Water levels in the Murray River

From EnvironmentWiki

Water levels in the Murray River are controlled by the Murray Darling Basin Commission through releases from Hume and Dartmouth Dams. Before these dams were built the River ran dry during periods of drought.

In 1915

Riversdale, Easter 1915, photograph by Frank Hall

This picture was taken at Easter in 1915 in the dry bed of the Murray River just downstream of the homestead at "Riversdale". The picture is of the farming community of Myall on their way to the Easter Sunday School Picnic. Myall is a small town approximately 15kms west of Barmah in the central Murray valley.

The picture was published by the Institute of Public Affairs in a monograph by Jennifer Marohasy entitled Myth and the Murray - Measuring the Real State of the River Environment. That publication erroneously states the picture was taken on New Year’s Day, 1914, as this is the date written on the back of a photograph in a collection owned by the McDonald family of Riversdale. Based on the oral history of the region and research by Marianne Cockroft for a re-enactment of the Myall Sunday School picnic on Easter Monday April 9, 2007, the date on the back of the photograph appears to be incorrect.

According to an excerpt from '100 Years at Rosevale' by Russell McDonald in 'Picnic in the Murray in Definance of the Drought' by Marianne Cockroft: "Water was never more than two feet six deep while we carted [timber], and for a long time in Autumn 1915 was perfectly dry, the river having stopped running in February or March". So, there was water in the river in 1914 but the river ran dry in early 1915.

In 2006

During 2006, Australia's publicly-funded national broadcaster, The ABC, ran several very misleading stories suggesting that water levels in the Murray River were at historic lows. For example, an article published online in August 17, 2006, entitled Murray River flows at record lows confused low water inflows with low water levels, while a story entitled Fish at risk as rivers run dry published on September 7, 2006, stated that record low water levels could result in the extinction of the Murray Cod.

Meanwhile, through 2006, despite the drought, the Murray River was running strongly.

In September 2006 approximately 4,120 megalitres of water each day was passing Riversdale. Daryl McDonald remarked at the time that this was, "Quite amazing considering we have had the lowest inflows on record. It should be noted that South Australia still expects its guaranteed 1,850 gigalires per annum, while NSW irrigators have a zero allocation, and the Victorians are on 50 percent of their average 160 perent Water Right."

On September 10, 2006, Daryl McDonald, took several photographs of the Murray River at Riversdale where the river ran dry in 1914.

Riversdale, September 2006, photograph by Daryl McDonald

In 2007

About a year later Jennifer Marohasy visited Riversdale.

Riversdale, November 21, 2007, photograph by Jennifer Marohasy

In the midst of the worst drought on record, the Murray River was still flowing strongly thanks to the Hume and Dartmouth dams.

Furthermore, in January 2008 water could be made available to flood a portion of the Millewa State Forest creek to save a population of Southern Pygmy Perch ['Water released to save Millewa State Forest native fish', MDBC Media Release, January 18, 2008]

--Jennifer Marohasy 22:52, 20 January 2008 (EST)