Greatest threat to our rivers revealed in State of the Environment report

Our national report card is in and it’s grim – but it’s not too late to save our rivers

Last week, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek released the 2021 State of the Environment Report – detailing the poor and deteriorating health of Australia’s natural environment.

If we’ve learned anything from this report, it’s that Territorians like yourself have a unique opportunity to ensure our rivers and environment prosper into the future. But it’s going to take all of us working together to do more.

Don’t let our Top End rivers become a statistic in future reports – tell the NT Government to protect our rivers and floodplains.

Nature in Australia is under more pressure than ever – and our rivers, heritage and native species are seriously suffering. It’s also a dire warning that the greatest threat facing rivers is the extraction of surface water and groundwater.

Here are some key findings from the report:

• Rivers and catchments are mostly in poor condition, and native fish populations have declined by more than 90 per cent in the past 150 years.
• The greatest threat to freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity is changes to river and stream flows due to surface water and groundwater extraction primarily for agriculture.
• Half of Australian freshwater turtle species are currently listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.
• Destruction of Indigenous heritage is occurring at an unacceptable rate.

These results are shocking and make it very clear that we need to protect our Territory rivers such as the Daly, Roper, Adelaide and Victoria from big irrigation projects. We’re expecting very soon to see the NT Government release details of a dangerous plan that would open up our rivers and floodplains to the same cotton industry players from the dying Murray Darling – putting our Territory fishing, tourism and lifestyle at risk. If this plan goes ahead, it will lead to a rush of new dams on creeks and more water being taken from our rivers. This report is the wake up call that those in power in Darwin need to listen to – it’s a clear message from experts that it’s now or never. Tell the NT Government to protect our rivers and floodplains. The Northern Territory is home to special, healthy, free-flowing rivers. We’ve seen the damage done to the Murray Darling, but it’s not too late to protect our Territory rivers. Let’s keep our rivers flowing.