Hume Dam: Road Trip Along the Murray River

It seems fitting that we start our drive down the Murray River at Hume Dam. When it was originally completed in 1936, it was hailed along with the Sydney Opera House as one of our mightiest structures. At its peak, it employed about a thousand men and many post war migrants were part of this workforce. Nine people lost their lives during its construction. The benefits of Hume Dam include: providing an unceasing supply of water to irrigation projects and to the towns along the Murray as well as for generating hydro-electricity, flood mitigation benefits and recreation.

Today we understand that building dams across rivers comes at a huge cost to the eco system. We also acknowledge that this river has been severely altered and returning the river to its original condition is impossible. The Murray-Darling Basin Commission is working toward a set of objectives that will sustain communities along the river while preserving some of its unique features.

These objectives will include a mix of improving habitat conditions, ensuring there are proper environmental flow allocations, preserving the significant wetlands along its floodplain, prevent extinction of native species, overcoming barriers to fish migration, flood mitigation, managing issues related to salinity and improving the water quality.

First published by www.polisplan.com.au on 9 September 2015