Australia: Murray Mouth Dredging Starts
Dredging of the River Murray mouth has begun as the South Australian Government was granted funding from the Murray Darling Basin Authority to keep the channel open over summer.
The State and Commonwealth Governments announced in December dredging would be undertaken to keep the mouth open. A dredge will pump more than 1,300 cubic meters of sand a day to nearby Sir Richard and Younghusband Peninsulas.
SA River Murray Minister Ian Hunter said conditions of the mouth in the Coorong had "deteriorated significantly" over the last few months and there is no other go than dredging should begin soon. It’s important that the mouth remains open to allow the exchange of water between the Coorong and the Southern Ocean which helps to keep Coorong ecosystems healthy.
Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) water resource operations manager Jarrod Eaton said the mouth has been at risk of closing due to lower than average flows in the River Murray and the situation has deteriorated rapidly in the past 12 months.
The SA Government said water allocated for environmental purposes was being used elsewhere in the Murray-Darling system. The Murray mouth needed dredging work for about eight years to remove sand build-up and create an artificial mouth until strong river flows returned in 2010.