The long-awaited Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce report will be publicly released today, outlining a series of proposed revegetation and infrastructure projects stretching from Kings Wharf to the North Esk, including a floating wetland concept at the Seaport marina.

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The ideas were based on a 280-page peer-reviewed scientific report from the Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers program, which analysed decades' worth of studies into the estuary, along with technical, environmental and cost-analysis of nine options.

TEMT - a policy advisory body combining government, councils, EPA, TasWater, NRM North, Flood Authority and business groups - then used the report to combine with community expectations to develop the draft vision.

Re-establishing wetlands on publicly-owned shores facing the upper Tamar could cost $10 million, plus an estimated $4 million for associated infrastructure for public walkways connecting the areas.

The vision does not involve removing sedimentation - other than through the state government's "targeted" dredging program over two years - with TEMT concluding there was "no easy solution to the management of sediment".

"Instead, we need to find a way to work with nature that benefits the community, business and the environment," the report reads.

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"Taking all of this into account, and drawing on the principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management, we have identified a combination of new and innovative approaches that aim to make the estuary a place that brings alive the heart of Launceston and the broader region in the medium to long-term."

Department of State Growth deputy secretary Gary Swain said accelerated wetland rehabilitation, combined with regulatory measures to reduce the creation of levees on private land and stop in-filling of wetland, would improve North Esk flows and partially reduce unnecessary siltation build-up.

But he said the scientific evidence showed that siltation was an important part of the Tamar tidal estuary.

"It's been a problem for 130 years so it's unlikely that any group looking at it for a few months is going to come up with the solution," Mr Swain said.

"We're not using the word 'solution', we're talking about actions that can improve the amenity, aesthetic values and recreational access of the river.

"A 'solution' also implies that we've got a 'problem', and I think the TEER scientific work says that what we're dealing with is natural processes. So we're also trying to come up with solutions which aren't fighting against nature. The accelerated revegetation element of that, arts and creative precinct concept, trying to work with the natural processes not fight them."

The TEMT report details a way of extending the city's recreational precinct beyond the Silos and Riverbend Park and along to Kings Wharf, where a "cultural hub" with cafes could be established at the end of public walkways through wetlands.

Mr Swain said the walkway could provide opportunities for public art installations.

At the Seaport marina, TEMT has developed an idea similar to one outlined by developer Errol Stewart in which the marina would be pushed further out into the river to avoid boats becoming stuck in mud at low tide.

The TEMT draft vision includes boardwalks over the site of the current marina, with the establishment of wetland interspersed. The department plans to consult with nearby property owners.

Chair of the TEER scientific and technical committee, Dr Rebecca Kelly, said the wetlands and subsequent improved river health would help attract birdlife and, in turn, give central Launceston a point of difference to other cities.

"The Tamar estuary is a key biodiversity area all the way into Launceston and the North Esk," she said.

"It's not the end of the estuary, which is internationally recognised and is really beautiful, it's this muddy bit that actually is internationally recognised as having these environmental values.

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"From a tourism perspective, if you start getting migratory birds and rare species, and [bird watchers] turn up to look at them while they're sitting there sipping their lattes at the Seaport, those are things that start to generate interest and understanding and economic value.

"People travel from all over the world to see these things."

Dr Kelly said it was incorrect to assume the build-up of mud would continue to "get worse".

"One thing we did evaluate very carefully is: where are we now, and where are we likely to go? And the answer is: we're pretty much where we're going to get," she said.

Public comment will open in August with TEMT planning to have "consultation summaries" complete by October, before providing advice to the government by Christmas.

Should the vision receive support, TEMT would recommend that it be adopted by the government.

Mr Swain said funding streams would then be investigated with council, state and federal governments involved.

"The thinking here is that we would seek to leverage off the City Deal process," he said.

"There's a discussion starting about how the City Deal might be extended, and we are imagining this as a set of activities that could be an extension to the City Deal."

The TEER report included cost analysis of a range of other options that have been suggested in recent years, finding that a Tamar freshwater lake would cost about $500 million, while a canal could be at least $250 million - both in excess of the cost of the Bridgewater Bridge replacement.

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Dr Kelly said cost was just one barrier to these ideas.

"The permitting environment these days, what you could do 60 years ago and what you can do now are two totally different things. What was acceptable back then isn't acceptable now from a permitting and legislation perspective," she said.

"If people want better access to the foreshore and they want it to look nice, and they want to feel proud, and have their bikes and be down there, this sort of solution actually does all of those things and enhances the environmental values, whereas some of the other options don't."

Dr Kelly said that modelling showed the mud flats did not increase flood risk, and that wetlands would be a mitigating measure.

"Essentially [that's] because big floods induce massive scour. So the 2016 flood took out 170,000 cubic metres of sediment just in that little section around Launceston," she said.

"A massive flood punches a huge hole straight through that sediment, you're not putting that water on top of the existing sediment because it's a freight train that just took it out."

The TEMT report was originally planned to be released in early 2021, but was delayed due to the calling of an early election.

Mr Swain said it could not be released during the campaign because "there was no government to take the work to".

During the campaign, Premier Peter Gutwein announced a plan for a "targeted" dredging program to provide a rowing club, yacht club and marina access to the main channel, given limitations due to increased siltation.

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This policy is noted in the TEMT report, while Mr Swain said the department was "working on the best version of the dredging commitment that we can", which was their first priority post-election.

"If we can come up with a version that those users support .. then we'd need to properly monitor really what happens through that dredging period," he said.

"And also ask ourselves what other solutions you might bring into play on an ongoing basis.

"While you're doing that short-term dredging, you'll be monitoring how quickly any channel you create to the main channel ... does or doesn't fill up and getting some proper data on that.

"We want to do it really so we get a more objective set of facts around a really specific bit of dredging activity that can then form other options."

Mr Gutwein said the government was committed to a "balance" between the Tamar's natural values and maintaining "its functions as a working river".

"We established the TEMT to get input from stakeholders within the entire catchment and we committed during the first 100 days of government to consult with TEMT to determine the most appropriate governance model to tackle the challenges of managing this critical waterway," he said.

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