(grayling native fish)

The water allocated for environmental flows down the Thomson to the Gippsland Lakes will now be held back in the Thomson Dam, for Melbourne's use. Scientific reports show the fish could be wiped out from the Thomson under a worst-case scenario as a result of the extraction, but Mr Holding has expressed confidence it can be sustained with strategically managed releases of water down the river. Canberra has the power to halt the action if the impact on the fish is deemed severe enough.

Many Gippsland locals felt their water was being stolen by a city that should have stricter restrictions. David Ellard from Friends of Gippsland Lakes says the reduced water flow will result in more algal blooms and will keep tourists away.

Commercial fishermen in the Gippsland Lakes - into which the Thomson flows - were also unimpressed.


Mr Holding said until major projects such as the desalination plant and the Sugarloaf pipeline came online, the government had no choice but to source water from other places.

According to Holding, "Melbourne households have reduced their water use by 12.3 billion litres since the Target 155 campaign was introduced in November last year and most people are doing the right thing". Why should households reduce their water usage to third-world standards while the number of consumers continues to be socially engineered for the advantage of businesses?



The desalination plant should be operational from the end of 2011 and is expected to create about 1000 jobs. There is growing concern Melbourne's dams could run dry before the $3.5 billion Wonthaggi desalination plant begins pumping water in late 2011.

Official figures show Melbourne had the greatest population growth of any capital city last financial year, adding nearly 75,000 in the last financial year.
(Thomson river when full)
World leading reproduction expert Professor Roger Short, of the University of Melbourne, says Australia’s population growth is out of control. “Nature is already under stress from human activities. The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005 concluded that two-thirds of ecosystems on which humans depend are currently being degraded or used unsustainably.”

Monash University demographer Dr Bob Birrell said the city's startling growth reflected record high migration.

Our Brumby government is making commercial policies to favour businesses and land developers that are not in the long-term interests of the citizen of Victoria.

The costs of water and climate change, and the all the implications of housing stress and infrastructure shortages of an unsustainable population size, will be passed onto the people of Victoria.