Melbourne has a doomed dam that may never be full again. The Thomson Dam was built in the late 1970s/early 1980s to supply Melbourne’s increasing thirst. It took around six to seven years to fill, from 1983–89. It was at its lowest level of around 17–18% early this year. The last time the dam was …
When the Snowy Hydro Scheme was completed in 1967, it captured 99% of the Snowy River headwaters.The Expert Panel Environmental Flow Assessment of the Snowy River Below Jindabyne 1996, recommended 28% annual natural flow as the minimum environmental flow required for the Snowy below Jindabyne Dam. Steve Bracks won government in Victoria in 1999 with …
The debate over logging water catchments has been won hands down by environmental arguments, but Minister Thwaites refuses to accept the science. Below are his bizarre arguments and the responses from Sarah Rees from the Central Highlands Alliance, who’s been tracking this issue for years. John Thwaites – Only 0.02% of Melbourne’s catchments are logged …
The Victorian water shortage has been worrying the state’s electricity generators for several months. Coal-fired generators need large amounts of water for cooling. The Latrobe Valley power stations supply 85% of Victoria’s electricity and the water shortage is threatening their ability to generate power. Electricity generators in NSW and Queensland face similar problems.The hydro-electric schemes …
At the time of going to print, there are FIVE CREWS working on a GOVT SANCTIONED 70 mts x 256 kms CLEARING that cuts across the Thomson catchment. The DSE claimed it learnt from the squandering of the Yalmy Road and the Snowy National Park in the 2003 fires. Now we understand how! The Minister …
LIBERAL Party leader Ted Baillieu has been linked to one of Victoria’s most damaging environmental debacles through his shareholding in a collapsed mining company. The company, Denehurst, went bust in 1998, leaving the state government with a $6.9million clean-up bill at the Benambra Mine, in Victoria’s far east. News of Mr Baillieu’s involvement in the …
For years now, governments and water authorities have determined that offshore oil and gas operations are causing groundwater in Gippsland to drop. But nothing has been done to solve the problem. The all-powerful oil and gas industry is well known as a major string puller of governments of every colour. The Commonwealth Government pockets $1.6 …
‘If the logging industry was an irrigator they would be charged millions for using this water’ Melbourne’s catchments are empty, so we’re looking at the skies searching for rain. Right idea, but wrong direction. Look at the Thomson dam, and ask why we still allow clearfell logging in its catchment, then look at Steve Bracks …
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) and the National Party has criticised the Bracks Government for plans to ban new dams on 18 Victorian rivers. Under the plan, the Snowy, Mitchell, Genoa, Aberfeldy, Thomson, Bemm and Upper Buchan rivers could not be dammed. The VFF said it was wasting water that would just go out to …
We have to wonder if we are in Indonesia or Australia sometimes. The latest incidents of government foresters approving illegal logging is in the Red Gum Forests at Barmah on the Murray River and in the Central Highlands. Thompson catchmentWorld Water Week began on 20th of August – the same day that conservationists from the …
