Posted on May 30, 2016
Swansea channelAS much as they are natural wonders, the hundreds of estuaries and rivers along Australia’s east coast can become a nightmare for communities struggling to keep their entrances flowing freely.
History has shown that the longer an estuary’s mouth is allowed to silt-up the harder and more expensive it is to remedy.
There are also the flow-on effects, such as reduced tourism, resulting from the environmental damage caused by degraded water quality.
Generations of Lake Macquarie residents, like those at nearby estuaries at The Entrance and Tea Gardens, have grappled with the best way to keep Swansea channel open.
Dredging, while generally an environmentally unpopular solution, is by far the most effective way to get the water flowing again.
But it also comes at a significant financial cost to the state government.
With communities up and down the coast lining up for funding to dredge their waterways, it’s not surprising that the competition for this limited pot of money is intense.
This raises two questions: are some waterways more important than others and can more be done to keep them open once they have been dredged?
In the case of Lake Macquarie, Australia’s largest saltwater lake, $2.5 million was spent on dredging the channel in February 2015. To the dismay of many, it began shoaling up again in October.
Swansea MP Yasmin Catley, with the support of surrounding MPs, argue that the only long-term solution to the problem is to fund a permanent dredge for the channel.
They cite figures that estimate a channel dredge of 60 metres would increase visitors from outside Lake Macquarie by 150 per cent.
This, in turn, translates to an economic benefit of $3.3 to $3.7million a year.
There is not doubt that the entrance to Lake Macquarie needs to be kept flowing freely for the benefit of the wider community that depends on it.
While a permanent dredge would ensure this happens, the question is should the state government foot the entire bill for keeping the channel open?
Perhaps consideration could be given to a funding model where those who directly benefit from the having the channel open contribute to the cost of the dredge.
Source: Newcastle Herald
