Why
Not Flood Lake Eyre?
Project
:
A
500km canal linking
the Spencer Gulf to
Lake Eyre, which is
15m below sea level.
This will initially
flood the surrounding
salt pan with sea water.
Lake Eyre would become
vastly bigger that it
has ever been since
recorded history began
in Australia. The natural
evaporation from it
would cause a greatly
increased rainfall in
the region, most of
which would flow back
down into the lake reducing
the salinity enormously.
The change to the ecology
would be dramatic.
COST:
It would only cost the
taxpayer for the materials
and not much more if
the army did it - they
are paid their salaries
anyway and our Australian
Army engineers would
relish the opportunity
to practice their explosives
expertise to build this
canal. It would be quite
a blast for them.
BEFORE |
AFTER |
 |
|
Return
on Investment
It
could surely be the
best investment as the
% return on funds invested
would be astronomical.
The more rain generated
in the catchment area,
which is one-sixth of
the land area of Australia,
the less the inflow
from the ocean, so the
salinity would stabilise
at a figure well below
the salinity of the
oceans, similar to the
Caspian Sea which is
about a third as saline
as the oceans.
Data
to Consider
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Eyre
gives its surface area
as 9500 sq km when full.
Dr
Vincent Kotwicki's Paper
says the mean evaporation
rate for Lake Eyre is
2000 mm/year. These
figures equate to a
mean inflow of 602 cumecs
needed to replace evaporation,
so the canal wouldn't
need to be much bigger
than the Bogimbah river
on Fraser Island, provided
the slope on the canal's
water surface was sufficient
for a 602 cumec flow.
It may not need to be
lined with concrete
because leakage wouldn't
matter ... there's plenty
more where that came
from ... the oceans
! This is where I bow
out and let a civil
engineer trained in
hydrology take over
!
The
displaced rock from
the canal's construction
could be used to build
a mountain almost 3km
high, which, if placed
next to the lake, would
allow skiing in the
morning, and surfing
in the afternoon!
Benefits:
- The change to the
ecology would be dramatic.
Grasses and trees would
thrive, resulting in
a potential for farming
and horticulture.
- Inland of Australia
would have a thriving
wetland area. Brine
shrimp would go crazy!
and Pelicans a plenty!
- Tourist revenue from
sun-and-desert seeking
types.
- Increased rainfall
and cooler climate due
to extra water and enormous
surface area for evaporation
to create rain.
- Displaced rock could
be used to build canal
suburbs for people with
too much money.
- Local concrete and
rock-removal industries
would flourish.
- The lake would always
be full, even in low
rainfall periods, as
it would be continually
topped up from the ocean.
Environmental
considerations:
•
The Eyre basin is already
very salty. The more
rain generated in the
catchment area, which
is one-sixth of the
land area of Australia,
the less the inflow
from the ocean there
would be, so the salinity
would stabilise at a
figure well below the
salinity of the ocean.
Over decades, the salinity
would continually be
reduced from the new
rainwater as well as
from outside monsoons.
• Surrounding
land is "Desert
loams" or "sand"
(soil classifications
from the 1979 Jacaranda
Atlas, school edition
says ... virtually useless
...)
• Alternative
spawning grounds for
a wide variety of fish
• This idea has
got to be more sensible
than using the desert
as a nuclear testing
ground.
• For more data
on Lake Eyre, go to
http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/oce/oce-04.html
What
the canal might look
like:
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