THE Tasmanian Greens will fight for $11.5 million to be provided to TasWater over the next four years to start a separation of the city's combined sewerage and stormwater system and upgrade the Ti-Tree Bend waste water plant.
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Greens Bass MHA Kim Booth said the system overhaul and plant upgrade would finally stop sewage pollution of the Tamar River and restore Launceston's river city status.
Stormwater carrying diluted raw sewage is known to enter the estuary when the city's aged combined system becomes overloaded during heavy rainfall events.
Mr Booth said the $11.5 million would be used to add a sewerage line in suburbs where premises had dual sewerage and stormwater systems that fed into the combined system.
The additional line would mean that the combined system would be used exclusively for stormwater discharge.
Mr Booth said digging up the combined systems on premises in central Launceston, South Launceston, West Launceston, and Invermay was more of a task and would need significant investment down the track.
The Greens will task TasWater to fund a design of a new water treatment plant at Ti-Tree Bend from the $11.5 million and push the corporation to construct a timeline to cease all discharges in the North Esk River.
The party will request Hydro Tasmania increase environmental flows through the Cataract Gorge to flush out river bacteria and lower silt levels.