MILANG, South Australia

In November 2006, when we commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the 1956 floods, the P.S. Oscar W was able to tie up at the Milang town jetty (picture top left).

By July 2008 the water's edge had receded so far that the end of the jetty barely reached it and a large expanse of sand was revealed which, as it dried out, was being blown across the foreshore lawns (picture bottom left).

After the good rains in August 2008 the sand began to be covered with water-buttons (cotula) and other vegetation, which stopped the drifting and also minimised the risk from uncovered acid sulfate soils.

By March 2009 there was an extensive cover of vegetation but the water level had fallen even further, revealing an extensive sand spit beyond the jetty (picture bottom right).

This has been the result of over-allocation and over-use of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin during at least the last thirty years which, coupled with the recent drought conditions and the huge amount of water being pumped into Lake Albert, has brought about a dramatic change in the level of Lake Alexandrina.