The energy enterprise last week agreed to the release as part of a three-day trial to begin this week, co-ordinated with the Launceston Flood Authority's silt raking operations and strong tide events.

The trial will contribute to a cost-benefit analysis of different options for further clearing the estuary of silt.

Launceston City Council in 2009 commissioned engineering firm GHD to review silt management practices of the estuary.

It found there were 17 options available to manage the ongoing siltation, including a freshwater barrage, raking, dredging, changed operations to the Trevallyn Dam and North Esk River diversion.

To date, the most cost-effective and successful solution has been silt raking.

Home Reach has a siltation average rate of 30,000 cubic metres per year.

A highly successful raking program in 2013 removed 246,000 cubic metres of sediment from the Tamar's upper reaches, with the heap of winter floods.

Just 100,000 cubic metres were removed the following winter with raking occurring over a much drier period.

The upper Tamar was dredged frequently when shipping formed a vital part of Launceston's industry and development.

When the North's main port was moved to Bell Bay, dredging became less of a priority and the estuary slipped into years of silt-choked neglect.

While raking is not the sole solution to the problem, it has proved to be a good start.

It has also allowed for optimism in what many have seen as an expensive and unsolvable problem, and encouraged residents to explore the estuary's potential.

While we will have to wait for the results of this one-off trial, it remains important that the Tamar is flushed when needed and when it cannot rely on cleansing from winter floods.

The state of the Tamar River and the myriad proposed solutions will always bring about differences and debate.

But Hydro's decision to release more water should be accepted as a good move towards a cleaner and more attractive estuary.