River Murray at Tailem Bend

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Introduction

Water is pumped from Tailem Bend to supply drinking water to areas in the upper South East, including Keith. There is a significant dairy industry between Mannum and Tailem Bend that also uses water from the River Murray for irrigation. Some of this water is returned to the river as irrigation drainage water and can affect water quality. Tailem Bend is the last monitoring site before the river discharges into Lake Alexandrina.

The River Murray Operations Unit, (RMOU) part of the Bulk Water Division of SA Water Corporation collects daily salinity and flow data. >> More

The South Australian Murray Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board also has a large amount of useful information on the River Murray in South Australia.

>> More information on issues relating to the River Murray in South Australia.

>> More information on the Murray-Darling Basin as a whole.

Water quality assessment

Water quality data at Tailem Bend is collected weekly by the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC). The indicators that are measured in the River Murray at Tailem Bend are nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), turbidity, bacteria and salinity. The concentrations of these indicators are used to classify the water quality as being in good, moderate or poor condition, according to the needs of aquatic ecosystem protection and recreational environmental values. >> More

Water quality classification for April to September 2006

Indicator	Ecosystem	Recreational
Oxidised Nitrogen	Poor	NA
Total Nitrogen	Moderate	NA
Soluble Phosphorus	Good	NA
Total Phosphorus	Moderate	NA
Turbidity	Good	Poor
Bacteria	NA	ND

Notes NA = not applicable; ND = data not currently available

The results in this monitoring period were generally consistent with or lower than previous seasonal results for this site. It does appear that the phosphorus and turbidity levels are decreasing, although further monitoring is required to determine whether this is an early indication of a trend, or may be a response to the drought.

The high nutrient concentrations (nitrogen and total phosphorus) in the lower reaches of the River Murray are largely due to discharges from the Lower Murray Irrigation area.

Turbidity was considered good for the protection of the ecosystem, although it was poor for recreational activity. Elevated turbidity can make it difficult to see submerged obstacles, reducing the safety of some recreational activities. It can also make water look less appealing for swimming. Much of the turbidity in the River Murray is due to water from the Darling River, which tends to carry fine clay particles.

Disease-causing bacteria can be an issue for recreational activities in the Lower Murray due to discharges from houseboats, wastewater treatment plant discharges and livestock near the river. As such, bacteria (enterococci) will be reported on this page in the near future. The South Australian Department of Health has useful information on the safe use of recreational waters.

>> Archived results

Download water quality graphs (courtesy of the MDBC)

• Oxidised nitrogen in the River Murray at Tailem Bend
  
• Total nitrogen in the River Murray at Tailem Bend
  
• Total phosphorus in the River Murray at Tailem Bend
  
• Soluble phosphorus in the River Murray at Tailem Bend
  
• Turbidity in the River Murray at Tailem Bend
  
• Salinity in the River Murray at Tailem Bend
  
• Bacteria in the River Murray at Tailem Bend

Download raw water quality data (courtesy of the MDBC)

• All water quality data for the River Murray at Tailem Bend

What is being done to improve the condition of the River Murray

The River Murray is South Australia's most important river system. The South Australian Government is improving the condition of the Murray through the Living Murray Initiative. This initiative aims to return 500 gigalitres of water over five years to the river system. The recovered water will be used to improve the ecological health of six significant ecological assets across the Basin. Three of these are the Chowilla Floodplain; the Murray Mouth, Coorong and Lower Lakes; and the River Murray channel. Funds raised by the levy will be used to support other Murray-Darling Basin Commission programs to accelerate the recovery of the river.

The EPA has a regional office at Murray Bridge. Significant projects being run by the Murraylands office are:

• audits of milking shed effluent systems
  
• water quality monitoring programs
  
• a major water quality risk assessment >> More
  
• river vessel wastewater system audits
• marina and slipway audits.

South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board is also developing strategies for improving water quality in the River Murray. >> More

Reports

River Murray and Lower Lakes catchment risk assessment for water quality
	Introduction and methods (960KB PDF)
	Results and management options
		Acknowledgements, Definitions, Abbreviations, Executive Summary & Introduction (327KB PDF)
		Renmark to border LAP area assessment (400KB PDF)
		Berri–Barmera and Loxton–Bookpurnong LAP areas assessment (450KB PDF)
		Riverland West LAP area assessment (526KB PDF)
		Mid Murray LAP area assessment (577KB PDF)
		Mannum to Wellington LAP area assessment (580KB PDF)
		Goolwa to Wellington and Coorong District LAP areas assessment (1329KB PDF)
		Summary of risk assessment results, Risk management options & References and data sources (212KB PDF)
River Murray 1990-1999 Report No. 1 (Jan 2002) (1.5MB PDF)
Ambient Water Quality Monitoring of The River Murray 1990-1999 (1.5MB PDF)
Cowirra Surface Irrigation Reuse Trial (1.3MB PDF)
Riverboat Waste Disposal Options (616KB PDF)

This page was last modified 14-10-2008