Concerns over declining water flows to protected NSW wetland system

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Macquarie Marshes in New South Wales is an internationally recognised wetland system that's a vital breeding site for waterbirds. ABC Landline’s Kerry Staight found there are questions about whether enough water is getting through to the fragile landscape.

Transcript

00:00In the northern part of the Murray-Darling Basin, water has finally arrived in the Macquarie

00:15marshes after a dry winter, turning mustering into a wet and wild ride.

00:23Can you poke the tail in there, please?

00:26Oh, you don't think I'm doing nothing.

00:27It's hard work for riders and especially their horses, but there's nowhere Gary and Leanne

00:33Hall would rather be.

00:36To be working in a wetland, doing stock work in a wetland, yeah, it's pretty mind-blowing

00:41to watch birds lift up in front of the stock.

00:46Gary's great-grandfather, a sheep producer, bought this property in 1934 so he could diversify

00:54into cattle.

00:55Oh, it's a productive business.

00:58It's a beautiful spot to live.

00:59I grew up in the house I now live in.

01:01We've raised our kids here and they've grown to love it as well so it's part of who we are.

01:07While the family was originally sold on its grazing potential, the generations that followed have grown

01:18to appreciate its environmental worth.

01:21The Macquarie Marshes is a 200,000 hectare wetland system that's an important natural filter and

01:36a breeding mecca for water birds.

01:38Some parts are recognised as internationally significant under the Ramsar Convention, including

01:45one site on the Hall's property.

01:47You've got all these group nesting water birds that come to the marshes.

01:51So your ibis, egrets, spoonbills, cormorants, herons and they set up these rookeries which

01:57in a few places might only be 100 nests but in other places it's 100,000 nests.

02:02This landscape has seen a lot of change, especially since the construction of the Burundong Dam in

02:11the 60s.

02:12The aim was to reduce flood risks and manage water supplies for irrigation, stock and domestic

02:19use.

02:20The marshes traditionally were wet the majority of the time with an occasional dry period.

02:25Now Macquarie Marshes are dry the majority of the time with an occasional wet period.

02:30The marshes have been a favoritethrough of the어재 and the入ком草 and the dead people

02:40are 45.

02:41So let's look at it.

02:43The marshes have been a great season of the river which is the two years old that has been

02:50a great season of the river.

02:52It's a great season of low water.

02:55Doesn't matter if the water is common or we can make these charges in place with the water.

02:58The water is usually done in a great season of the river.

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