World Expo 2008 Zaragoza entrance
A closeup of the World Expo site where people sit in the evening to watch the Melting Iceberg light show spectacular telling about Climate Change and how we will need to change our ways to survive.
From Left to Right: Glenda Pickersgill (Save the Mary river Coordination Committee), Roberto Epple (European Rivers Network), Patrick McCully ( International Rivers US) and Wayne Cameron (Bulimba Creek Catchment Committee) at the Expo entrance viewing the DOK´KU poster by Jorge Pujol.
The group gets its bearings at World Expo under the cooling mist sprays at the entrance.
Lots of street parades.. this one.. a river serpent
El Faro (Beacon): a pavillion for Citizen´s Initiatives. With its self cooling construction, it is the coolest pavillion in the Expo!
Wayne and Glenda in front of El Faro.
Wayne Cameron, Glenda Pickersgill and Leaf Hillman (Vice-chairman of Karuk Tribe of California) inside El Faro
Roberto Epple(ERN) and Wayne Cameron (Bulimba Creek Catchment Committee) the 2 men behind getting our Save the Mary River campaign to the world stage at El Faro.
Glenda finds a section of the Save the Mary River Exhibit!
Save the Mary Exhibit: A second shot of this section of the display...
Closeup of some of the text. We are in the section under Climate Change.
Closeup of some of the text .. there are some minor translation errors ... but well not to worry...
Save the Mary River Exhibit -Side view of one section at el Faro.
Touch screen section of the Exhibit in Spanish or English
Touch screen exhibit page 1
Touch screen exhibit page 2
Touch screen exhibit page 3
Morning mist over the Mary Valley
A canoeist drifts down a peaceful stretch of the Mary River.
Proposed dam water level mark on the historic steam train railway bridge at Kandanga.
Glenda canoeing on the Mary River, Queensland Australia
Victor and Helga Hill and their messages to the World. This dam proposal would result in over 400,000 tonnes per year of greenhouse gases through the unacceptable energy required to treat the low quality water and pumping it long distances to its end use. In comparison a desalination plant would emit about half of this quantity of greenhouse gases and demand management would actually reduce emissions by about 800,000 tonnes /year! Water stored in the proposed dam will suffer high residence times, low oxygen and high nutrient loads. Aquatic weeds including Water Hyacinth and Salvinia are already a significant problem in the Mary River during low flows. This combination will result in significant methane production, poor water quality and unacceptable high levels of Methyl Mercury which will remain in the food chain.
Tamielle Andressen and her baby waits for a decision.
Joe McLeod in his fishing boat, a man who has fought against dams and barrages on the Mary River for years.. and has seen first hand the decline in fisheries that no-one wants to hear about or understand. In drought years, and in the dry months of every year, planned extraction would severly reduce flows throughout the entire Mary River. For example, average flows in August and September would reduce to below 50% of the 110 year average natural state, without even accounting for effects of future climate change.
Historical photo of past fisheries at Tin Can Bay - southern entrance to the Great Sandy Straits, an internationally protected Ramsar Wetlands. Dams and barrages on the Mary River, the Burrum River and the Burnett River built over the past 30 years have decreased the fresh water flows to Hervey Bay and the Great Sandy Straits, affecting life cycles of the marine ecosytems, causing decline in fisheries and already creating hypersaline conditions. If the dam had operated as planned during the 2006/2007 water year, it would have reduced the total flows from the Mary to the Great Sandy Strait to less than 25% of the natural state.
Historic photo of a horse drawn carriage crossing the Mary River. In the last decade there has been a raised awareness by communities along the Mary River of the importance to revegetate the stream banks with riparian rainforest species for stabilizing the soil and creating habitat and food for wildlife. The Mary River is a Priority Catchment in the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. Measurements of the existing river system during the dry months of the year and without a dam are showing water quality levels outside the EPA recommended guidelines and in 3 of the last 6 years, irrigators have been unable to access their full allocations from the Mary River. The river is already over allocated and river health is suffering.
Historic photo of rowing to a picnic site on the Mary River. Even now the river is popular on summer days for swimming and other recreation activities.
Kevin Ingersole (President of the Save The Mary RIver Coordinating Group) addresses a public meeting at Kandanga on the flaws of the proposal to dam the Mary River at Traveston Crossing. Located on an alluvial flood plain, mid stream in a river system, this proposed dam would have an average depth of 5m, have an evaporation rate of about 1.5m/yr and seepage anything from 0.3m to 3m/yr. The proposed damming of the Mary river is to faciliate an interbasin transfer of water out of the Mary Catchment to meet the escalating water demands in the coastal cities of South East Queensland.
Wayne Cameron presents to the international audience in the El Faro about our campaign and climate change implications. The last decade has seen flows in the Mary River down to about half of what was previously considered normal. This is a similar trend to what has occurred in the Murray-Darling River system. A predicted change of only 10% decline in rainfall would result in a decline of about 30% in stream flow. This has not been accounted for in assessing the yield or considering the reliability risks.
A plea to the World to help remind the Australian Rudd Government of their good water policies and for Peter Garrett to stop the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. This will be a watershed decision as the world focuses on Australia for the federal government decision in the next few months. There are more reliable, less expensive, less destructive to our environment and our people options for water supply: demand management, recycling, storm water capture and desalination!
The proposed dam location at Traveston Crossing on the Mary River in Queensland, Australia. The river that feeds the international Ramsar Wetlands, the Great Sandy Straits at the mouth and Fraser Island, World Heritage Area. The proponent has failed to demonstrate that these would ot be affected by the proposal.
Gubbi Gubbi Elder, Eve Fesl with her sign of Dala -The Australian Lungfish, an ancient totem fish her group have protected for centuries stands top centre stage, believes the proposed Traveston Crossing dam should never be built. With over 80% of the spawning grounds that would be lost, she fears extinction of Dala. Even before a federal decision has been made, the state government owned company tries to buy the rights to the land from the farmers and the indigenous people. The proposal poses a significant risk to the survial of a number of unique species of global scientific importance. There has been no quantification of the level of risk posed or the likely effectiveness of the mitigation strategies where unproven fish transfer devices, world first turtle ramp, impractical "catch and carry" methods and research centres are proposed.
The Save the Mary info centre shown in the top screen is the hub of activity where thousands of people find information about the flaws of this proposed dam. They leave convinced that a shallow dam (av depth 5m) in the middle of alluvial floodplain will never work without destroying the river and its community. The dam is being designed to take the surface and groundwater and transfer it out of the catchment to Brisbane. A tribute to the volunteers who have worked tirelessly for over two years to provide information and talk with government about the flaws.
Homage to people affected by Water Policies from around the World showcased at El Faro pavilion, World Expo 2008 - some of the delegates who have travelled to Zaragoza to be part of the Expo for this week. (el Periodico de la Expo 4th July 2008)
Pulling the plug on the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River at Zaragoza! A special tribute to Keith Gall to his ideas and signs in the Save the Mary Campaign.
How much water does your toilet waste?
Roberto Epple talks about decommissioning of dams in Europe. He says one of the biggest problems is getting it into people´s heads that dams are not forever and that many have a lifetime of less than 100 years for safety and economic reasons. And then who pays to decommission them, how will they do it, are there contaminated sediment that needs to be considered and who will resettle there? The No Dam bikinis on the wall say it all!
Roberto Epple (ERN) also talks of the return of the wild Salmon to the Loire river after dams are decommissioned.
Dam to be decommissioned on the Loire River, France due to maintenance costs and ecological impacts.
The decommissioning of the dam from the previous slide on the Loire River, France. This is only one of a number of dams that are being removed on this river to restore the ecology of the river.
Dining in Zaragoza after we presented to the Alternative Water Forum.
Glenda speaks after accepting the “Green Dragon” award at the Homage to Defenders of Rivers and Life.
The Save the Mary River campaign is awarded with 5 other international campaigns, the ´Green Dragon`, at a gala event for the ´Homage to the Defendors of Rivers and Life` at the Zaragoza Theatre. Glenda Pickersgill accepted the award on behalf of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group. Left to right: Patrick McCully (IR), Glenda and Erica Hillman (IR)
Professor Kader Asmal (Chairman of the World Commission on Dams) and Glenda Pickersgill (Save the Mary River Coordinating Group) at World Expo Zaragoza. Prof Kader left us with the message to live differently – to cut down on consumption and to keep talking until everyone understands their differences and move to resolve water conflicts. He was aware of the problems with the Murray River. The proposal to dam the Mary at Traveston Crossing appears like we are not learning from our mistakes with the Murray for salinity and overallocation.
A street rally follows the Homage to Defendors of Rivers and Life award night at the Zaragoza Theatre. Local and international campaigns participate in a colourful display of determination that varies from stopping dams, raising of dam walls, opposition to being relocated from their homes and calling for decommissioning of dams for the life of rivers.
A vision to decommission this dam and recover the drowned Valley of Riano has existed for over 20 years for these people displaced. They showed a video of their houses being demolished and shared the emotion of losing their homes, their livelihoods, their sence of place and their beautiful valley to a dam that never returned what was promised.
Thousands of people participate in the street rally ¨Homage to Defendors of Rivers and Life´´ that marched through the streets of Zaragoza.
A protest group campaigning to stop the raising of the Yesa dam wall in Spain.
Roberto Epple from European Rivers Network is the founder of the idea and now has over 100,000 people over Europe that run into their river at a set time each year to celebrate that the water is healthy enough to do it. Roberto says there is still much to do to educate the community on how to get healthy rivers and there is an objective of the European Union that by 2015, all participating countries must have their surface and groundwater at an ecological good status. Next year, let's join them and do a Big Jump in the Mary River!
Street march for the Big Jump into the Ebro River at Zaragoza, Spain July 2008
The Big Jump at Zaragoza. A small group of us went in but it was a bit concerning when a paddywagon of police arrived and stopped any more people going in. They proceeded to take peoples names of onlookers. There was lots of press
Airvin (UK) presenting information about the proposed Ilisu hydoelectric power Dam, Tigris River (Turkey-Kurdistan). The dam will affect up to 78,000 people mainly ethnic Kurds, flood more than 90 villages. Now villages are being evacuated at gunpoint and houses burned down. An international coalition of non government organisations are campaigning to stop the dam.
A simple comparison of water use in L/person/day from left to right: California, Spain, Ethiopia
The country side south to Zaragoza has been extensively cleared for agriculture and urban development. Migratory Storks desperate to find nesting sites use whatever high structures they can find.
Wayne Cameron (Bulimba Ck catchment Group) and Roberto Epple (ERN) downstream of Zaragoza on the banks of the Ebro river. We follow the Ebro river down towards the coast seeing 5 large dams as we go. We watch the increasing amount of aquatic plant growth and algae in the water, a sign of increasing nutrient load in the water and lack of flushing flows. There is also a lack of coarse and fine sediment in the river with only cobbled stones to walk on where you go to the waters edge.
Solar panels on the hillside south of Zaragoza provide alternative energy supplies. Further downstream there is a nuclear power plant expelling large volumes of water into the Ebro River. The locals share concerns about the risks to the river as the plant ages and for when it will be eventurally decommissioned.
Interbasin transfer protest sign at Tortosa, Spain. in Catalonia, in the last month this campaign mobilized 30,000 people in a demonstration against inter basin transfer of water to Barcelona. There is quite a long story behind the inter basin transfer conflict which Roberto and the European River Network has been part of, where water has been proposed to be transferred to Barcelona and Valencia from the Ebro River and it has been going for a number of years. There have been numerous proposals for dams and inter basin transfer that they have successfully stopped on economic, ecological and social grounds. There will be a big celebration on Saturday as they have stopped this small basin transfer. The symbol in the middle of the photo is seen in numerous places around the State of Catalonya.
Last Barrage on the Ebro River, Spain. It is where there is 2 canals of water formed on either side of the river that takes water out into the floodplain and makes it available now to agriculture all the way to the delta area, a massive network of open drains. There are many orchards but most of the water that reaches the delta grows rice. The final delta development is only in the last 100 years but the 2 canal concept was originally built a few centuries ago by the Arabs. There is a fishway on one side which apparently is not very effective.
Glenda and Snowy at home on the farm in the Mary Valley (Courier Mail July 08) - see map
