Protecting our river
Age: Favourite song?
I don’t want to, because my sister knows. The Trolls song. Cause their hair is all colourful too.
Favourite colour? Favourite game?
Red
Hmm... I don’t know. I like movies. ABC Kids because that’s on the TV. We just turn it on and it goes onto ABC Kids.
Maddie
Maddie too
When I am not Maddie’s
Who is your best friend? What makes you laugh? What makes you sad?
friend I am sad
What are you afraid of?
Ants, cause they climb on us – on our foots and they don’t climb off. I do this and do that (swings leg back and forward) and they come off.
If you could change your name, what would it be? My name is Riley What are you really good at? I’ll show you some
tricks I can do with my foot (hops on the spot, then balances on one leg and falls over). Watch TV
Do you have any jokes to tell me? I make my sister laugh at me when I do jokes, she has two names
What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch?
Everything in my lunchbox
What is your favourite fruit? Apple What do you want to be when you grow up?
The size of you
How old is grown up?
I want number three, but I’m not grown up now. I’m not, I’m not, I’m really, really not. THE Healthy Rivers Ambassadors of Dubbo have one goal in mind and that is to protect the local riparian environment. As an Australian Conservation Foundation community group, they are dedicated to raising awareness of the challenges facing our rivers and wetlands.
“Rivers provide our whole lifeblood,” member Mel Gray explained. “They are absolutely vital to our existence.”
Particularly in the lead-up to the NSW State Election in March, Ms Gray said it is important to prioritise and protect river areas.
“It’s a matter of putting the needs of the river out there and encouraging politicians who want to do their best for the Macquarie, and letting them know how much people care about the river and keeping the rivers healthy.”
The Macquarie River is part of the Murray-darling Basin which Ms Gray said has been seriously affected by overallocation of water resources.
“Our aim is to protect riparian life, we’ve lost native fish stock in the Murray-darling Basin ever since white settlement,” she explained.
One of the affected areas is the Macquarie Marshes which have been listed under the Ramsar Convention as an internationally significant wetland.
“The Macquarie Marshes are drying up, they have lost too much water. We’ve got to maintain a vital wetland instead of diverting water for short-term profit extracted for industry.”
Ms Gray said there are other elements for protecting waterways which can be followed by anyone.
“Don’t litter, don’t trash the environment.
“And be aware that most of the water going through Dubbo will be extracted.”
The NSW Government has recently placed the draft Macquarie-castlereagh Surface Water Resource Plan on public exhibition to gauge opinion about the issue.
The purpose of this plan is to set out how NSW will meet its obligations under the Murray-darling Basin Plan.
“There are definitely some issues we are going to highlight with the plan, such as flood plain harvesting and water resource planning,” Ms Gray said.
“People can get involved, we want to educate people about the impact we have on the Macquarie, and that it is overallocated.”
Members of the community have until February 1 to lodge their feedback at acf.org.au/group_dubbo is a Healthy River Ambassador and wants to become involved to protect Macquarie River system. NIXON