<
https://theconversation.com/the-lower-murray-is-officially-on-life-support-will-we-save-it-274969>
"At 2,500 km long, the Murray is Australia’s longest river. It provides 3
million people with drinking water and irrigates around 1.5 million hectares of
farmland.
But this intensive use has come at a cost: the lower Murray — defined as the
River Murray downstream of the Darling River and its meandering creeks and
floodplains — is now dangerously environmentally degraded.
In mid January, the lower Murray was listed as a critically endangered
ecological community under Australia’s nature laws. This means there’s an
extremely high chance its native ecosystems will become extinct within the
immediate future, in as little as ten years. The Macquarie Marshes in northern
New South Wales, one of the largest inland wetlands in south east Australia,
was listed as endangered on the same day.
The health of the lower Murray matters greatly. It is the lifeblood for a large
swathe of southern Australia and supports a diverse range of unique plants and
animals, local economies and the well-being of people that love and rely on
it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
