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Thirsty outback farmers threaten to block flow to wetlands
18 Aug 2004
On the Paroo River floodplains, north-west of Bourke, farmers are getting record high prices for cattle fed off the result of February rains in Queensland. When it's dry the land and vegetation shrivel up but when rains and floods come the clover is rich and the cows contented.
Farmer Robert Bartlett, chairman of the Paroo River Association, says farming on floodplains is a balancing act. Mr Bartlett and other local farmers are part of a group that opposes dams or diversions along the 600-kilometre Paroo. An agreement was signed between the NSW and Qld Governments last year, but now Qld wants to take water from the neighbouring Warrego catchment, which flows into the Paroo.
The principal research scientist from the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation says less water in the Warrego will threaten the Yantabulla swamp, one of the main Paroo wetlands. Like farming, the ecology is geared towards boom and bust and it's inevitable that if Qld takes more water out the ecology will be affected. NSW is a downstream state worried about what's upstream, he stated.
Sydney Morning Herald, 18/8/04.
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