My suggestion is get over it. The white sandy beaches have re-formed albeit narrower and I wonder if the particularly wide expanses occurred when the water level was low. I'd expect a lot worse in physical dimensions; for example deliberate sea flooding of Lake Alexandrina in the lower Murray. The biggest travesties may be going unnoticed by the public. Doubling of atmospheric CO2, squandering of vital fuels and the depletion of phosphate for agriculture don't make postcard pictures but will affect billions. When these insidious processes come to a climax people won't give a damn about dams.

Taswegian

You obviously did not see the beach which was there. Otherwise, you make a good point about more widespread environmental damage.

But, you missed my point. This article was about the spirituality we loose when we change the face of the Earth in the pursuit of "progress".

Brian it's only spirituality if you want to see it that - not everyone does. Politicians are only reflecting what the wishes of their constituents are, so to call them names as you do is focussing your response sure, but you need to see things in a bigger context.

"They would have seen all living things as their fellow travelers through life" are these the same people who bestowe such terrible demostic violence on their own, stars in your eyes, you can't see the reality of the world around you.

These are resources, they should be used as such, we have national parks, we do lock up some assetts, but why should we lock up everything because someone had a pleasant holiday at some place, if we did, we'd never get anything done. Find somewhere else, travel and experience other places, life goes on mate.

Thanks for your insightful article Brian.

It is clear from other posters that the 'nature as resource' paradigm is still alive and well.

Thanks Brian.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. and get screwed by those know they'll forget.

While I am generally sympathetic to Brian's feelings, I also think he is ridiculously over-romanticising, and resorting to specious arguments.

"The surface is choppy"

I seriously doubt that this is just due to the dam. Surely, if it's windy, the surface will be choppy, regardless of whether the water is one metre or fifteen metres deep. This argument seems to hark back to the old superstition (as shown in, say, Macbeth) that when things are wrong in the state of human affairs, then nature is similarly afflicted.

"Where I was at was exactly as it was a millennium ago when a group of laughing and chatting Aborigines would have sat on the sand. They would have been intensely aware of nature’s moods. They would have felt part of the earth, the air and the water. They would have seen all living things as their fellow travelers through life."

I found this entire paragraph to be ridiculously romantic and idealised. Contrary to this Noble Savage view, surely it could well have been a group of scowling, squabbling Aborigines, and it would still be irrelevant to the issue.

I also seriously doubt the assertion that Aborigines "would have seen all living things as their fellow travelers through life". They would have seen some living things as beautiful, some as spiritual, some as irrelevant and many as simpy edible.