SOUTH ESK PLAN NEEDS CHANGE

Llewellyn Duds Environment – Again

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Bartlett Government to stop compromising the environment and lift the proposed cease to take level in the South Esk River from the existing 40 Mega Litres Per Day ML/day to a minimum of 120 ML/day in line with the recommendations in the Draft South Esk River Catchment Water Management Plan 2009.

Greens Water spokesperson Tim Morris MP, who raised the issue during GBE committee hearings today, said that unless the level at which no irrigation water will be allowed to be pumped for irrigation from the South Esk River is raised from the existing 40 ML/ day to at least 120 ML/ day, no proposal to develop any further irrigation schemes or proposals will have any credibility whatsoever.

“The Minister for Water, Mr Llewellyn has put out a draft plan for the South Esk that proposes to continue to compromise the river environment by allowing irrigators to keep pumping until the flow has been reduced to 40 ML/day despite a recommendation in the very same plan that it should be between 100 and 160 ML/ day,” Mr Morris said.

“Minister Llewellyn will further damage what little credibility he may have left if he allows the environmental flows to be entirely subservient to irrigators who will not put storage dams in to store winter water.”

“There can be no doubt from the draft Water Management Plan for the South Esk that the river is severely over allocated for direct summer take water and this plan must set in a system that transfers existing rights to take water into rights for winter take only.”

“It is in everyone’s interest to make sure that the South Esk River has sufficient flow in order to try to minimise the risk of events like the blue-green algae outbreaks that have occurred in recent summers in Lake Trevallyn and it is highly probable that the existing low cease to take point has been a significant contributing factor to these outbreaks.” Mr Morris said.
Tim Morris MP Greens Water spokesperson