Wetland Restoration News
15 000 Megalitres of Extra Water for Wetlands on the Gwydir, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers
*Riverbank Results
By Emily Doak*
Source:
ABC Rural
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/nsw/content/2006/s1991965.htm
Monday, 30/07/2007
The State Government’s Riverbank Fund has purchased almost fifteen thousand megalitres of extra water for the State’s most precious wetlands, on the Gwydir, the Macquarie, the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers.
Riverbank is funded by the State Government’s waste levy, and will receive $105 million dollars by 2011 to buy back water licences for the environment. The Australian Government is contributing matching funding from the Water Smart Australia Programme for a suite of projects (including the $173 million dollar NSW Rivers Environmental Restoration Programme) which will further enhance and expand the NSW Riverbank initiative
Unfortunately though, as Riverbank’s Derek Rutherford, explained to reporter, Meg Strang, none of that water will be available until there’s a dramatic increase in catchment dams and storages. The Riverbank Fund has purchased an extra 15000 megalitres of general security water for iconic wetlands in NSW.
And an additional 6000 megalitres of environmental water has also been purchased for the Macquarie Marshes and Gwydir wetlands, using money from the Wetland Recovery Programme which is also jointly funded by the Australian Government and NSW Government .
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