The Urgent Provision of Water to the Coorong and Lower Lakes

In September 2008 this Submission was tabled at the Senate inquiry into water management in the Coorong and Lower Lakes. It addresses the local issues and options but also puts them in the context of the broader actions required across the entire Basin to deliver healthy rivers, wetlands, floodplains and estuary. The Submission recommends that these actions be brought together into an Interim Basin Plan.

An Interim Basin Plan could be prepared in a matter of weeks and would give important signals to the market and all users of the Basin on which to begin to plan for the future that confronts us all.

Authors

Mr Peter Cosier, Prof. Tim Flannery, Dr Ronnie Harding, Prof. David Karoly, Prof. David Lindenmayer, Prof. Hugh Possingham FAA, Mr Robert Purves AM, Dr Denis Saunders AM, Prof. Bruce Thom and Dr John William

In association with

Prof. Mike Young, Prof. Quentin Grafton, Richard Harvey AM, Ian Kowalick, Jim McColl, Ilona Millar, Assoc. Prof. David Paton AM and Adjunct Assoc. Prof. Keith Walker

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the contribution made by Tim Stubbs, Consultant Engineer and Natural Resource Manager and Fiona McKenzie, Policy Analyst, Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientist, in the development of this paper.

Photo on front cover of exposed bed of Lake Alexandrina, by Peter Cosier, June 2008