I hope this is just some temporary fluctuation of the PH sensors...
...but if these are real then ph of 4.5 (midnight last night) is quite acidic.

Was anyone in the water around the bridge yesterday?

Yeah, I was in the water at the aqua cafe end of the bridge yesterday. wasnt the best location but I was itching to have a crack at goolwa for the first time.

Should I be looking for bald spots now?

I sailed from Rankines on Thursday arvo and had the best time in years. Flat water, no boats and not one bit of weed on a 57cm fin. Probably a big difference in the enjoyment factor of a weekend vs mid week sail.

Well i had some go in my mouth, taste like the Murry >>> I was wake-boarding at north Goolwa yesterday & it seemed normal to me other than the weed on the Hindmarsh island side which actually was good in a way because it made a glassy strip next to it about 10m wide, butter . I'm fine today, no effect from a high acidic level but the question is will it rear its ugly head [}:)] later on in life or is it an immediate affect it will have on me? Will i loose length or girth??

It seems to have settled at pH 5 for now - not mega acidic yet but something's definitely rotting in there:

May be that the drying out of the lower lakes and now the raising of the water level is the cause. The exposing the sediment seems to be the trigger. Interestingly the natural state of the lower lakes is alkaline. Probably the only way to return the system to the natural state is to make it estuarine again.

From Lakesneedwater.org :

Acid Sulphate Soils

Widespread acid sulphate soils have developed on the exposed Lake beds due to the drying and oxidation of sulphidic sediments previously covered by estuarine waters before the barrages were built.

Currency Creek, the Finniss River, Loveday Bay, and many other areas (photos 1 and 2) have been seriously affected, although the first two have been temporarily ameliorated by the Clayton and Currency Creek regulators.


Photo 1. Exposed Lake bed, northern Lake Alexandrina, November 2009



Photo 2: Close up of lake bed in photo 1. Yellow crystals of indicate highly acidic soils

Further incremental drying in situ, together with declines in water levels, will increase the acid production vertically downwards through the sediment profile, causing the previous “hot spots” to increase in concentration and expand as the water recedes. This accumulated acid will eventually overcome the natural alkalinity of the lake waters. This occurs when rainfall dissolves the acid and takes it into the main lake bodies. This would be disastrous for any living organisms still existing in and around the Lakes.

The seriousness of this risk is shown by the decision to recommence pumping of water (35GL) from Lake Alexandrina to Lake Albert should the levels in the latter fall to –1.0m AHD.

Presently estimated trigger points for this change are -0.5m AHD for Lake Albert, and –1.5m AHD for Lake Alexandrina. Lake Albert has already reached its trigger level, and Lake Alexandrina will probably reach its trigger by the end of this summer. The SA Government has decided to allow the levels in Lake Albert to pass its trigger since there is presently not enough water to prevent it. Therefore fish kills in Lake Albert are expected, since no further “fish downs” are to be supported.

The delay of the decision to build the weir at Pomanda until 2011 means that the two summers of 2010-12 will allow for even further declines in water level, with concommittant increase in acid production, should the river inflows stay at these all time lows. (It would take about one year to build a weir). It is doubtful that the government of South Australia will have the means to purchase further environmental entitlements to maintain the Lake levels above trigger points, presuming they are available. Even if they do, the already exposed areas will continue to increase in acidity with the continued drying, thereby raising the water level at which the trigger point occurs.

Strong winds cause dust storms from the exposed lake beds. Health problems have been attributed to the dust which comprises fine Aeolian sands and corrosive material. Significant corrosion to zinc coated steel and corrugated iron structures has occurred and can be expected to continue as larger areas of lake bed are exposed.

In its recent “Securing the Future” document released in December 2009, the Government has mentioned the possibility of ‘drying down the Lakes’ if the seawater option is not practical. This would be a disaster of immense proportions, and the possibility of recovery to any type of wetland, freshwater or marine, would be put off for hundreds of years.