The fact that travellers no longer need the services of the Cooper Creek ferry to negotiate the Birdsville Track is a sure sign that the
spectacularly unusual water levels in the area are on the wane.
From all reports it seems that the inland sea of Lake Eyre is slowly drying up again and the colour and life that exploded in the centre
will soon follow on and disappear. The ‘blooming’ desert has brought
unprecedented numbers of visitors into this normally dry and dusty area … and tourism operators fear their numbers could dwindle with the water.
Adrian Kellow is the owner of the Lyndhurst Hotel-Motel that sits on
the junction of the Strzelecki and Oodnadatta tracks, 300km north of
Port Augusta.
“We’re hoping some of that rain will come down from Queensland way,” he told the Australian newspaper. “It’s been pretty bloody dry out here, and this may well be the last chance to get the water levels back up … that said, it’s still pretty spectacular.”
According to the South Australian Department of Environment and
Natural Resources, Lake Eyre now has a surface coverage of about 15 per cent.
“However, there is still about two months of potential cyclone
activity in northern Australia,” the department told the Australian.
“If cyclones do occur, this may contribute significant rainfall in to
the system.”
Even if the latest cyclonic weather to inundate parts of Queensland –
closing roads and causing some van parks to be evacuated – does cause significant water to wend its way into the lake system, it is expected to take months to do so.
It has now been four years since the La Nina weather patterns opened up the Diamantina, Georgina and Cooper Creek river systems … but with rainfall levels returning to their negligible norm, it could soon be business as usual in the dry continent.
