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THE COORONG, LAKES ALEXANDRINA AND ALBERT WETLAND
What you can do to help the Coorong, Lakes and Murray Waterkeeper!
Write to the Prime Minster, Ministers Peter Garrett and Penny Wong asking them to:
Check out the Coorong Lakes and Murray Waterkeeper page for more information.
ONLINE MURRAY DARLING BASIN PETITION
This allied petition is asking for 100,000 voices to help. CLICK HERE to add your voice.
More Info…
‘Go Yarra Flow’ aims to send a strong message to the Victorian Government that the people of Melbourne value a healthy Yarra River and that means we need Premier Brumby to deliver the river’s promised environmental flows.
Click here to pledge your support to the Go Yarra Flow today!
Simply add a subject and send or include your own message. And remember to sign it, a personal email has much more impact.
In an average year 70% of Melbourne’s freshwater supplies are sourced from the Yarra River’s upper reaches, allowing us to enjoy some of the best drinking water in the world. We don’t just drink the Yarra’s water though: we use vast quantities to flush toilets and irrigate farms. Melbourne goes through about 400 billion litres of water in an average year, with residential use accounting for about 60%.
But as more and more water is extracted from the Yarra, the river’s health is under increasing stress. Right now the Yarra’s flow is down to a small fraction of its natural level, creating a huge threat to the survival of the birds, fish, frogs and platypus that rely on a healthy environment to thrive.
For many years scientists and community groups like ours have urged the Victorian Government to help restore the Yarra by providing at least the minimum ‘environmental flow’ the river needs to support life.
For a river like the Yarra, a healthy environmental flow – changing in rhythm with the seasons – is vital; it flushes along pollutants, transports nutrients to where they’re needed and provides fish and other creatures with the right conditions to breed.
In October 2006 the Victorian Government made a proud commitment to provide the Yarra River with its minimum environmental flow needs as a key action of its Sustainable Water Strategy
for Melbourne. That promise is yet to be honoured.
Now, the Government is plundering the Yarra even further by taking an additional 10 billion litres of water from our stressed river rather than pursuing sustainable solutions to Melbourne’s water future.
The people of Melbourne have been using water wisely at home, at school and at work. We need to ensure our water savings provide real environmental benefits to our city’s great river through increased flows. And we need our Government to help Melbourne get even wiser with water use by boosting investment in water conservation, efficiency and recycling.
Pledge your support!
Add your voice to the call and to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to support the campaign too.
Let the Victorian Government know you value a healthy Yarra River: click here to pledge your support to the Go Yarra Flow campaign today!
Simply cut and paste the form email below or add your own mesaage. And remember to sign it, a personal email has much more impact.
TO: Premier Brumby, c/o Go Yarra Flow Campaign
Dear Premier Brumby,
As a supporter of the ‘Go Yarra Flow’ campaign, I want you to know I value a healthy Yarra River and I urge the Victorian Government to:
- Honour your commitment to deliver life-giving environmental flows to the Yarra River
- Reverse the recent increase in water extraction from the Yarra
- Boost investment in water conservation, efficiency and recycling rather than taking more water from our stressed river
Contact us
For more information or to share your ideas, please contact Go Yarra Flow coordinators:
Ian Penrose, Yarra Riverkeeper: info@yarrariver.org.au, Tel: 0448 927 720 www.yarrariver.org.au
Leonie Duncan, Environment Victoria: leonie.duncan@envict.org.au, Tel: 9341 8120 www.environmentvictoria.org.au
