Thousands more fish found dead

[davidc4430]

Thousands more fish found dead at Menindee as locals fear there will be 'none left'

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-28/fears-of-more-menindee-fish-kill-as-photos-emerge-of-dead-bre...

i'm prolly way off beam here but not so long ago the government was talking about poisoning the carp in the river system.

now suddenly we are seeing massive fish deaths.

could someone have done a test run to see the outcome?

just sayin.

[lyhargr_0]

My money is on the greedy rice/cotton farmers taking far more than their fair share and lowering the water level. Add to that, the lack of rain 'n the searing sun raising the water temp and net result is what we are now seeing

[Anonymous]

Certainly seems to be a perfect s*** storm 

[tasfleur]

[tezza2844]

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@tasfleur wrote:

I'm wondering if it was caused by a whole combination of things, algae, water mismanagement, high temperature weather as well as far too much pollution and or various toxins being poured into the river systems ... 

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IF there was a reasonable flow of water in the rivers that make up the Murray-Darling system a lot of the problems would simply not occur, even in drought times.  Whilst there have been fish kills previously, they have not been of the mammoth scale they have been of recent times. But then again "water management" for irrigation was not a political issue and donation problem then. I can't reasonable see how Governments expect cotton and rice farms (extremely highly dependant on water) to be successful in a dry continent like Australia. Perhaps they would be more practical in more northern areas of Australia where there is more rainfall (eg far northern Queensland and Northern Territory).. Back in the times of Robert Menzies an American (Art Linkletter) received heaps of money ans support to start rice farming at Humpty Doo, the only problem he had was with crocodiles. 

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/editorial-something-stinks-in-the-coaliti...

[tezza2844]

[ambercat16]

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@tezza2844 wrote:

 Back in the times of Robert Menzies an American (Art Linkletter) received heaps of money ans support to start rice farming at Humpty Doo, the only problem he had was with crocodiles. 

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..... and magpie geese which just loved the young rice plants😀

Completely agree with you regarding the folly of growing cotton and rice in Australia.  The trouble with the northern wet areas of the country is that they (the NT anyway) have no rain at all for several months then a whole year's worth when the monsoon arrives.

[tezza2844]

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@ambercat16 wrote:

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@tezza2844 wrote:

 Back in the times of Robert Menzies an American (Art Linkletter) received heaps of money ans support to start rice farming at Humpty Doo, the only problem he had was with crocodiles. 

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..... and magpie geese which just loved the young rice plants😀

Completely agree with you regarding the folly of growing cotton and rice in Australia.  The trouble with the northern wet areas of the country is that they (the NT anyway) have no rain at all for several months then a whole year's worth when the monsoon arrives.

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I may be wrong but these conditions are what's required for cotton and rice growing, they don't require year round water supply.

[tezza2844]

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@ambercat16 wrote:

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@tezza2844 wrote:

 Back in the times of Robert Menzies an American (Art Linkletter) received heaps of money ans support to start rice farming at Humpty Doo, the only problem he had was with crocodiles. 

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..... and magpie geese which just loved the young rice plants😀

Completely agree with you regarding the folly of growing cotton and rice in Australia.  The trouble with the northern wet areas of the country is that they (the NT anyway) have no rain at all for several months then a whole year's worth when the monsoon arrives.

The trouble with the northern wet areas of the country is that they (the NT anyway) have no rain at all for several months then a whole year's worth when the monsoon arrives.

.A perennial, cotton grows in tropical and subtropical locations. It does not do well in regions that have prolonged dry or wet spells. Planting occurs in the spring after all danger of frost has passed. The soil temperature must be 60 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for cotton seeds to successfully germinate.

The majority of rice is grown under irrigated conditions in which the fields are flooded from planting to harvest. Because of this flooding, rice is said to use a lot ofwater, about two and a half times the amount of water needed to grow a crop of wheat or maize.

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[chameleon54]

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@lyhargr_0 wrote:

My money is on the greedy rice/cotton farmers taking far more than their fair share and lowering the water level. Add to that, the lack of rain 'n the searing sun raising the water temp and net result is what we are now seeing

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There have been many news reports in the last twelve months of Darling river cotton & rice irrigators stealing large amounts of water that has not been allocated to them. Unfortunately they are also major contributors to the National Party coffers. And having Barny in charge of the water portfolio was a classic example of leaving the fox in charge of the hen house. Frankly its just Crazy stuff and reeks of arrogance and nepotism..

Another common contributor of Blue Green Algae outbreaks is high nutrient levels. This often comes from fertilisers washed downstream when water from irrigated crops leaches back into the main water system.

The farming journals have regular letters to the editor from NSW irrigation farmers complaining that river water is ending up flowing into the sea once it has travelled downstream. They seem to think that all water should be used for irrigation and none allowed to flow through the Murray Mouth. They sure breed em strange in country NSW & Queensland. Must be the heat.

[lyhargr_0]

There was an entire 4 corners devoted to the "pinching" of water up stream    ..... seems nothing has changed   ..... $$$ changing hands perhaps?