A recent report into the health of 18 estuaries from Miriam Vale to Rainbow Beach* provides even more compelling evidence to scrap the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam in south-east Queensland.
The detailed study conducted by the Burnett Mary Regional Group in collaboration with the Qld EPA examined data collected over two years to come up with its report card . While some of the smaller creeks receive A ratings, the two largest rivers - the Burnett and the Mary, are rated as D- (extreme estuary health risk) and C+ (moderate estuary health risk) respectively.
Save the Mary River President Glenda Pickersgill said that comparing the Burnett and the Mary rivers provided a valuable insight into the highly likely impact of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.
“In the Burnett and its tributaries there are more than 30 dams and weirs, the most recent being the controversial Paradise Dam near Biggenden. This report cuts the speculation and allows us to see the end result of such impoundments on the estuary.”
"While the Traveston Environmental Impact Study claims that downstream impacts would be minimal, this report, by examining the track record for the heavily impounded Burnett, clearly finds otherwise.
"The cumulative effects of how we treat or overuse a river show up in its estuary and it’s to be hoped the government will heed this warning,” Ms Pickersgill said.
Chairman of the Greater Mary Association, Darryl Stewart, said that one of the recommendations for ongoing management of the Mary estuary is to ensure it “has an adequate environmental flow allocation".
"The Mary Basin Water Resource Plan that the Queensland Government rely so heavily on in their justification for the proposed dam does not consider environmental flow to the estuary. In fact if the dam does go ahead, based on the Government's own figures, flows to the estuary could stop for more than six months. And this would be operating in accordance with the Water Resource Plan. It is just totally irresponsible!"
"The Mary estuary should not be viewed in isolation, its waters intermingle with and nourish the internationally recognised Ramsar wetlands, the Great Sandy Strait and the World Heritage listed marine environment of Fraser Island.”
There is a petition from dam opponents going to federal parliament calling for an independent assessment of the impacts of proposed Traveston Crossing Dam on the estuary.
"The government has a chance to learn from the Burnett. They’ve always been gung-ho in their assertion that a dam at Traveston Crossing would have minimal downstream impacts. Gathering this data from the Burnett should put an end to that," said Mr Stewart.
"The real question, though, is whether the Premier (Anna Bligh) and her Sustainability Minister are listening."
*Miriam Vale is c. 70 kms south of Gladstone, Rainbow Beach c. 90 kms north of Noosa Heads.
Contacts for media:
Glenda Pickersgill 0411 443 589, Darryl Stewart 0418 771 655, David Kruetz 0432 683 147
Website: www.savethemaryriver.com
The full estuary report can be found at http://www.bmrg.org.au/information.php/2/106/350
The report describes other promising attributes from the future of the Mary estuary, the fact that its estuarine riparian zone is largely intact and that a considerable proportion of the river's catchment is classified as "conservation and natural environments".