Forecast of heavy rain stirs nerves in landholders downstream of Hume Dam

 Forecast of heavy rain stirs nerves in landholders downstream of Hume Dam

Landholders on the Murray River downstream of Hume Dam are starting to get nervous.

With the weir near Albury-Wodonga sitting at 94.6 per cent full, heavy rain is forecast for the already-soaked catchment — up to 20mm predicted today around Wodonga and up to 30mm on Saturday.

Bonegilla farmer Bill can see the dam wall from his home and has experienced every local flood since 1956.

https://miutanelbuktunkteljesfilmmagyarulhd2021.talentlms.com/index

https://miutanelbuktunkhd2021teljesfilmmagyarul.talentlms.com/index

https://miutanelbuktunkteljesfilmmagyarulmozicsillag.talentlms.com/index

https://videahumiutanelbuktunk2021teljesfilmmagyarulonline.talentlms.com/index

https://afterwefell2021hdfilmonlinesaprevodom.talentlms.com/index

https://afterwefell2021filmonlinesaprevodomhd.talentlms.com/index

https://filmoviafterwefell2021ceofilmonlinesaprevodomhd.talentlms.com/index

He said his family had learned from the local Indigenous community that turtles on the move were a sign a flood was on the way, and that it had proved accurate every time.

Bill said the turtles had been moving for weeks now and he believed another flood was not far away.

"On my natural level stick, it's got two foot, eight inches (81.3cm) to go and then [the weir] is full."

Bill said he was frustrated the weir's capacity was at nearly 95 per cent and more releases had not been made — he is still rebuilding $100,000 worth of fencing damaged in 2016 when Lake Hume spilled.

Other landholders alert

Murray River Action Group president Richard Sargood said people downstream of the weir were understandably nervous.

https://ganzerfilmhdafterlove2021streamdeutsch.talentlms.com/index

https://afterlove2021ganzerfilmonlinedeutsch.talentlms.com/index

https://afterlove2021ganzerfilmdeutschschauen.talentlms.com/index

https://afterlovestream2021ganzerfilmdeutsch.talentlms.com/index

https://ganzerfilmhdafterlove2021streamdeutschkostenlos.talentlms.com/index

https://guardafilmafter32021streamingitalianogratis.talentlms.com/index

https://after3filmcompletogratissualtadefinizione2021hd.talentlms.com/index

https://guardaafter32021filmcompletostreaminggratis.talentlms.com/index

https://guardaafter32021filmcompletostreaming.talentlms.com/index

https://after3streaming2021itafilmcompletogratis.talentlms.com/index

"Hume Dam is 95 per cent full; it's considered full at 99 per cent," he said.

"There's 35 to 45, maybe 50 millimetres forecast for the catchment this weekend — that will make the Hume fill probably at least 1 per cent a day and probably 2 per cent a day.

"So, we have got a maximum of four and probably two days of airspace up our sleeve."

Mr Sargood said he understood the need for water security but that pre-releasing was now a priority.

"Most of this rain that's coming will run off, I imagine, and has got the potential to cause a lot of grief."

Landholders had a briefing with Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) officials on Wednesday.

He said he was disappointed the MDBA had not used more airspace for flood mitigation.

https://dune2021filmstreamingvfcompletgratuitenligne.talentlms.com/index

https://dune2021filmstreamingvf.talentlms.com/index

https://regarderdune2021filmcompletvf.talentlms.com/index

https://voirdune2021filmstreamingvfgratuit.talentlms.com/index

"They've just filled and filled and filled.

"They told us they don't expect this rain to fill the dam.

"I will bet every cent I have got that this rain will fill the dam."

MDBA confident of no floods

Acting MDBA chief executive Andrew Reynolds said there was 166 gigalitres of airspace in Hume Dam and did not expect any significant flooding following the weekend's forecast. 

"We are progressively having to fill the dam," he said.

"Importantly, Hume is there to supply water for irrigators and other entitlement holders, and so at some point in the year we need to fill it up to maximise the water that's available to others."

Mr Reynolds said he understood the uneasiness of landholders.

"Weather is a pretty uncertain thing, so we have to balance up the need to fill the storage and maintain some airspace and limit any flooding where we can."

The MDBA has increased releases up to 6,500 megalitres per day this week.

In early August, pre-releases were done to maintain airspace, and it is still delivering environmental water which will continue throughout September.

"The thing we are really looking out for is a big dump of rain over a very short period of time, and the longer-term outlook doesn't really give an indication if we can expect that or not," Mr Reynolds said.

NT government accused of secrecy over Singleton Station water licence review

The Central Land Council (CLC) has accused the Northern Territory government of secrecy ahead of a hearing today to review a "gigantic allocation" of water to an agribusiness. 

In April, Fortune Agribusiness was granted a licence to extract 40,000 megalitres of groundwater a year from Singleton Station, an arid cattle property near Tennant Creek. 

The CLC and other parties who asked for the formal review will have 45 minutes each to present their objections and answer questions at a closed meeting in Darwin.

They will not be able to watch each other's presentations despite asking to do so. 

The CLC's head of policy, Josie Douglas, called the process "a sad day for democracy in the Northern Territory".

Dr Douglas said the CLC was disturbed by the lack of public scrutiny and said the allotted time was not enough to convey the organisation's scientific concerns and to answer the panel's questions. 

"We should have as long a time as it takes," she said. 

The land council, representing traditional owners, said it was concerned the water allocation could irrevocably damage the local environment and that it feared for the future of the area's groundwater-dependent sacred sites.  

"With such a gigantic allocation of water under question, we would expect full transparency at every step of the process," Dr Douglas said. 

"Climate change is upon us and we cannot afford to be cavalier about scarce resources such as water in the desert."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Environment Minister Eva Lawler said the Water Resources Review Panel was able to determine the procedure of its meetings.

"The review panel acts in an advisory capacity to the Minister," the spokesperson said. 

"It is not a tribunal or a judicial body and its meetings are not conducted as such."

Panel not disclosed 

The ABC's request for a list of the review panel's members was declined. 

"There are a number of members available to be selected on a review panel," the Minister's spokesperson said.

"These members are appointed at the time of the review based on their availability, expertise and ensuring no actual or perceived conflicts of interest."

The ABC understands Tom Harris from the Civil Contractors Federation NT and Neil Power, a research director from South Australia's Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, will be on the panel. 

It will be chaired by David George, a consultant who previously worked at NT Power and Water. 

eport goes to Minister

Following today's hearing, the panel will write a report for Ms Lawler, who will then decide the future of the water licence. 

The Minister is not required to make the report public. 

She said she could not comment on the CLC's specific concerns. 

"I have to be very careful, because I'm the decision maker around this review. 

"The report, once the review is completed, that report will come on to my desk and I'll see that."

The report is expected to be completed by the end of September.