Murray River Kayak.: Perricoota

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Monday: 19/11

Torrumbarry - Lock 26 - Bush campsite 20 km below weir.
River markers: 1668 to1608 km to the sea.
Distance travelled today: 60 km
Total distance travelled: 104 km.

Kingfisher. You have no idea how hard it is to take a photo of one of these without a zoom lens!

On this day journey I saw massive changes in the Murray River. My camp was 46 kilometres downstream from Echuca. The banks were still high and there was farmland on the NSW side of the river. As I came closer to Torrumbarry Weir, the river banks seemed to get lower and lower -really it was the river that was rising, held up by the weir, number 26 of 13 with locks allowing boat traffic to pass through (14 to 25 were never built). The bush became lusher and billabongs more frequent. Cockatoos seemed to be in heaven here. Although not the numbers I remember from my childhood, those that I did see almost seemed to be playing. Whether it was how they came down to the water to drink, often hiding behind logs and then lifting the heads and raising their crest to take another look at this big red boat going past, suddenly unsure, or pulling bits of wood off soft rotting logs on the forest floor, curious as to what they might find. In the last kilometers before the weir, where the river bends are so convoluted that it is possible to see the river coming back on itself only a stones throw away, the banks are almost at water level.

The downside to all this beauty is that for the last 30 kilometres before the weir the current is as good as dead. It is hard paddling. You know that if you stop, well you stop. No free kilometers from the river here and if there is a head wind, you’ll go backwards. To take the focus off the current I skirted the tall reeds lining the sides of the river. These were pretty, full of unseen little birds and something I was not used to coming from Echuca.

Just above Torrumbarry Weir there is a strange collection of old buses and vans... 70's again?

You can hear the weir before you see it. Approaching it in my kayak I had the feeling that I was coming up to a waterfall - which is exactly what it is - only a man made one. Generally, boats and sane people don't go over water falls. I had to tell myself to keep calm and approach the lock. The lock was designed to allow safe passage for river boats whatever the level of the river and although built at the dying end of the river trade there had been dreams of a river transport network to rival road and rail as still exists in Europe and the USA.

The lock master Alan Williams, opened the gates just wide enough for my boat to squeeze through. I ducked to fit under the walkway (which is raised for larger vessels) and positioned myself in the middle where he assured me that I would experience the least suction from the 'plughole' at the other end and best ride out the waves that form when the water gets low. The plughole was an apt description. The whole thing is gravity fed, there are no pumps involved. Water is allowed in from above the weir to bring the water level up and drained through gates in the wall at the bottom end to lower it. You don't want to be too close either. I felt part of history, part of someone's dream of Australia that never was - and very small in that big lock. It was a privilege and an experience I can really recommend.

As I passed through the swirling water of the lower gates I was in the real Murray again. It was deeper and narrower than at Echuca and in contrast to upstream of the weir, the river banks were bare and caked in dry mud from the recent high rivers. The constant high river level upstream of Torrumbarry allow vegetation to colonise the banks, right down to the waters edge. Here the banks were eight metres tall, steep and barren. It took some getting used to. The river also seemed to take a while to settle, to work out where it's current should flow and to drop the mud picked up from the base of the weir and form beaches again.

Going through the lock at Torrumbarry is a bumpy ride. I felt pretty small in a kayak. The weir master said to keep away from the other end because that is where the plug hole is. "Don't want you sucked in there". Turns out he was not kidding.

YouTube video: Going through the lock at Torrumbarry Weir

This trench of river runs between the Barham Perricoota Koondrook forests. It is a natural and cultural icon, much loved and contested by people of many different interests and one of the most isolated stretches of the river in its whole course. It's many snags and clay bars make it unsuitable for the water skiing so popular above the weir, but God's gift to fishermen. Sitting on the high bank where I pitched my tent I have never seen so many fish swimming through the water, checking out areas where the water swells and behind logs for anything tasty. The banks may be barren, but the water is full of life... and clear.

The river downstream of Torrumbarry Weir until Murrabit is deep forest, the Holmes Glenn of river red gum forests.

Day 2 camp.

More about Torrumbarry Weir

Instead of opening the rivers up to round the year river trade, the weir enabled the development of land along the Victorian side to intensive farming through a system a delivery channels. These channels linked previous river courses, existing streams and billabongs, building a network that could deliver water on demand to 1000's and 1000's of farms. They effectively created an inland delta. People found that with more water, they could farm intensively. Dairy farms became popular and the area attracted new settlers. Small towns found that with roads and water, they did not need to be linked to the river, nor depend on its ebbs and flows and grew. Torrumbarry, Cohuna, Leitchville, and Kerang developed into proud communities.

LOCKING THE MURRAY.
TORRUMBARRY WORKS BEGUN.

'Part of £5,000,000 Scheme.'

(BY OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.)

About 24 miles from Echuca by road, and between 40 and 50 miles following thedevious downstream course of the Murraythere is a U-shaped bend in the river that is a mile around but only an eighth of amile in width at the neck. Across thisnarrow neck a new channel is to be excavated

so that the river can be diverted and the Ü bend "cut out." Within thenew channel a lock and weir are to be constructed and they will be the most

easterly of the great chain of river works,that will make the Murrnv navigable for1,000 miles of its course. The turning of the

first sod in connection with the Victorian -New South Wales section of this undertakingon Saturday by Mr. Gloom, Common wealth Minister for Works and chairmanof the Murray River Commission, was madethe occasion of an interesting ceremonythat was joyfullv celebrated by residents,and marked a definite stage in the develop ment of a great project.

There are to be 26 locks and weirs onthe Murray and nine on the MurrumbidgeeThose on the Murray will be roughly 40miles apart. Primarily the locks and weirs are to secure a navigable river but theyare also an important step in the conservationof the waters that for so many years have been allowed to run to waste.

The Torrumbarry} Works will bank up sufficient water to give a depth of 6ft at Echuca. They will also make it possible to fill the Gunbower irrigation channel bygravitation, and so keep the Kow SwampReservoir supplied, and, in addition, willsave the pumping into that channel forCohuna. To lrngationists in Victoria and New South Wales however, the chief advantage

from the liver works which the Murray River Commission is constructingwill be conferred by the great reservoir at the junction of the Mitta Mitta. The workis to begin almost immediately.

The Argus 16 June 1919

Everything has a cost.
Irrigation and river regulation have provided much to the local area, but not without a cost.

The timing and extent of floods has changed - winter flows have been reduced and the summer flows increased.

The frequency, duration and extent of the floods has reduced, causing changed to the forests' system of natural channels.

Water quality has declined - increased salinity and nutrient levels are washed into the river from the catchment.

Murray Darling Basin and Goulburn Murray Water are working to remedy these serious problems by:

Restoring the natural forest channels.

Allowing controlled seasonal flooding of the red-gum forests.

Catchment management assistance to landholders.

Community education and involvement.

Source: Torrumbarry Weir Information Centre.

The old weir was built in 1923 at a place where the river looped. It was made of a red gum planks resting on a steel framed trellis, which could be pulled into the river, or back out of it for repair on a set of railway tracks set into concrete in the bed of the river. It is hard to see how such a structure could hold back the force of water backed up for 100 kilometres (all the way to the Goulburn junction 18 kilometres above Echuca) but it did. These wooden planks were moved by hand, using a long pole. The structure was freed from snags in the same way.

Frustrated with the amount of carp in the Murray, lockmaster Alan Williams invented a fish cage which only trapped that pest species. Now in its fifth version and on fish ladders at weirs along the Murray, the cage takes advantage of the tendency of carp to jump when they meet a barrier and of native fish to dive. The native fish find a passage out of the trap when they dive, whereas the carp find themselves in a big steel cage. When carp were at their worst, Alan was pulling out the cage three times a day, a tonne at a time. The carp were passed onto 'Charlie carp' for a new life as garden fertiliser.

Since cod fingerlings have been released into Murray and snags left in to provide them with shelter, the numbers of carp have decreased dramatically. Alan says that he only has to empty the trap once a week when the carp numbers are climbing and has removed it totally for much of the year. As well as maintaining the weir and operating the lock, Alan and the other two weir masters manage the National Channel (which provides irrigation water for farms almost as far away as Swan Hill) and the regulators which allow water to flood into the forests, filling the wetlands and improving the health of the river red gum forests - still suffering following a decade of drought.

It is surprising the range of fish that Alan finds passing through the fish ladder at the weir: occasionally he even finds a rainbow trout - but only in the cooler months. He says that the murray cod numbers have not really dropped despite the black water event of 2011 when many large fish were seen floating down the river. he thinks that where it was possible for the fish to swim up tributaries like the Campaspe and Goulburn, then they were able to escape the low oxygen water and re-populate the river.

Free poster from MDBA:

Hume Dam - Albury - Island Camp.

Bridge just below the Hume Dam.

River of islands.

The river is so different up here, fast flowing and low banks. Here we navigated two small islands in the middle of the river. From the air the river twists and turns. Billabongs are everywhere. It is a haven for wildlife. We saw flocks of black and brown kites, wedge tailed eagles, pelicans, ibis, rainbow bee eaters, grey tree creepers and at one stage flocks of low flying swallows which seemed to cover the river.

Its banks are lush and green. It feels as if it would be easy to pull up and camp anywhere. There is little or no housing development to be seen. This seemingly tame, rural environment is a stark contrast to the dry bush of further downstream. European trees are common, in particular poplars and willows. One island we passed was covered in elm trees and ivy, in the moist soil the forest looked like a patch of Europe.

Poplars and willows are common along the Upper Murray.

The river is swirly and fast. Care needs to be taken to steer away from willows well before the bends as the current often sweeps directly into and under their overhanging branches. It is also a good idea to have minimum gear on deck on these first few days: the likelihood of losing it is high.

Taking a break as the heat of the day settles in.

In this satellite photo you can see how the river twists and turns, abandoning old courses as billabongs and forging new ones. It is hemmed in by hills to the North and South. The Hume freeway in the South and Riverina Highway in the North run along the edges of those hills.

The Murray is a natural waterway managed in a human environment. Whilst the satellite picture that you have just seen shows how the river has changed and continues to change, the amount of water allowed to run down it and when that water is allowed to run is controlled in a bid to meet the needs of people all along the river as well as to keep the river and its wetlands healthy. At present, about 20,000 ML a day are being released from Hume dam, so the river is near the tops of the banks and most of the gravel races are underwater. This is because the summer months is when farmers irrigate. In the winter months, flow can be as low as 600 ML a day. This is in stark contrast to the natural patterns of flood and low river along the catchment. It has contributed to the demise of health of river red gum forests which depend on short, sharp winter floods to reproduce and rejuvenate the soil. In the last drought many wetlands and lakes were filled or allowed to dry out depending on the effectiveness of lobbying from groups and states concerned about them. The communities of Lake Boga and Pyramid Hill almost disappeared when the water they depended on did. The new Murray Darling Basin Plan contains strategies to ensure that these areas are not forgotten. It is motivated by the stories of real people and real places behind the controversy.

The basin plan is an attempt to make the way we use water in the Murray Darling Basin sustainable. The Living Murray Initiative in addition identifies six icon sites as being of particular significance and focus. One of these is the river bed itself, others are areas which the river supports, like the Barmah-Millewa Redgum Forests. Wetlands and lakes can now be filled using systems of channels which run off weirs like Yarrawonga, Torrumbarry and reserves like Lake Victoria. They keep the river alive and help us to grow enough food for our increasingly urban populations. Improved systems of dams, gates, channels and levees in the red gum forests mean that these can now be watered at the right time, whatever the level of the river (Barham Koondrook Perricoota Forest Works. Updates).

Whilst the management of the Murray River and its flow are a necessity for the populations that live along it, it is refreshing to find an unregulated river. The Kiewa river may flow through farmland for much of its course, but it is still wild. It enters the river quietly most of the time, but can be a raging torrent. It is easy to paddle past and not recognise its significance: one of the last free mountain catchments in the Murray Darling Basin.

The Kiewa River Junction.

The junction of the Murray and Kiewa rivers. The Kiewa, Ovens (and its tributary, the King river) rivers remain undamed, the only mountain catchments to remain in their natural state. This means that they can flood quickly following heavy rain. Care needs to be taken when camping on their shores. The Kiewa has its headwaters around Mt Bogong, whereas the Ovens begins near Mt. Buffalo. Both are very pretty valleys, are heritage listed and are very popular amongst fishermen. There was not much coming down the Kiewa today, but there were times when it was in flood last year. Things would have looked different then.

Goulburn Murray Water: Kiewa river.
Goulburn Murray Water: Ovens river management plan.

Active steps are being taken to improve the catchment health of both basins. Fish are being used as indicators of the river quality, in particular the presence of cod and trout cod. The following oral history was is an exerpt from True tales of trout cod: River Histories of the Murray Darling Basin: Ch 11, Kiewa River Catchment. You can read more at Australianriverrestorationcentre.com.au.

OH 95

Bill Murphy of Kergunyah was interviewed in April 2008 at an age of 73 years.

I was born in ’35. I remember my uncle went down here and all the lobsters were in the back of the Ford. I saw the lobsters; they were coming out of the river after the fires. He was fishing down here and there was a 70 pound cod dead, down near Doug Austin’s. Cliff Cooper told me there was cod all the way up past Tawonga before the fires. Apparently there was a few about 90 pound caught around here. There was an old bridge just below my boundary; there was a 90 pounder there. There used to be a few Catfish here, my father used to catch them in ‘the old river’, where it cuts through the paddock. He also talked about getting some other type of fish there. The Blackfish were in the little creeks, some people used to get a feed of them. There used to be some in the Bells Creek and the Running Creek. There were no yellowbelly here, not as I remember, and grunter, no.

When I left school the river was full of trout, you could catch them on worms up to 11 pound, then they started to disappear. The redfin then used to be thick, then they disappeared with a fish disease. I saw them dying in the river about 25, 30 years ago. I haven’t caught a carp for two to three years. I once saw six about 10 pound each eating the leaves off the willows. Now the river is full of small cod, though they get a bit of a hiding. Felix Carmody was a character and a well-known poacher.. He used to catch black snakes and once he tipped one out in the pub, that soon cleared the bar!

Ref: True Tales of the Trout Cod: River Histories of the Murray-Darling Basin: Ch 11 Kiewa River Catchment.

The Red Eye Cicada can be very common in one year, with thousands of individuals in one tree and completely absent the next (ref). Different cicadas emerge at different times of the year. They make good, although short-lived children's pets (ref).

This little fella was too big for the camera. Almost broke the lense. The cicadas are enormous up here... And loud. We had to abandon one potential campsite because we thought we would not be able to get to sleep with the noise. The cicadas answered each other on different sides of the river; one side would listen whilst the other would perform, before performing itself. They make their loud noise by rubbing thick chitinous plates on their abdomen together. These vibrate as they pass over each other causing the noise - much like finger nails on a black board. Later, we were told that cicadas are only noisey in the daytime, that they are quiet at night. Potentially we could have kept that first campsite, but we would have needed ear protection if they hadn't quietened down... and we would never have found the lovely island campsite that we eventually found for the night.

If you have really had enough, I found out that cicadas may be eaten, they were on the menu in China, Burma, Latin America, the Congo and in a single batch of ice-cream at Sparky's in Missouri, Columbia. They were warned by health authorities not to make a second batch and complied.

Cicadas spend most of their life feeding on the roots of trees, they emerge en masse to overwhelm predators.

Island campsite.

Cooling down after a long day in the sun.

We eventually found a nice spot a little over 50km down from the Hume. It is a small island, which is nice. I like camping on Islands. The current is fast here. Not even sand can settle. There are little trails of sand behind the tree trunks from when it has been covered by flood waters. All around the island are pebbles and gravel races.

Other paddlers have since told me that they too had camped on this island, however no trace of their passing could be seen. This is the way it should be. We should strive to leave so little impact that the people who follow experience the environment in as good, or better condition than we found it in.

More and more people want to enjoy our rivers, which is great, however the very people who love the environment can destroy it. Outdoor education teaches mantras such as leave only the lightest of footprints, take only photographs. As canoeists, our touch should be particularly light. Make it a challenge.

This website from Backcounttry Atittude outlines steps you can take to minimise your impact. It starts with good planning. Leave No Trace Outdoor Ethics & Skills For Outdoor Users. Many families who camp along the Murray pick up rubbish left by less careful occupants. It is a good example to follow.

The Murray River Guardian is a free magazine put out as a cooperative project between Parks Victoria and NSW National Parks. It is a guide to camping along the Murray in both of those states and contains practical tips and valuable information. It is worth getting your hands on one before you paddle.