2009
This video highlights the Australian Government's environmental water program and features Lindsay Island on the Victorian and South Australian border. It is part of a Living Murray icon site containing River Red Gum, Black Box woodland and diverse wetland habitats. The site received one billion litres from the Commonwealth, and one billion litres from the Victorian Government.
The Commonwealth water was sourced from allocations against entitlements held by Toorale Station on the junction of the Darling and Warrego rivers, which was purchased by the NSW Government in late 2008 with funding assistance from the Australian Government.
Watering at Lindsay Island took place 14-15 May 2009.
Video transcript
V/O: Lindsay Island on the Victorian and South Australian border, contains large areas of River Red gums, Black Box woodland and diverse wetlands habitats. Watering of these, and other important sites, is occurring through Water for the Future, the Australian Government’s 10 year plan to secure the water supply for all Australians.
Peter Kelly, Mallee CMA: "The triage operation that we've been undertaking over the last four to five years has really meant that we've been able to maintain the health of these big old Red Gums, to be able to purely hold them in a state where, they're not declining anymore, and in recent times, with this last lot of watering provided by the Australian Government, we've been able to see the trees start to improve in health.
"The two hundred kilometres of the Murray River between the townships of Mildura and Renmark are highly regulated and that has completely changed the dynamics of this part of the landscape.
"Added to that, a huge drought affect that we're in at the moment with ten years since we had above bank flows into those landscapes, we really need to get water back across these lower parts of the floodplain where we can target those big old iconic Red Gums."
V/O: Watering these areas will help to maintain this vegetation which is threatened by depletion of soil moisture and underlying saline groundwater. Through careful planning and site selection, the government will be able to return water to many of Australia’s important rivers and wetlands.
Peter Kelly: "Cooperation with this project through the agencies and that across the board has been a major and contributing factor to its success locally and statewide.
"The Commonwealth joining in for this year's watering program is just testament to the future success of this program. This Commonwealth water has allowed us to be able to put water in these systems, capitalise on the work that happened over the last two to three years, and really make a difference."