Wednesday, 20 September 2006
“If Traveston Dam is the answer, what was the question?” Stuart White
The Queensland Government has announced the construction of a Dam on the Mary River, South of Gympie in South East Queensland. If constructed, the dam is projected to displace 900 landowners, inundate prime agricultural land, and flood the Bruce Highway, forcing the proposed upgrade to go through Cooran and further displace residents and prime agricultural land.
The negative environmental and economic impacts for the Mary River catchment and downstream receiving waters in the Great Sandy World Heritage Area are significant and unacceptable. Large scale water infrastructure will not only permanently affect the Mary River catchment but will degrade the fisheries of the Great Sandy World Heritage Area.
If you want information about Traveston Crossing, the location of the proposed Mary River Dam, joining their campaign etc click here
SCEC’S Position on the Damming of the Mary River
The Mary River is located in the Sunshine Coast region of Southeast Queensland. Running for 310 km the River begins near Maleny and goes into the Great Sandy Straight west of Fraser Island, passing through Gympie, Maryborough and the popular camping town Conondale along the way. On it’s journey it goes through the shires of Caboolture, Caloundra, Kilcoy, Maroochy, Noosa, Cooloola, Kilkivan, Woocoo, Tiaro, Maryborough, Biggenden and Hervey Bay.
The Mary River is home to the endemic Mary River Cod, which is endangered, and the endemic and vulnerable Mary River Tortoise. It is also the home to several other endangered, threatened and vulnerable species including the Australian lungfish (often said to be the missing link between humans and fish), the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly, three species of frogs, and Coxen’s Fig Parrot.
The Mary River is an icon of the tourism and recreational fishing industries. Tourism related industries are an important mainstay of the regional economy with over 200 000 visitors annually to Fraser island and overnight visitor expenditure in the Hervey Bay/Maryborough Region totaling $366 million dollars (DNRM 2003). Approximately one third of the of the residents of the Great Sandy region are recreational fishers and 100 000 non-residents fish the region annually , possibly contributing up to $100 million to the regional economy (DNRM 2003).
Unfortunately, the Queensland Government is proposing damming and weiring of this river. The Government feels that doing this will assist the water supply for the rest of SEQ including the city of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. However dams are dependent on water, and there is a current trend of decreasing and not increasing or constant rainfall, making the dams expensive and unreliable. In addition, damming of the Mary would have huge negative impacts on the health of the river. Dams often cause entire towns to be whipped out,e.g. Traveston. One of the proposed damns would completely flood the town of Conondale. Placing dams on the Mary would decrease the water temperature which would have a negative impact on the fish that have evolved there.
Fraser Island and the Great Sandy World Heritage Area are recognised as a premier Southeast Queensland tourist destination and one of the best recreational fishing destinations on the Australian east coast. Tourism related industries are an important mainstay of the regional economy with over 200 000 visitors annually to Fraser island and overnight visitor expenditure in the Hervey Bay/Maryborough Region totaling $366 million dollars (DNRM 2003).
Southeast Queenslanders also recognise the significance of the Great Sandy World Heritage Area and many have a strong affinity with the recreational and tourism opportunities the region offers. Approximately one third of the residents of the Great Sandy region are recreational fishers and 100 000 non-residents fish the region annually, possibly contributing up to $100 million to the regional economy (DNRM 2003).
At present a weir has been proposed at Coles Crossing near Noosa though the water from this weir would primarily go to Gympie. In the early nineties several sites for Dams were looked at along the Mary River, but public opposition forced these plans to be scrapped. But with a water shortage in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the formation of a Water Commission, plans to Dam the Mary are back on the Governments agenda. The idea is to create a mega storage to take water from the Mary to go to the greater Brisbane and Gold Coast.
The areas that are preferred by the Government are at Kidaman (on the Obi Obi), Cambroon and Traverston. Proposed sizes of the Dams vary from 200 000 megalitres to a 666 000 megalitre proposal at Traverston. To put this in perspective, this is larger than the Wivenhoe dam.
The negative environmental and economic impacts for the Mary River catchment and downstream receiving waters in the Great Sandy World Heritage Area are significant and unacceptable. Large scale water infrastructure will not only permanently affect the Mary River catchment but will degrade the fisheries of the Great Sandy World Heritage Area.
The Technical Advisory Panel Report (set up by the the Government’s own department of Natural resources and Mines) on Environmental Flows in the Mary Basin – the best available science currently available – states
“A reduction in fisheries productivity is implied by the reductions in total flow volumes and high volumes in Scenario Case R.” (Scenario Case R is new large scale water infrastructure).
Permanent reduction in fisheries productivity will have serious implications on fishing and tourism industries in the Great Sandy region.
There will also be significant impacts on aquatic and terrestrial animals that live along the Mary River. Reduced flows affect the Mary River Cod and Lungfish Spawning areas, and the site at Traverston will destroy key primary habitat of the Mary River Cod, the Mary River Tortoise and the Australian Lungfish.
There are viable alternatives to provide water for South East Queensland that will be much more environmentally sound and more acceptable to the people of Southeast Queensland and the tourism sector in the Great Sandy Region:
Require the installation of rainwater tanks and water efficient appliances on all possible dwellings in the Sunshine Coast, Wide Bay Burnett and Mary River regions.
Develop alternative supplies such as water recycling to meet future water needs of industrial, urban and rural sectors. (Water recycling must occur within a new regulatory framework.)
Utilise the estimated 50% of unused water allocations in the Mary River Basin to meet water demand. This can occur through water trading and other mechanisms.
Let’s not turn the Mary into another Murray-Darling!
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON SCEC’S SUBMISSION ON THE MARY BASIN WATER RESOURCE PLAN
Review of Water Supply-Demand Options for South East Queensland
Traveston Dam EPBC Submission
Submission To The Senate Inquiry Into The Traveston Dam and Future Water Supplies for Southeast Queenland
SCEC Traveston Dam Senate Enquiry Submission
ABC story on proposed dam/valley/lungfish
ABC radio national broadcast. Traveston Crossing Dam proposal and the Queensland Lungfish.
For anyone who missed the half hour documentary aired recently, you can follow the link below to hear it or download.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/radioeye/