Marilyn Davis wrote:
>
> Hello again
>
> Thank you for your reply Terry. The logic of listing artesian bore capping
> as a threat to birds is simply this. While natural swamps and wetlands
> were drained and reclaimed for agriculture, almost simultaneously the
> development of flowing artesian bores provided an alternative refuge for
> many birds. Although undoubtedly artesian bore drains and swamps are
> artificial, they now play a most important role in providing outback drought
> refuge sites for many waterbirds that have lost their natural habitat
> through other development.
>
Actually those leaky artesian bores also help the survival and
reproduction of nasties like pigs and goats that destroy habitat and in
the case of pigs, are quite partial to a bit of bush meat. Further, the
lose of artesian pressure due to the unregulated bores results in the
death of mound springs which were the pre-European source of water in
the outback.
I think the outback birds would be better served if the rivers were left
with a fair bit of their natural flows [to fill the billabongs] and the
artesian basin is protected from over-exploitation. [The only "free"
water in Australia is water you recycle].
Other than that, there is the issue of weed invasions and the
introduction of new diseases . There is also the impact of habitat
degradation arising through the various forms of dieback.
Regards, Laurie.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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