Murray River Run

I would like to put you at ease as to the condition of the Murray River in South Australia.From Wellington to the Victorian Border the river is held at a pool level by six weirs with locks in them.

Although we call it a river it is in fact for that distance of 600kms a series of reservoirs interconnected. These levels are maintained by an entitlement flow into South Australia across the border from water stored in Lake Victoria, Hume and Dartmouth reservoirs. This entitlement has this year been reduced by 40% with irrigators having their entitlements reduced by the same amount.

The water coming across the border also supplies Adelaide with 80% of its requirements and although Adelaide has water restrictions the flow into South Australia will be maintained. With these flows maintained we can cruise from Wellington to the Vic Border and have a shallow enough draft to still cruise should those entitlements be further reduced.

The unfortunate truth is that the media take pictures of the river either up the Darling or the Murray or backwaters where they have no flows and it looks sensational, someone walking on a cracked clay pan. Unfortunately people think that is the same for the whole river.

Everybody in South Australia who makes a living out of visitation to our river are adversely effected by this slanted media. It is a fact that the river is doing it tough and if we don't get rain next winter things could get worse, but as it stands we have still good levels to cruise this magnificent river in South Australia.

Jock Veenstra