Jacquie Kelly jovially refers to her patch of north-west Victoria as “Kakadu of the south, without the crocodiles”.
Nestled on the gleaming umber of the Murray River, several wetlands around her hometown of Swan Hill are recognised as internationally significant by the United Nations.
“As children, we would play out there in the forest and we would experience the beauty of canoeing through them,” she said.
“The swan nests, the incredible wetland plants and birdlife.”
But Dr Kelly now claims the region’s wetlands are under threat by what she describes as “uber-engineering projects” contributing to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
As chair of Friends of Nyah Vinifera Park, a community environmental group, Dr Kelly on Friday filed legal proceedings challenging the approval of the Nyah flood plain project, alleging it was a “dodgy water offset project” that was unlawful and environmentally damaging.
The Nyah and Vinifera projects are officially known as Victorian Murray Floodplain Restoration Projects [VMFRP]. They are two of nine projects along the Murray that aim to artificially flood landscapes — using pumps, man-made embankments and dam spillways — to achieve ecological outcomes.
Jacquie Kelly on the banks of the Murray River outside of Swan Hill. (Supplied: Doug Gimesy)
Dr Kelly said constructing them would do more harm than good.
“The concerns are that they will cause unbelievable damage and scar the landscape. Our group feels that the ecology of these areas will be affected.”
Legal action over approval
Dr Kelly’s focus is on the approval of the Nyah floodplain project, north of Swan Hill, which covers an area the size of roughly 215 Melbourne Cricket Grounds.
“This proposal for Nyah is risky, destructive and expensive,” she said.
The construction of all nine projects was estimated in 2019 to exceed $300 million, according to the Victorian government.
In a statement, a Victorian government spokesperson said the VMFRP deliver “proven environmental outcomes and restore cultural values” along the Murray River.
“Floodplain restoration projects are assessed on their merits through rigorous Victorian and Commonwealth approvals processes that consider the ecological, social and cultural benefits of each,” the spokesperson said.
They said a range of community consultation has been carried out throughout the VMFRP.
Any water saved by the projects would count towards a basin-wide target of 605GL in water savings for the environment under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
A map of Victoria’s nine proposed flood plain restoration projects. (
ABC News: Supplied: VMFRP
)
Dr Kelly said legal action was “a last resort but we really feel we have no choice”.
The “flood plain restoration projects” aim to artificially pump water into selected areas, using less water than would have been used if the area had flooded naturally.
Environmental Justice Australia [EJA] lawyer Nicola Silbert, representing Friends of Nyah Vinifera Park, said her client was concerned the project provided justification for the overall reduction of water for the environment across the Murray-Darling Basin.
“So, that means there’s less water across the entire river system as a result of the mechanism behind these projects,” she said.
In 2017, the federal government agreed to 36 flooding projects as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. (Supplied: Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
This mechanism has been described by the EJA as “water offsetting”.
Ms Silbert said her clients would be arguing in court that federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek failed to consider alternatives to the flood plain project.
Those alternatives included the government buying water from farmers, called buybacks, and allowing more water to flow naturally by removing barriers such as infrastructure.
Ms Silbert said her client hoped that this case would set a precedent that “protects the Murray River” from artificial engineering projects.
First Nations’ frustrations
Tati Tati and Wadi Wadi man Brendan Kennedy is the chair of the Murray Lower Darling Indigenous Nations [MLDRIN].
MLDRIN represents Traditional Owners from Wemba Wemba, Barapa Barapa and Tati Tati nations, where the environmental projects are underway.
He said the Victorian flood plain projects were a form of dispossession.
“What we don’t want is more regulators and more structures going in on our Country,” he said.
“What we need to be doing is decommissioning and removing these structures.”
Uncle Brendan Kennedy gives evidence at the Yoorrook Justice Commission. (ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Emile Pavlich)
Mr Kennedy said he wanted more water for cultural flows, which are water entitlements for First Nations’ organisations in the Murray-Darling Basin.
“That would mean we would then have our stake in environmental watering.”
A Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water spokesperson said they are aware of the application in the federal court.
“The Basin states are responsible for the development and delivery of the SDLAM [Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism] projects, including obtaining any necessary planning approvals,” they said.
