A river awakens, bringing green magic to a desert town

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Whenever rain is forecast for the desert town of Mparuntwe, better known as Alice Springs, the same question usually comes up: “Do you think the toad will flow?”

This week, the answer was yes. The normally dry Todd River filled with water after a week of rain dumped 184 mm (about 7.2 inches) from the sky after months of extreme heat, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The rain left piles of debris, washed out roads and turned the usually pale red-yellow landscape of the region of central Australia into a rich tapestry of brown-green.

Local officials issued severe flood warnings, but in an area typically defined by dry summers, people were excited — even more so when the waters began to rise. People gathered on the banks of the Todd and were enjoying the grand view of the flowing river.

This is something that people in this part of the world only get to see a few times a year. Although the land is never completely dry – a rich groundwater table makes itself known through the rows of mature river red gum trees planted on the banks – underground flows of any significance are dependent on large rains.

John Wischusen, a hydrologist based in Alice Springs, said the general formula for determining whether a toad will flow is 40 millimeters of rain at a rate of 50 millimeters per hour. That’s heavy rainfall that’s typical of summer typhoons, but he also said continued low-intensity wet weather (and this week, that’s what happened) will also bring down the scale.

“It’s like a roof and a water tank,” Mr Wischussen said, explaining how the high concentration of Precambrian rocks (including gneiss and granite) in and around Alice Springs encouraged water runoff. “But the ground beneath has to be wetted to a certain level before it can flow further. That’s why you need a certain amount of rain or intensity to get water flowing over the ground, into rivers, and through the city.

As it travels, the water recharges the landscape. Animals that previously kept a low profile suddenly come to the fore. “You’ll hear all those frogs that have been dormant in the soil for a year come out and start chirping,” Mr. Wischussen said. The valleys turn into water holes, and groundwater storage systems replenish their reserves.

Water corridors are no longer what they used to be – urbanization, invasive weeds and pollution have transformed the landscape – yet the river ecosystem heals, is nourished and powered by these annual flows.

“Those big buildings along the Todd are very hard on the eyes. But after a few flows, you see them suddenly disappear, swallowed by the growth of the river’s red gums,” said Central Arrernte, who leads the Center for Appropriate Technology, a science and technology center based in Alice Springs. said one man, Peter Renehan. “For us, that’s the country doing its job.”

For many years, Mr. Renehan has led programs and working groups trying to rejuvenate the damaged riverbed. They pointed to trash (ranging from small plastic wrappers to fluff mattresses) floating downstream due to illegal campers, streams that flow too fast for the river to drain properly, and the growth of invasive buffel grass in the corridors. Unlike native plants, these weeds choke out the bases of old native river marshes, thwarting their ability to serve as a front-line defense against deadly fires, and making it harder for water to move that way. Goes as it should.

“We really want to be able to shine a light on the water systems within the city to really show how beautiful it can be and how it used to be,” Mr. Renehan said, adding that the city can be seen when the river flows. How it breathes is why it requires time, resources and constant investment.

“As everyone comes together to see the river, all the negativity around the city goes away.”

There has been considerable negativity for the city recently, with the location being characterized by the national media and politicians as a center of youth crime. This week, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory declared a state of emergency for Alice Springs, ordered a youth curfew and – along with other officials – called on the federal government to send the Australian Federal Police to help ensure security.

Talk of political disaster and a “siege of the city” was in stark contrast to the sentiments provoked by Todd.

Mr Renehan was blunt: He said the story needed to change. He wants the government to redirect the energy spent on law and order towards the protection, preservation and revitalization of the very thing that makes the city tick.

Aboriginal people, he said, learn through observation – “feeling and seeing”, not from the government’s “slap in the face” approach to ever-larger buildings and highly built-up environments.

“We think we’re making progress, but then they go and do something like change the height restrictions,” he said. “It is a never-ending struggle to make them understand the importance of the river,” he said.

Now here are our stories of the week.

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