Big soak all good

AS creeks and upper reaches of the Tweed River were flushed out, the pontoon in Murwillumbah blocked some of the debris. d126502

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Flooding around the Tweed

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TWEED’S sports fields, farms, parks, creeks and rivers all look set to benefit from the current soaking.

Murwillumbah district grazier Col Brooks is among Tweed’s farmers who are smiling thanks to the rain.

The return to a wet February has given a lift to parched pastures and the steady soaking has reinvigorated the cane crop.

“It’s definitely given a kick along to the grass,” said Mr Brooks, who is chairman of the Combined Tweed Rural Industries Association.

“It was at a virtual standstill again when we had that dry period. With a bit of luck it will give people a reasonable body of feed to go in towards the winter.”

Mr Brooks said the region’s cane crop had also “needed a good drink” although it was uncertain how the current soybean crop would handle the soaking.

“But there have been more pluses than minuses,” he said.

“The creeks are certainly in need of a good wash-out. Hopping Dick Creek at Chillingham had virtually stopped running.”

Tweed conservationist Jim Warburton was in full agreement.

“It rained a lot at Chillingham and that’s flushing out the Rous River,” he said.

“We need that flushing because it’s important for the downstream ecosystems.”

Sports people saw the rain as both a long-term blessing and a short-term inconvenience, which last weekend limited a number of games.

Murwillumbah Cricket Club spokesman Keith Wyatt said games next weekend were in doubt because Tweed Shire Council needs eight hours a week to properly prepare wickets.

“It will in the long term do good,” he said.

A council spokesman said the rain had been great for the fields, which were suffering from the dry period. “Three dry days and the fields should be playable again,” he added.