River Murray Lower Lakes and Coorong

Why is it Significant? 

Listed under the 1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, this region remains in a state of emergency due to lack of freshwater flows. Two referrals by the State Government under Commonwealth legislation to allow saltwater to be pumped into the Lakes and to build a weir at Wellington remain in force; an Environmental Impact Statement for the former is currently being prepared. Saltwater will destroy the highly significant freshwater-based ecosystems of Lakes Alexandrina and Albert and with the hyper saline conditions in the southern Coorong, the region is at risk of losing its Ramsar status as one of the nation’s top six wetland sites.

Why is it at Risk?

Current market-based mechanisms are failing and Commonwealth Government intervention is urgently needed to ensure sufficient freshwater to flush the lower River Murray and to reject the short-sighted engineering solutions proposed.

What needs to be done?

The previously listed Lower Lakes and Coorong are in such a dire state that they are re-listed and declaration of a National Emergency called for, with a National Inquiry into how poor management is failing to avert an ecological catastrophe.