Water quality reports from the Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers program show zone one, which runs from Launceston to Legana, has the water quality.

While a small improvement was noted in the last water quality report, residents and business owners have raised concerns about the impact of Launceston's combined sewerage system on effluent levels in the estuary, and sediment build up.

To gauge where Launceston's elected members sit on the issue, The Examiner asked all Launceston councillors the same three questions about the health of the estuary:

Q1: The challenges affecting the estuary include both water quality, and sediment management and the TEMT is undertaking critical work in these key areas. The work the TEMT is doing is evidence-based and has already resulted in significant improvement in water quality.

Q2: There is more work to be done. Achieving a healthy estuary is a process that will take years. However, among all the various proposals that have been floated over the years to improve the health of the estuary, it's my considered opinion that the TEMT offers us the best pathway to success."

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Q3: I support the Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce because it is an intergenerational opportunity for the estuary. The catchment for the kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary encompasses more than 10,000 square kilometres of Tasmania and includes five major river systems across nine separate municipalities, which is why no single authority has been able to affect significant change.

Around 90 per cent of the entire catchment for the Tamar River Estuary is outside the control of the City of Launceston, and the majority of pathogens which enter the estuary do so from outside the Launceston municipal area.

READ MORE: How the Tamar became polluted and what is being done to fix it

Q1: Yes, but that's a hard question to answer because it could appear that not enough work is happening when that's not the case. What we are seeing is that over the years we have turned our city to face the estuary, and while good things are happening, particularly with regard to water quality, learning to love the mud is not acceptable. We want to be able to head to the water and use it, but we can't at the moment.

Q2: I am aware that there's a report going to be released regarding sediment management soon, which will show us the options. But clearly, we need to look at it because it's unfair to have boats that can't moor at the Seaport due to the sediment build-up.

Q3: I would like like to see TEMT to invite the Premier to play a more active role. It makes sense for the Premier to take a leadership role considering the estuary's significance as a community asset.

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Q1: Of course, the estuary requires action; that's why the task force was established. Although the response has been a little slow, the work is robust. Work happening in our upper catchment and on addressing our combined system will make a monumental difference to river health.

Q2: I trust scientists and await their report. We know raking is not the answer. Sediment management will come down to considering a range of options and the costs of each. I am committed to waiting for the report before making further comment.

Q3: we have a task force, backed by scientific panels, with the people and organisations around the table committed, informed and working together like never before. I am willing to support their work at this time.

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Q1: In the past, we have seen funds misspent on the kanamaluka/Tamar estuary due to knee jerk reactions. I am on the view that we should wait on outstanding research projects which will inform TEMT on the best next steps to improve water quality and flow.

Q2: I have not seen an evidence-based report which recommends raking. It is a short term/narrow-focused attempt at silt reduction, which creates poorer water quality. TEMT will soon report on other sediment management options.

Q3: If there are governance, knowledge or agency gaps on TEMT, the membership could be broadened, but another new authority would waste valuable time and resources.

READ MORE: What scientists say about the health of the Tamar River

Q1: Absolutely the Tamar needs intervention, we have created this problem over many years. The Tamar is polluted, it's ugly and is fast becoming unusable.

Q2: Yes, I do support a solution to sediment build-up. This has been a long time problem, and I can't see a quick fix. I do not want to leave the Tamar in a worse position than when I found it (becoming a councillor), and the future of the Tamar starts here. We should be making sure our children aren't dealing with issues greater than we are. I'm confident that with the serious investment we can clean the Tamar up and make it much more usable, we need to make sure that we can then maintain it. As a long term solution, I support the proposal of Tamar Lake.

Q3: Yes, I do support the independent authority TEMT that is responsible for all aspects of the Tamar. It needs to be better funded with clear objectives, the ability to make its own decision but also be held accountable for them. We need action, and we don't need any more consultation or reports, there have been many of those done already. The silt raking trial didn't work; let's find something that will and won't waste time.

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Q1: That is a two-edged sword. It does need intervention, but we need to be well informed before we make any changes to the estuary. What we are doing through TEMT is to look at those options.

Q2: Yes. My sense is if the mud was below the waterline, then people would not be worried. The only way we have been able to manage sediment management in the past is raking and dredging, which have been proven not to work. Both of those potential solutions have issues. Raking has been shown to cause environmental harm. But my question is can we do raking in the short term while we wait for a long term solution, but it seems like the answer to that is no.

Q3: I think that all the people are in the room who are involved on the existing board of TEMT. We are just best to let it do its job, and then we will decide what the best course of action is. I am not sure an independent authority would do any more than what is being done. Let's see what TEMT come up with and go from there.

READ MORE: 'We refuse to learn to love Tamar River's mud'

Q1: Yes. Partly in regard to water quality, in which there has been a recent improvement.

Q2: I do support sediment management. It's important to note the topography of the river; it's a tidal estuary. Bringing in sediment is a natural function of the estuary, and it's the same for any other tidal estuaries in Tasmania - like the Don River or the Duck River. So what we need is to understand what the normal function is. It will never look like a clean river stream.

Q3: Yes. I do. What ends up in the Tamar isn't caused only by what happens in Launceston. We are dependent on what happens 100 kilometres down the river. But an independent authority that has real power to act could get the approvals needed to help manage things like sediment management and other projects.

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Q1: When I was elected to the council, there were two main issues I wanted to address - the first was the traffic congestion at Invermay and the second was the Tamar estuary. The main problem is with the combined system.

Q2: People out there keep saying that want us to love the mud, but that's crap. What I think we should do is to buy a dredge, at least for the short term. Raking didn't work, but dredging could. It baffles me that the water at Corra Linn is beautiful and clear, but the Tamar is unusable.

Q3: One of the issues is that we've been going around and around in circles, but we haven't got anywhere. But what will a new authority prove? At the moment there are people doing testing and working on a range of solutions and their report is due soon.

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Q1: Yes. The reasons are obvious.

Q2: I support a solution. But why restrict the solution to Launceston, because the problem is not just related to the Launceston area. The problem is that there are so many solutions, it's a matter of trying to decipher what is the best solution and where do you take it.

Q3: I thought we already had an authority. This is not a new proposition. But why would we start another one when we already have one in place. It would be interesting to see if another authority could come up with a solution and what they'd advocate for.

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Q1: The short answer is yes, but first we must utilise scientific based research to understand what has happened to the estuary over the past 220 years, identify the reasons why we have done that and then understand what can be done to address the problems facing the Tamar.

I firmly believe that there are two different issues to be addressed, one is water quality and the second is the "look of the estuary" with the increase in the spread of the rice grasses and increase in silt in the upper reaches of the Tamar Estuary.

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Q2: Yes, but to me the water quality issue needs to be addressed first as it's no good having a picturesque river that you can't use because of the poor water quality.

The increase in sediment in the Tamar yacht basin is the result of many changes within the river delta including erosion, land reclamation, stopping dredging and many other things that we have done in the past 220 years, often for relatively short term benefit.

We need to understand the research and then explain the fully costed options available for all the sediment management scenarios to the residents of Northern Tasmania so that we all can all try to agree on a plan of action that is both technically and financially achievable.

This is not just a problem for Launceston City Councillor ratepayers but one for all Northern Tasmanians and the costs will need to be shared across all three levels of Government.

READ MORE: Expert explains: the problem with raking the Tamar's mud

Q3: I don't think we need more inquiries, we have plenty of reports and scientific data telling us what the issues are and we are currently implementing many things to improve the water quality issues such as the farm fencing, stopping sewerage being directed into the stormwater pipes and some other work that will make major improvements to the water quality issue. However this work will not totally resolve all of the water quality issues as the smaller improvements in water quality comes at much greater cost, so people need to have realistic expectations of what can be achieved in a cost effective manner.

With regards to the silt management issue, the correct body to oversee the implementation of the solution will depend entirely on the solution that we all decide upon. For example dredging of the silt could be done by a State Government GBE that works state-wide dredging in other estuaries such as the sandbar in Georges Bay at St Helens etc. whereas a barrage or a Tamar Lake proposal would need a very different system of governance and operation.

Q1: It needs restoration, but I am not sure we'd say intervention. We should be aiming to bring it back to its natural state. It's never going to be pristine, but we can try to get it back as natural as we can.

Q2: If it is restored, we'd be aiming to get it somewhat to what it was 200 years ago. That's not to say there was no sedimentation, but there was less. There is no estuarine system in the world that has no sediment. If we want a solution to that, we need to find an answer to where the sediment comes from and where do we put it.

Q3: How would you plan to have truly independent authority, and what does that even mean? TEMT has members from all levels of government and other stakeholders, and they have done substantial work. The river goes from St Mary's to Low Head, so it's such a big system. So how would another authority be different from TEMT? I would say that the Launceston council does need to show more leadership on this issue.

READ MORE: 'Unique and really important': The significance of the Tamar's ecosystem

Did not provide comment on any of the questions before deadline.