Government Bungling Endangers Australian Wetlands
The Gwydir wetlands are some of the most important in Australia and have been recognized by the international community as having special environmental significance. However, a severe lack of water – being blamed on government inaction and incompetence – means the wetlands are facing a very severe threat.
When a Moree farmer bulldozed 300 hectares of the world-recognized Gwydir Wetlands earlier this year it made national headlines and sparked an outcry of protest. It seemed like a simple case of environmental vandalism and the New South Wales Government promised an immediate investigation and swift retribution against those responsible. But according to a neighbouring farmer, whose property shares a significant piece of the same wetlands, there is a far greater crime being committed against the delicate Gwydir Valley ecosystem, perpetrated by the government itself.
There is no doubting the value Howard Blackburn places on the wetlands that sprawl across the bottom paddocks of his property. Framed photos line his walls showing the blue sky darkened by thousands of birds that once traveled here to breed, while his photo album is full of pictures of grinning family and friends wading through the seemingly endless water that covers the land during significant flooding events.
Unfortunately such occurrences are now little more than fading memories, with the amount of water flowing into the wetlands greatly reduced. River regulation structures upstream, including Copeton Dam and Tareelaroi Weir, capture much of the water destined for the wetlands and send it to irrigators down the Mehi River to the south of the Gwydir Valley and Carole Creek to the north.
“Once upon a time, before all the regulation, this was the priority stream chosen by Mother Nature. All the water from a huge catchment area that stretches as far as Armidale, Inverell and Manilla flowed through the Gwydir Wetlands and eventually trickled into the Barwon River. Now the water bypasses the wetlands and goes to irrigators on either side,” Howard says.
Looking at a satellite map of the region reveals the exact nature of the problem. The wetlands appear as a dark blue smudge down the middle, outflanked on both sides by a string of densely packed bright green rectangles that represent the thirsty irrigation farms that swing in a wide arc around the Gwydir Valley, carrying the water tantalizingly close but keeping it ultimately out of reach. Howard traces a finger across the map, following the course of the water that might have passed through the wetlands but never will.
“We used to get floods on a regular basis, pretty much every time it rained, but now they happen very rarely. The floods only happen now when there’s a very significant flow that cannot be controlled,” he says.
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