Centuries old gold mining techniques and land clearing has been found to be choking up a key part of the Murray River.

Since the 1980s capacity at the Barmah Choke has diminished by about 20 percent.

A survey of a 28 kilometer stretch of Australia’s longest river found sand sediment has been building up at the choke, totaling more than 3 million tonnes.

Rural editor Eddie Summerfield caught up with MDBA Executive Director River Management Andrew Reynolds:

Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria

Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria.

Listen to the full interview above, and Subscribe to the National Rural News podcast: http://bit.ly/RuralNewsPodcast

Download this podcast here