The Lake Eyre Basin is considered one of least altered and unregulated great river systems of good condition in the world. It incorporates catchments across the South East of the Northern Territory, South West of Queensland and North East of South Australia. The NT tributaries are the Finke and Todd Rivers. Although the rivers rarely make it all the way into the lake, the upper reaches and flood plains provide vital desert refugia and connect with the groundwater systems of the Great Artesian basin.
Emerging pressures on the system include climate change, petroleum and mineral exploration and grazing.
The system is managed through a collaborative agreement between the Commonwealth, SA, NT and Qld Governments. This agreement, made in 2000 is currently subject to second review. This review is open to public consultation to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan in managing cross border pressures on the system.
Information on the consultation and agreement review can be found here:
https://www.awe.gov.au/water/policy/national/lake-eyre-basin/agreement.
ALEC will be making a submission on this review. It will be largely informed by the results of the recently finalised State of the Basin Condition Assessment Report 2016:
http://lakeeyrebasin.gov.au/resources/publications
If anyone has a particular interest in the management of the basin, especially Finke and Todd river issues, and would like to contribute feel free to contact Alex at [email protected]