Patrick McCully's picture
Patrick McCully
Executive Director
I became Executive Director of Black Rock Solar in February 2011 after 17 years working for International Rivers, first as Campaigns Director from and then, from 2005 as ED. I wrote a book, Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams, and numerous reports, articles, op eds, and blog posts on issues linking dams, water and energy policy, flood management, climate change, human rights and international development. Black Rock Solar installs photovoltaic power systems for tribes, non-profits in Nevada at low or no cost.

Subscribe to this blog
Email the author
Categories

Join us!

Login/Register
Home › Climate Change

Hail Mary! Aussie Activists Celebrate Dam Suspension

Thu, 11/27/2008 - 1:55pm

Mary River Information Center, Kadanga, Queensland (Patrick McCully/International Rivers)

Mary River Information Center, Kadanga, Queensland (Patrick McCully/International Rivers)

Communities in the Mary Valley in Queensland, Australia, are celebrating the announcement by state Premier, Anna Bligh, that construction on a bitterly opposed dam would be delayed by up to four years. The Traveston Crossing Dam would displace hundreds of families, flood thousands of acres of rich farmland, and endanger iconic species including the Queensland lungfish and the endangered Mary River turtle and cod.

Proponents claim the dam is needed to increase water storage because of the worsening droughts caused by global warming. Opponents point to studies showing numerous cheaper alternatives for saving and storing water, and the high evaporation and greenhouse gas emissions from the big, shallow reservoir.

An email to supporters from the Save the Mary River campaign group says:

November 25th, 2008, is a day that will always be remembered in the Mary Valley as the first serious cracks started to show in the state government's push to build Traveston Dam. Anna Bligh's shock announcement that the plan would be shelved for a number of years because of environmental & economic concerns was met with jubilance as hard working campaigners flocked to the banks of the Mary River to celebrate.

Whilst enjoying this major victory, campaigners were very clear that they know the fight's not over yet. They vowed to increase the pressure on the state & federal government's until this dam proposal is dead & buried forever!

Within hours of the announcement, the riverbanks at Traveston Crossing were filled with people and media... Check out the new album on www.stoppress.com.au called 'Backdown or Backoff?' and share the joy of the Save the Mary campaign!

I visited the beautiful Mary valley in September 2007 together with Roberto Epple of European Rivers Network. I was amazed at the strength of opposition to the dam, which from the bumper sticks and signs along the roadsides appeared to be almost unanimous in local communities. I was also astonished at the callous and autocratic attitude of the state government which seemed determined to trample on the rights of local people. And deeply impressed at the determination, energy, creativity - and bloody good humor - of the local activists.

Congratulations to Glenda, Steve, Kevin, Arkin and all the rest of the Mary lovers. As the campaign slogan says, "In Cod We Trust!"

The Mary River announcement comes on a good Thanksgiving week for river lovers with the annoucement of a funding setback for the misleadingly cheerfully named Xalala Dam in Guatemala, and a legal roadblock for the Jirau Dam on the Maderia River in Brazil.

We covered the Traveston Crossing Dam fight in our newsletter World Rivers Review in October 2006.

Comments

Thu, 11/27/2008 - 7:13pm — SteveB

Still pushing to have this proposal stopped

Thanks for the support. 

The most heartening development has been that the Federal Environment Department has since published a series of independent reports which are highly critical of the project and the environmental impact statement produced by the proponent (the Queensland Government). Following this the federal senate has passed a motion calling on the State of Queensland to stop the project altogether.  This motion has no hold on the state government under the Australian federal system - but is highly embarrassing to the State Government nonetheless.

This is extraordinary in Australian politics, considering the Queensland Government and the the federal government are both Labor party governments.  There is a state election coming up soon, and water issues will play a major part. This is ironic, because it seems that the major problem that SEQ will be facing for a while is too much water, and no demand for the large amount of recycled and desalinated water which will come on line from Veolia's big projects in SEQ by the end of this year.

For those people interested in the fate of Mary's aquatic biodiversity - have a read of the latest description of how Australia's environmental laws relate to this proposal - en excellent summary produce by the Federal Government.

http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/notices/assessments/2006/3150/index.html

 Steve Burgess

"democracy is the worst form of government - apart from all the other ones"