THE Tamar Yacht Club has called for E. coli testing to be increased in the upper reaches of the river to enable them to recommence sailing in the area.
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Yacht Club commodore Bill Griffiths said the huge fluctuations of E.coli levels in the river meant it was unsafe to have people – particularly children – at risk of being sprayed with water.
‘‘That section of the river barely ever sees a sail ... because of the concerns about the health of the river and the pollution which it carries,’’ he said. ‘‘We’d love to see once again sails being visible from the post office.’’
Mr Griffiths called for testing of E.coli levels to be carried out every day or every few days, rather than monthly testing.
He said E. coli readings showed that levels could fluctuate from safe to extremely unsafe levels in a matter of days, depending on factors such as increased rain.
‘‘It seems to me that we need to bite the bullet and say to get some benefit of recreational use in the Tamar we need to have a reading every day or two,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s not much point taking one reading a month when [the level of E.coli per 100ml] is 10 when two days later it’s 5500.
‘‘Without it we can’t run the risk of having children learning to sail and getting spray in their face.’’
The Launceston City Council takes readings of the E.coli levels from a public health perspective during summer, but does not monitor the waterways during the winter months.
Launceston City Council general manager Robert Dobrzynski said the council was working with other organisations such as Taswater, NRM North and the Environmental Protection Agency to find solutions, but that there were challenges.
‘‘The council has secured $500,000 in funding from the Federal Government to work with Taswater to resolve the issue of sewerage contamination in the upper Tamar estuary during stormwater events,’’ he said.
‘‘The South Esk River is the longest river in Tasmania and, in its lower reaches, covers three separate municipalities.
‘‘It’s also the largest river catchment in the state, and comprises nearly 15 per cent of Tasmania’s land mass.’’
■Bill Griffiths was re-elected to the position of Commodore of the Tamar Yacht Club in July. Peter Newman was elected as Rear Commodore, Janette Elmore as Treasurer and Mitch Ranson and Jim Rogers as general committee members.
