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1) What are the key learnings this week for you?

2) What surprised you?

3) What environmental health story/news in this week caught your interest?

4) Reflections and tips on doing the peer-led forum discussions? (As co-moderator/participant)

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1)
- Where we live matters
- Our SES matters
- Local residents are required to make changes to the local food environment, residents needed to feel interventions are for them
- Food deserts - America have food shortages where people do not have access to food
- Entire SES, political impact on syndemic framework, COVID-19 is more syndemic than pandemic because of disparities
- There are significantly more older obese people, it increases with age
- Exercise is the only solution to obesity that I (Ali) found within the literature for older people
- Living near FFO as an adult is more likely to make you obese

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- Murray River Algae
- Composition of birds next are changing over time, now composing of 1/3 birds next include man made debris

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Greg Milner remembers when you could drink water straight from the Murray River.

Key points:

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority will soon begin a study looking at water quality in the Murray River over the past decade

Irymple farmer Greg Milner hopes the study focuses on blue-green algae, which he says is getting worse in the central and lower Murray

Exposure to the algae can cause serious illness

Now, the fourth-generation grape farmer says some months of the year you wouldn't even wash your hands in it.

One of Mr Milner's biggest concerns for the river at his home near Mildura is the growing prevalence of blue-green algae.

High level alerts for algae were in place for large portions of the most recent summer and autumn, warning against any recreational use of the river.

Exposure to the algae, technically known as cyanobacteria, can cause nausea, diarrhoea, and allergic reactions.

A link with motor neuron disease is also being investigated.

"The outbreaks of blue-green algae started a number of years ago, and every year it seems to just be getting worse and worse," Mr Milner said.

"A lot of people in Sunraysia and the lower Murray also rely on this river for domestic use in their homes — for showering, cooking, washing, pretty much everything.

"So they might have to cart water in for months.

Blue-green algae warnings are not uncommon, but some residents near the Murray River say the problem is getting worse.(ABC News: Rachel Carbonell)

Water quality study announced

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) said it would soon begin a study into the quality of water in the Murray River across the past 10 years.

The MDBA last released a report on blue-green algae in 2011, finding the amount of blooms had not changed much in the river system in the previous 30 years.

An MDBA spokesperson, however, noted the algal blooms over the most recent summer and autumn were "unusual", as blooms kept occurring despite decent flows and mild temperatures.

Blue-green algae was also a major contributor to the mass fish kills in the lower Darling-Barka in 2019.

"It's sad," Mr Milner said.

"Because my grandkids can't enjoy the same level of freedom in the water system I used to enjoy."

An aerial view of the Murray River and Mildura.(ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Christopher Testa)

Damaging an asset

Mr Milner was also concerned about the "devastating" effect algae could have on tourism along the Murray River.

Maureen Croft — who leases a caravan park near Lake Cullulleraine, a lake filled from the Murray River — felt the effects firsthand last summer.

A red alert for the lake was announced on Friday before the Australia Day long weekend, taking her from fully booked to mostly empty.

"It was really bad timing," she said.

"We lost a few bookings because of the heat as well.

"People generally don't want to come if they can't use the water."

Ms Croft said when her husband was growing up in the area algae was never an issue in the popular lake.

"The year before last there was one small algae alert, but never so much of it that it would force the lake to be shut down for a few days," she said.

A significant amount of algae in the Murray River.(Supplied: Blue Green Algae team)

No simple problem

Part of the issue, Mr Milner believed, was that nobody knew what was causing more algae to appear.

A WaterNSW spokesperson said algae flourishes when temperatures increase and when nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon are available.

"Various factors have contributed to the persistent algal activity, including drying and warmer conditions," the spokesperson said.

"Rainfall following bushfires tend to deliver increased nutrients into the river.

"Historical land-use changes and increased intensity of summer storm events are leading to more available nutrients for algal growth, which is exacerbated by recent drought and bushfires in the catchment."

An aerial photo of the Pike River floodplain on the Murray River near Renmark, South Australia.(Supplied: Arron Hage)

But Mr Milner hoped there could be a more detailed look at potential causes — including farming practices and environmental watering.

"I welcome the MDBA study [into water quality], but I may be a little skeptical about the intensity," he said.

"The study needs to focus on what's causing the decline.

"I hope this study will endeavour to get to the crux of the problem, not to gloss over it or waste time.

"Because every summer, this thing is going to come back. It's not going to go away."

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‘It’s not going away’: Residents want algae addressed in new Murray River study

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Irymple farmer Greg Milner says blue-green algae has a significant effect on people’s lives along the Murray River and it’s only getting worse.

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- subscribe to your forum
- divide the days to moderate so both people can contribute equally
- allocate more time to the end of the week to moderate forums
- split topics between each moderator
- have a plan and communicate
- set up a teams meeting to discuss the week before

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- Impact of noise pollution on CVD & Endo dysfunction
- accumulation of pesticide in human tissue and they remain largely unregulated