Climate change triggered events trouble Victoria

Events that can be traced and linked directly to climate change are presently troubling many Victorians.

Today’s Melbourne Age  carries two stories, one that discusses searing heat and dry conditions in northwest Victoria and another that outlines difficulties faced by those living along the Murray River as they wrestle with the realities of a toxic algae outbreak.

In the first of the two stories, “Searing heat and big dry take toll on north-west” Victoria, rural affairs reporter, Darren Gray, alerts readers to an unfolding drama that can be easily attributable to climate change.

A farmer from near Ararat, Mr. Charlie de Fegely, was quoted as saying that even during the now infamous millennium drought some of his farm’s many dams had a little water, but now they were all totally dry.

"We've never had that scenario before. Even in the millennium drought, we went through with some dams with some water in them. This is the first time that we've been 100 per cent reliant on underground water," he said.

Algae is always present in rivers, but when the heat becomes more intense and the lack of refreshing flows resulting from heavy and steady rains, now an increasing rarity because of climate change, the torpid algae can become toxic to both humans and animals as is now the case from Albury to Barham.

In the story “Murray water alert as toxic algae outbreak spreads”, Gray reported the Incident controller for the Hume region, Steve Grant, who said blue-green algae was a naturally occurring algae living in all native waters.

Mr. Grant said one way to tackle the outbreak would be a release of fresh water from a storage upstream. "But we don't have enough water in storage to enable us to do that," he said.

The outbreak, which may take weeks to dissipate comes at an awkward time for tourist destinations along the river are popular with water skiers, campers, fishermen and other visitors, particularly over the Easter break.