Carp worries with higher Murray flows
Authorities say numbers of european carp are set to increase dramatically in the Murray because of higher flows.
The fish were first caught in the river in South Australia in 1969 and have become a major pest.
Dr Leigh Thwaites from the SA Research and Development Institute says the high flows have opened up new areas for carp to breed.
"During the drought a lot of wetlands and floodplains weren't inundated or they'd been cut off to save water, so it was sort of limiting the breeding grounds that carp could access," he said.
"But with the floods, the inundation, they're getting out onto the floodplains and into the wetlands and spawning en masse."
A Riverland environment group says new government funding will help improve flows in the Pike River, near Renmark.
More than $9 million in state and federal money will back three projects to improve the River Murray.
There will be infrastructure and environmental programs at the Pike Floodplain, Yatco Lagoon and Katfish Reach.
Phil Reddy from the Renmark to the Border Local Action Planning Group hopes the work will start soon.
"They've had a memorandum of understanding signed between the Minister for Environment and the Minister for the River [Murray]," he said.
"It's been really good in that sense that ... all of them have been committed to get a better outcome for the region and the community."