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Water Management

Sydney Water's plans to fix creek banks will 'wipe out' platypus habitat, conservationists say

A court has ordered Sydney Water to repair eroded banks of a Penrith creek, but a possible fix has alarmed conservationists. 
Updated
A woman holding a platypus by the tail at night

Vandals render earthmovers inoperable, delaying dredging at the mouth of the Murray River

Police ask the public for help to identify those who smashed the machines' windows, tore off doors and wrecked internal fittings. 
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An excavator cab with no windows, front or doors

Under a sweltering WA summer could these hexagonal discs save the drinking water of towns?

In its latest effort to shore-up supply, Water Corporation is adding thousands of plastic hexagons to dams to stop drinking water from being lost to evaporation.
Updated
black discs floating in a dam

Why this small town in country Victoria has dyed its lake blue

Since it was first carved into the soil in 1960, Nhill Lake in the state's west has been a soothing sight for residents of its namesake town. But this year it looks even more attractive than usual.
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a blue lake surrounded by trees adjoining the town of Nhill in Victoria, Australia

Device promises to reduce loss of precious water in southern WA

Four small rural communities in the Great Southern have become the first to trial the Hexa-Cover to prevent water evaporation from dams.
ABC News Current
Duration: 2 minutes

Delay to fish kill investigation disappoints environmentalist in call for better monitoring

A Katherine resident is concerned about the quality of information collected by government investigators after it took four days for them to get to the site of a Northern Territory fish kill.
Dead fish among a reedy waterbank

Traditional owners challenge Port Lincoln desalination plant

The desalination plant would service the entire Eyre Peninsular which is fast running out of water.
ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 50 seconds

NT Supreme Court dismisses legal challenge over one of Australia's largest groundwater licences

The Northern Territory Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge over whether the NT government acted lawfully when it awarded one of the largest groundwater licences in Australia's history.
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Singleton Station fence

Menindee residents question report into flooding disaster

Locals say communication from Water NSW was poor, and requests to release more water from dams were ignored during meetings.
ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 50 seconds

First Nations group threatens to sue SA Water over $313m desalination plant scheme

The First Nations people of the Eyre Peninsula are threatening legal action against SA Water to stop the construction of a desalination plant they say will cause "insurmountable damage" to fish traps that predate colonisation.
An Indigenous woman in a black polo shirt with grey hair looks at the camera at Billy Lights Point lookout

When you go bushwalking what should you do with your poo? Hint: It's not dig a hole

Wilderness rangers encourage bushwalkers to use poo pots after noticing an "unprecedented" amount of human faeces in remote places.
The feet of someone pretending to be going to the toilet in the bush, with a poo pot.

Minister rejects water-saving Murray flood plain project citing unacceptable environmental effects

Victoria's planning minister stuns farmers by ruling out a plan to save 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water in the Murray Darling Basin, saying it could harm important native vegetation.
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A photo of Burra Creek, Victoria. Ducks sit in the middle of a narrow stream between gum trees.

Angry Menindee locals still cleaning up more than a year after flooding

For Paul Grose, damage to his home during flooding in late 2022 was "devastating". He hopes a recent review into the event will help authorities prevent others from experiencing the same fate.
An old white man with a blue sleeveless top, a hat and glasses stands in a flood damaged room near Menindee.

Indigenous leaders concerned country is being mismanaged, leading to severe flooding

Yorta Yorta leaders want people to "read the language of the land" after January flooding along the Goulburn River.
An Indigenous man with white hair, standing on a river bank.

For many, it's an unspoken rule to not swim in the middle of Sydney Harbour. But why is this the case?

Swimming in the harbour can make you sick and risk your life. Here's how to avoid it, and what experts say to do if you accidentally fall in.
Sunbakers lie on a rock near the water with Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background

Water Corp shuts down sewage contamination fears as algal bloom closes Perth beach

An algal bloom has closed a popular Perth beach, with the Water Corporation saying concerns the outbreak is linked with treated wastewater pouring into the ocean are unfounded. 
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Aerial vision of an algae bloom at a Perth beach

Concerns more freshwater pools may harbour brain-eating amoebas as temperatures rise

Naegleria fowleri, which can cause a deadly infection of the brain, has been detected in one popular swimming spot in Western Australia's South West, and there are concerns it may be in another freshwater pool.
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An image of a single-celled amoeba

Sydney Water investigating reuse of wastewater for drinking

Across the globe, wastewater is treated so it's safe to drink and Sydneysiders are being told to consider it for the future.
ABC News Current
Duration: 2 minutes 3 seconds

Tasmanian winner of 'World's Ugliest Lawn' competition says her ex left with the mower

Kathleen Murray's journey to claiming the World's Ugliest Lawn began in 2016 — when her ex took the lawnmower and some bandicoots decided to make it their own personal Disneyland.
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A woman stands smiling in a shirt that says worlds ugliest lawn. Her lawn has patches of grass, dirt and holes dugs by wildlife.

Ever heard of a dam being built on a dam? Queensland is about to do it

A prominent water engineer says a decision to abandon and rebuild the controversial Paradise Dam near Bundaberg would take years but is ultimately the "right choice".
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Water sitting in a dam with green grass around it.

Paradise Dam operators warn 60,000 people living downstream that its 'safety standards' fall short

Tens of thousands of Queenslanders living downstream are told the poor quality of concrete used in the 300,000-megalitre dam's spillway means it cannot be safely mended or reinforced, as the state government prepares plans to rebuild it.
Water flows over the spillway of Paradise Dam near Bundaberg in southern Queensland in March 2013.

Controversial Queensland dam is suffering 'too many issues' and will have to be completely rebuilt, operator says

After lowering Paradise Dam's wall due to safety concerns, its operator Sunwater now says a $1.2 billion plan to restore it won't be enough to make Bundaberg's main agricultural water store safe.
Water sitting in a dam with green grass around it.

35,000 native fish released into dam as fair game for anglers in conservation effort

The Brogo Dam has just become home to tens of thousands more Australian bass and estuary perch under a stocking program organised by those who fish its waters.
Updated
A man in a hat and glasses holds a bass fish in front of a dam.

SA opposition calls on government to repair River Murray levees after flooding

The state opposition calls on the SA government to implement a River Murray levee management plan, but the government says councils and some businesses have already been given financial support to repair damaged levees.
A sand levee with a creek and trees

Residents lose drinking water as landslips triggered by flooding damage treatment plant

Locals in parts of flood-devastated Far North Queensland are left without drinking water as authorities race to fix a badly damaged water treatment plant in aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.
Douglas damage