As we head into our traditional winter dry season, current weather conditions are worrying. Grafton has just experienced a prolonged period of hot weather with maximum daily temperatures at an incredible 5°C above average, peaking on 10th April at 37.1°C, breaking the previous record by1.5°C.
With rainfall since October just one third of the long-term average, river flows and dam levels have declined rapidly. The situation is particularly dire for bushland environments that are still struggling to recover from the catastrophic 2019 fire-storm.
Water is life, and we are fortunate in that the valley’s lifeblood is provided by the state’s largest river system, affectionately called the “mighty Clarence”. However, the entire system is under stress and while the more remote wilderness areas are still relatively pristine, with waters cascading through dramatically picturesque mountain landscapes, the same cannot be said for the lower reaches of the river.
There are hundreds of kilometres of waterways across the valley that should more realistically be described as a depleted environment with sterile weed-infested banks, trampled by livestock with little left to attract native birds and animals. Further down the river system has been drained, distorted, and confined by levy banks into a single murky channel of water which is certainly no longer mighty.
So, can the Clarence River continue to help buffer us against the insidious impacts of climate change? Is it currently able to withstand the impacts of more intense rainfall events and resultant flooding and irreparable bank erosion, or continue to provide the basic needs of humans and the natural environment in the face of ever higher temperatures and frequent droughts?
To rescue the river and allow it to recover its best possible potential, it has to be protected. River and creek banks throughout the entire catchment need to be revegetated, and livestock excluded, something that all landowners can be involved in for their own benefit in reducing erosion of their land, as well as providing improved water quality for the entire population, and the wildlife we all want to thrive.
- John Edwards
Published in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent , 24 April, 2026.
