Heavy rains on Australia’s east coast are revitalizing wetland bird species, but conservationists have warned that the next drought is just around the corner.
Key points:
- Record bird breeding events have been recorded in wetlands in mid-west NSW
- Government agencies say preparations for next drought have begun to improve water security
- Researchers say the Lachlan River will never return to its original state despite record rains
Mal Carnegie of the Lake Cowal Foundation said that so far this year there have been unprecedented rains in the Lachlan River Basin in west central New South Wales.
“The Lachlan River system has been flooded for a considerable amount of time, much longer than we’ve seen in the last 30 or 40 years,” Carnegie said.
He noted that the weather had translated into mass breeding events of native species such as pelicans and ibis straw-necked.
“Colonial waterfowl, the ones that breed in large numbers, are the ones that especially benefit from these events,” he said.
“In Cowal Lake we had about 150 acres of straw-necked ibis breeding; we don’t have an exact figure on that yet, but it’s between 50 and 100,000 birds.”
Colonial waterfowl are species that require substantial flooding to withstand large breeding events in wetlands on floodplains.
Birds like the straw neck ibis benefit from a sustained humid climate. (Supplied by: Mal Carnegie)
With the privileged conditions seen across the river system, government agencies are preparing for the next drought.
“We know another dry period is coming. There is only one failed rain event left,” said Michelle Grout, a Commonwealth water officer.
“We have to prepare for that and get water wherever we can and the assets that we really care about, make them thrive and build some resilience.”
It is a sentiment echoed by Richard Kingsford of the University of New South Wales, who says improving water management is vital to ensuring water safety.
“We are now in a period of flooding, so to some extent the pressure has dropped because there is a lot of water around,” he said.
“One thing is certain; like death and taxes, we will have another drought and it will be difficult.”
The Lachlan River is home to a number of waterfowl. (Supplied by: Mal Carnegie)
Learning from mistakes
The Lachlan River is a heavily regulated system, with dams, dams and dams that control the flow of water throughout the region.
Dr. Kingsford says that despite the ideal conditions seen in the midwest, river regulation is destroying it.
“We’ve had these amazing responses from the Brewster Lake fish and pelican colonies, ibis colonies from the Booligal system, but they’re not as big as before,” he said.
“He’ll never go back to where he was, and we shouldn’t think we can turn the clock back either.”
Wiradjuri elder Ray Woods said the current infrastructure along the river, such as the Wyangala Dam, allowed too much water to be removed from the system.
“Our old saying is that Mother Nature gives us everything, we don’t need to take it all the time,” she said.
Woods says stakeholders involved in managing the Lachlan should not repeat past mistakes after the opportunity offered by weather conditions.
“We understand that there is cultivation, and the infrastructure has already been put in place,” he said.
“We learn from what mistakes have been made and work with what we have.”
Ray Woods says Lachlan River management needs to be more balanced between environmental and agricultural needs. (ABC Rural: Hamish Cole)
Australian National University professor Jamie Pittock called for a larger investment in the Lachlan River to support wetland regions that were vital to native birds.
“The Lachlan is the forgotten river,” he said.
“It is not considered part of the northern basin that has hundreds of millions of dollars with things like the northern toolkit to improve river management.
“It’s not part of the southern basin that has about a billion dollars with things like the sustainable diversion limit adjustment program.”
Local news directly to your inbox
ABC Western Plains will deliver a summary of the week’s news, stories and photos every Friday. Register here