "We have set up a turtle hospital and are expecting to deal with hundreds and hundreds of turtles … dead and sick."
Big Murray cod - listed as vulnerable by the Federal Government - have also been washing up on the shores in increasing numbers.
"We need to get an environmental flow into the lake," Mrs O'Dea says. "All the aquatic life is stressed.
"I am a climate-change sceptic. I believe politicians are brainwashing the public into believing in climate change to shift the blame off of their mismanagement of our water resources. My biggest fear is that the politicians will continue to use climate change as an excuse to not do enough about water over-allocation. The easiest thing will be for them to sacrifice environmental sites across the Murray-Darling Basin."
Sites like Lake Bonney.
It's abit sad seeing the lake slowly drying up but there is still plenty of water and with some luck they may even let some fresh water back into it within the next couple of months,
if they don't when summer comes around there will be a massive fish kill from the high salt levels at present it's around 15,000 ec units.
Damn this is all sad.
I remember "prominent scientists" in the 80s claiming no hole in the ozone, no global warming, no climate changes. In particular, the hole in the ozone layer was mainly affecting Australia and being denied as a freak thing or bad measurements by those scientists.
Those were usually fronts for large companies. I clearly remember a major spokesperson against all this was chief scientist... at Dow - talk about rounding up sardines to man the fishing fleet... Those were often large US companies, and US "scientists" of course, ever against Kyoto and forever delaying any actions.
Anyhow, now that we know better, those should be dug up from their mansions or whever they are, put against the wall and shot.
The woman in the article nailed it.
Global warming is blamed for greed and inaction. Temperature changes have nothing to do with over allocation and over use of a finite resource. It could be raining cats and dogs up in the New England and other areas of the catchment. Bugger all will make it to SA as its allocated to all and sundry along the way. The government needs to buy up the water allocations and when it does rain, let a bit of it flow through to the river mouth.
The inland rivers of Australia have always had variable river flow. Early white explorers on the Australian inland noted that many of the rivers were stagnant and salty. The problem is any water coming down in floods, and we have recently had inland floods, is diverted and used long before it gets to the Goolwa.
Yup.
So whenever a politician starts talking about global warming, its usually code for 'special interest groups' to make heaps of money at everyone else's and the environment's expense, and then throw up your hands in despair at the big boogy man we can't stop.
Do trees normally grow in the middle of lakes?
Or do all those tree stumps suggest that was lake not long ago was once dry land sometime before that? (and for quite a long time from the size of the stumps)
Just a thought..
How about Goolwa here in SA. The water levels are so low that boat marinas and everything are shutting down. Theres now so little water that the so called "fresh water" is more salty/acidic than sea water. The just need to open tha barrage i rekcon. Heres a few pics of the area:
Cheers
Bubs
