Torrens Swamp...

[Pistol]

Bravo Adelaide City Council.

I am so glad that I don't have to pay council rates to a bunch of imbeciles any more.

Now get in there and clean it up ACC!

Just a thought - I know that most of the North Adelaide golf course is watered by Torrens water along with parklands, so what happens now?

[UrbanSG]

Not to mention all the trees along the river which have established root systems reliant on the lake water being there year after year. However I'm sure the golf course will secure water in some way, after all got to keep those rich golf players happy no matter what.

There are some suggestions going around that an upgrade was occuring at the weir and it was as simple as a worker flicking the wrong switch. I really wouldn't be surprised.

[Ben]

More from AdelaideNow:

[skyliner]

What a mess! I thought you only saw this in the western rivers areas of NSW. Is there no answer at all - how about getting a fire helicopter to dump water there from one of the reservoirs or even the sea. This cant get out - as someone said - what a joke will be made of it. ACC - Clean it up and refill ASAP.

ADELAIDE - TOWARDS A GREATER CITY SKYLINE

[Wayno]

any down stream photos? did the water make it out to the ocean?

[Howie]

There was something on channel 7 news just now about it... water is banked up at henley, they've got to dig a channel for it to escape to sea. Swimming is prohibited at Henley beach until this thing clears over.

[Will409]

An electrical fault has apparently caused the weir gates to open and basically drained the whole lake.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 82,00.html

Torrens Lake a stinking mud hole after electrical malfunction

AN angry Premier Mike Rann says it would be "stupid" to refill the drained Torrens Lake with water from Adelaide's reservoirs.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Rann demanded answers as to how the lake could lose millions of water overnight. "My first reaction was anger but I'm not here to blame the council, what I want to know is what went wrong and what we're going to do about it in the future," he said. "Obviously it couldn't have come at a worse time. "One thing we won't be doing is taking water out of the reservoir, that would be just stupid.''

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison today admitted that the accidental draining of Torrens Lake overnight is an appalling embarrassment - but says it's unlikely to be refilled without rain. The once-scenic lake is today a stinking mud hole after it was drained of millions of litres of water overnight when an electrical fault opened the weir gates.

Adelaide City Council staff were forced to manually wind the weir shut but levels had already dropped by more than two metres and the water was rushing into the sea. Despite a range of festivals over the coming months – including the The Fringe, Womadelaide and the Clipsal 500 – Lord Mayor Michael Harbison says Adelaide may have to put up with the mudflats over its peak tourism period.

"It's very embarrassing and we obviously wish it hadn't happened," Mr Harbison said. "We'd love to have water, but I just don't think they'd (SA Water) give us water for this." Mr Harbison says some may see it as being irresponsible amid water restrictions to refill the Torrens from the Kangaroo Creek reservoir in the Adelaide Hills. "And there would be those who might see it was worse to use water to do this rather than waiting for rain ... but I suspect we have no choice other than to wait for rain."

Tourism Minister - let's clean up the bed

Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said the draining of the Torrens Lake would not spoil our festival season and should be viewed as a good opportunity to clean up the lake bed. "This incident is regrettable – there would never be a good time for something like this to happen – but the reality is there's been no loss of lives and, in a week when we've had massive fires and tragedy across the nation, we can work with this and live with it," she said.

"I think this is a great opportunity for the Adelaide City Council. "It is unplanned and they would not have chosen for this to happen but as we have lost water from the Torrens Lake it is a great opportunity to clean up the bed and I'm sure council will be working on remedial activities. "I do not intend to talk down our major events season."

Tonnes of rubbish exposed

Parts of the lake are entirely without water, revealing tonnes of rubbish - including bikes, a car body and witches' hats - on the bottom of the lake.

Police from the Water Recovery unit attended and were expected to investigate the car, still half submerged in water. AdelaideNow understands they chose not to enter the water due to concerns about its toxicity. "The lake is unlikely to refill until water flows from the catchment area upstream following a rainfall event," the council said in a statement. "The higher sections of the lake have been the worst-affected, with the bottom of the lake now visible in several locations.'' Council environmental officers will assess the lake this morning to determine the overall impact on the lake and areas surrounding it.

This is what the lake normally looks like (image from Google).


And photos from the Advertiser website.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/gall ... 10,00.html

[UrbanSG]

Apparently there is a clause in the boat operators contracts that clears ACC of any compensation. That is really unfair, particularly in this instance where ACC is reponsible for ensuring the system is managed. Especially as this time of year is when these operators make their most income. A popeye boat driver was on the news tonight almost in tears about his job now.

Plus Charles Sturt Council said the first they heard about the incident was this morning on the radio so they didn't have time to dig channels to let the polluted water out to see. If that is true that is very poor of the ACC seeing as it occured at 8pm last night.

Jane Lomax Smith was saying it is not a big deal for tourism. Hmmm, what planet is that woman on???

[SRW]

More detailed coverage of the mishap:

Lost lake: mishap drains Adelaide's Torrens
ABC News Online, 12 February 2009

Adelaide's Torrens lake in the city is high and dry because of a weir malfunction.

Adelaide City Council says the water level has dropped by more than two metres after the weir gate partially opened and had to be closed manually.

Water drained from the lake for about two hours.

The western end of the Torrens lake had already been closed because of an outbreak of blue-green algae.

The council says an electrical fault caused the malfunction.

It says the lake is unlikely to refill until enough rain falls in the River Torrens catchment zone, which takes in the Adelaide Hills.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann says the lake is an Adelaide tourist landmark and the loss of water is a big concern just weeks away from events including the Fringe festival and the V8 Supercar race.

"I'll get a report on that later on this morning to find out what happened and how it can be fixed," he said.

Adelaide Lord Mayor Michael Harbison says it would be irresponsible in ongoing drought to refill the Torrens immediately with water stored upstream at Kangaroo Creek reservoir in the Adelaide Hills.

The water mishap has exposed rusting shopping trolleys, lost skateboards and even a radio which was dropped by a rowing crew coach into the lake a few days ago.

Downstream mess

The mayor of Charles Sturt Council in Adelaide's western suburbs, Harold Anderson, says the rush of water down the Torrens has left a mess downstream.

Garbage and millions of litres of dirty water have been flowing out to sea.

Mr Anderson is upset that he and council staff were not advised.

"When we've had the algae flushes over the years we've argued about it but, at the end of the day, being good councils between ourselves we don't do anything further about it except complain," he said.

"I'll be ringing the Lord Mayor a bit later on ... when I've settled down."

Health worries

The president of the Western Adelaide Coastal Residents Association says the discharge from the Torrens lake into Saint Vincent Gulf is a disaster for the environment and for human health.

Jim Douglas says the water is turbid, high in nutrients and will aid the death of seagrass along the metropolitan coastline.

Mr Douglas says there is also an unknown level of danger for swimmers at Adelaide beaches.

"I think it's a disaster. That lake water also carries viruses and those viruses can actually hang around in that water for an unknown period of time," he said.

"Most of the bacteria and the viruses would be detrimental to human health."

Beaches have been closed for swimming north and south of the Torrens outlet, while Charles Sturt Council tests the water quality.

Pat Harbison from the Friends of Gulf St Vincent is also worried about the risk of environmental damage.

"If the water is very turbid or murky it stops the light from getting to the sea grasses and you know yourself the plants won't grow in the dark," she said.

"Not only that, at times the water along the coast is just not fit for swimming."

Another (truncated) article detailing the possibilities of replenishment:

Replenishing Torrens lake 'expensive'
ABC News Online, 12 February 2009

A water expert from the University of Adelaide says it could cost $500,000 to replenish the Torrens lake after Wednesday night's discharge.

A malfunctioning weir resulted in millions of litres of water from the lake being washed out to sea.

Justin Brookes from the University's Water Research Centre says it would take 400 megalitres of water to return the lake to its previous levels.

"Typically we'd need about a 20 millimetre rain event to get that sort of volume coming into the lake, which is unlikely given the sort of rainfall we typically get through February or March," he said.

"So we're looking at about 400 megalitres, the retail cost of that water is quite high and it's obviously not the best use of water given that we're in a water shortage."

Mr Brookes says other options should be looked at.

"Some of the benefits that could be made while we do have a lake like this is to start replanting some of the shallower regions with plants and start to re-establish aquatic macrophytes in those reaches," he said.

No rain

The Weather Bureau's Mark Anolak says there is no rain on the horizon to help replenish the Torrens lake.

"When we look at the next seven days, there really isn't any rain on the forecast," he said.

"As we look in to the middle of next week, we do have a trough moving through and there may be a possibility of a very light shower but in terms of rainfall amounts, not too much expected at all.

"Looking at the month of February we're only averaging 12, 13 millimetres for the month of February, so to get 20 millimetres, we'd certainly be hard pressed, certainly in the next couple of weeks I would think."

[SRW]

I think the reaction has perhaps been a little over the top. The reports indicate an electrical fault is the culprit, and such things happen -- one can't really blame the ACC for that.

The reality is, as unpleasant as it may look (and possibly smell), this won't have a huge impact on tourism -- people don't come to Adelaide to sit and stare at Torrens Lake. In March, in particular, they come for our events, which are situated away from the Torrens and all relatively insular.

It's a great opportunity to rehabilitate the creek/lake bed, and if previous reports about the level of pollution are anything to go by, the water would have had to have been evacuated at some point or another. (There was one report in either 06/07 that I can recall, but can't find, which mentioned very high levels of industrial metals) We can only hope that this opportunity is exploited to its full potential by the relevant agencies.

[talrok]

this state is a farkn joke .. Rann pull your finger out .. you are killing the Torrens area .. it should be a thriving area with cafe's, clubs, restaurants .. you wanna build a farkn hospital and now we lose all the water in the Torrens during the worst drought for many years .. forget about your farkn 'reading challenge' and do something constructive and proactive for this states future .. you are going fown big time at the next election!!!

[Brando]

I think the reaction has perhaps been a little over the top. The reports indicate an electrical fault is the culprit, and such things happen -- one can't really blame the ACC for that.

The reality is, as unpleasant as it may look (and possibly smell), this won't have a huge impact on tourism -- people don't come to Adelaide to sit and stare at Torrens Lake. In March, in particular, they come for our events, which are situated away from the Torrens and all relatively insular.

First and last impressions count. We are about to embark on Mad March, a chance to impress many first time visitors to this state. Sadly, this debacle will leave an impression on many. March is our month, our chance to bask in events glory. It's a time where everything in Adelaide should be perfect and memorable. This is an unforeseen setback, but one at which may have dire consequences for memories. Imagine visting Melbourne for the first time, walking to the Crown and the Yarra empty, filthy and putrid.

I think the state government and ACC now have to bite the bullet, drain the remaining water and clean the Torrens good and proper. Fix this problem once and for all, make the necessary improvements to make sure this can be an attraction to build on from here on in.

Damage is done now, let's just get the job done and fix it!

[omada]

It's funny draining the "lake" has revealed the course of the original creek. It is not such a bad thing really, it is a good opportunity to give the whole place a cleanup, and undertake a replanting scheme.

[john0427]

I too think the reaction is a little over the top. Apart from the rubbish (including several nice Vespa scooters), the river doesn't look that bad. And, to be honest, the water in the Yarra is not really a drawcard in my decisions to go to Melbourne. The facilities adjacent to the Yarra's bank are. The river itself - not so much. Plus, there were way more people at the river last night when I walked my dog than there are on a usual Thursday afternoon. So maybe it will become an attraction for a different reason... an terrifying real life demonstration of the consequences of drought or climate change or whatever.

I also don't understand why we would be so devastated that the Torrens' "water" has left the centre of town. If you ask me, the state of the "water" when it was in the Torrens was more of an embarrassment. It was always stinky. It was always filled with garbage. It always made you feel sorry for the birds that lived in it. And made me worry about the people that fish it. Oh, then there's the terror one experiences when spay from the fountain spatters you... Auggggghhhhhh... get it off, get it off!

Also, apparently one of Adelaideans' favourite drunken pass-times is to drop chairs off the university footbridge... I never knew. I expect Adelaide Uni's resource managers now know where all their chairs go.

[stelaras]

It's funny draining the "lake" has revealed the course of the original creek. It is not such a bad thing really, it is a good opportunity to give the whole place a cleanup, and undertake a replanting scheme.

here here...and whilst they are doing that they may as well deepen it as well, install a few rubbish collectors and make sure that the weir doesn't mysteriously let all the water out!

It could be refilled using recycled water from our water treatment plant...lol