Edit: title link didn’t work. Here it is: Toxic blooms and local fury: what’s going on at Menindee Lakes?
This article reflects an aspect of local collapse in Australia. Despite being the driest continent in the world, there are ongoing water mismanagement issues are in our largest catchment area, the Murray-Darling basin. From the article:
> WaterNSW has declared a red alert for toxic blue-green algae blooms at the weir, and for the lower Darling/Baarka for the 400km to its junction with the Murray.
These blooms tend to happen when there is low rainfall. It’s a La Niña year, which helps overall, but is the rain falling in the catchment area?
> This is despite the north-west of New South Wales receiving 14% more rain than average in 2020 and twice as much as 2018 and 2019 combined.
It is. So what’s going on with the river flow in general, then? Is it in good health?
The mystery of the Murray-Darling’s vanishing flows
Hmm, it seems there’s Less Than Expected (tm). Oh well, whats the worst that could happen?
> “If we don’t get a major rain event in the next few months we’re looking at the same conditions next summer that led to the disaster,” McCrabb says.
Huh? What disaster?
Menindee fish kill: another mass death on Darling River ‘worse than last time’
Oh bother.
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of So You Think You Can Drink - Australia, probably screening Sooner Than Expected.
