In simply brilliant news, Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has canned the stupid dam on the Mary River that was planned by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh.
I have a great affinity with this river, given that as kids a mate and I always paddled down it from near Kenilworth to Gympie (and beyond) each Easter.
The dam was to be built at a location called Traveston Crossing, and had some serious envirnmental consequences that would have come about had it been built. A biggie was that it would have drowned an area frequented by the lungfish - an endangered species virtually unchanged for millions of years that populates just the Mary and Burnett Rivers (although it has also been artificially spread to a few other SEQ rivers). When paddling down the river we would often sail over the top of these monsters, and could clearly see them cruising just about the reed beds. We were young and didn't know anything about them back then - originally thinking they were really huge eels! Anna Bligh was hanging everything on being able to spend some $24M to build a fish ladder for them. Clearly Garrett called shenanigans on that piece of tripe.
Showing posts with label Mary River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary River. Show all posts
12 November 2009
1 November 2009
Traveston dam is a travesty - and unnecessary
Anna Bligh's grand plan of a dam on the Mary River at Traveston Crossing near Gympie is now in the lap of Peter Garrett. This is a dumb dam plan in a dumb location that would produce a massively wide yet shallow dam with extraordinary evaporation losses. It will also emperil the already endangered prehistoric lungfish that live in those reaches of the river.
The fact is that there are viable alternatives to building more dams. And the Queensland Government knows it.
In 1999, the Department of Natural Resources advised the Caloundra-Maroochy Water and Wastewater Steering Committee (on which as a Councillor I was the Maroochy Council's delegate) that their research had shown that, despite facing runaway population growth, use of wastewater recycling would allow Queensland to cope with all the projected population growth without needing to build any more dams.
That's right - no more dams at all.
The fact is that there are viable alternatives to building more dams. And the Queensland Government knows it.
In 1999, the Department of Natural Resources advised the Caloundra-Maroochy Water and Wastewater Steering Committee (on which as a Councillor I was the Maroochy Council's delegate) that their research had shown that, despite facing runaway population growth, use of wastewater recycling would allow Queensland to cope with all the projected population growth without needing to build any more dams.
That's right - no more dams at all.
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