Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says Environment Minister Peter Garrett should heed the warnings of Lower Lakes locals and reject the proposed weir at Wellington.

Public submissions to the 415-page draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed weir near Pomanda Island close today. The statement was ordered by Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

“The proposed weir at Wellington must stay as just that - a proposal, rather than a reality,” said Senator Hanson-Young.

“Approving a weir at Wellington will not save the river system – all it will do is tie a tourniquet around the Lower Lakes’ connection to their lifeblood, and kill them.”

Senator Hanson-Young said the only way the river system could be revived was by a national approach of stepping down extraction and providing environmental allocations.

“We’ve known for a long time that the climate is changing, and the devastation of a drying climate has been exacerbated by more water being taken out of the river than is going into it,” she said.

“Rather than attempting to amputate parts of the river with weirs and similar interventions, we must step down water use across the Basin, through well planned buy-backs of water licences and implementing water efficiency measures.

“The environment must be allocated its fair share.”

Senator Hanson-Young said the Lower Lakes residents campaigning against the proposed weir had been buoyed by support from United Nations water expert Maude Barlow, who visited the lower Murray last weekend.

“The senior adviser on water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly was nothing less than shocked that we have allowed our lower Murray, Lakes and Coorong to become so degraded,” she said.

“This should serve as an urgent wake-up call to our decision-makers.

“We must heed the expertise of international experts alongside that of the locals who live on the lakes and land, and recognise that a weir is a short-term reaction that will kill the river from its mouth up.

“The Greens call on Minister Garrett to reject the South Australian Government’s proposal for a weir at Wellington.”