WHILE acknowledging the government's commitment of $4 million to dredging in the Tamar Yacht Basin, the Tamar Rowing Club expresses its great disappointment in the Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce press release presented to them, and the full report, now available.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The press release appears to be a glossy brochure of impractical and expensive ideas designed to cover the mud and has not addressed the key issues of siltation and flood mitigation. There has been little or no consultation with river users, in particular, The Tamar Rowing Club.
As a result, TEMT has missed out on decades of hands-on river experience.
The full report ignores the need for access to water for the Tamar Rowing Club at all times, as promised by the government when the club relocated.
The proposed dredging campaign of existing channels in the middle of the river has no connection to the rowing club pontoon.
In addition, a number of comments were made about the siltation problem, and that the level of siltation is now at its highest and will have no effect on future flooding.
This ignores the D N Foster Tamar River Siltation Study of October 1986 from the University of New South Wales Water Research Laboratory, which is very highly regarded as being an excellent report covering all aspects of the Tamar Estuary.
This report says that volumes above 36,000 cubic metres have been deposited annually, and are expected to continue to do so, and will compound the problem.
A recent observation by our senior coach has commented that previously a low tidal level of 1.2 metres would allow access to our pontoon.
Siltation level at low tide is now 1.6 metres, which indicates a mud level rise of 200mm-300mm annually.
In 2016 we had a massive flood of 2400 cumecs and this resulted in major devastation of our clubrooms requiring a complete rebuild.
The yacht basin could not handle the volume of water, although in some channels scouring occurred at that time.
Previous experience shows that even large flood flows leave the shoals and flats undisturbed.
The Foster report states that the do-nothing option (no dredging) would result in:
- Channel widths and depths will be significantly reduced.
- Further silt deposition will occur on the mud shoals.
- Recreational use and port operations of the upper reaches will be further restricted.
- Flood Levels will be increased.
Recent events confirm the accuracy of these predictions.
It is also worth noting that the mudflats dry out at low tide and silt is glued to the surface of the mudflat by interparticle forces so that the next tide will not scour that layer.
Foster comments that scouring tests on undisturbed samples taken from the intertidal zone of the mudflats showed that they are highly resistant to scour unless the surface is disturbed in some way.
An example of this disturbance would be dredging.
The following comment on siltation levels, made by respected estuarine experts Professor Jenny Davis and Dr Ian Kidd (The Examiner, July 12) needs to be noted:
"We cannot agree with the statement - mudflats and sedimentation of the upper Tamar estuary are not an environmental problem.
"Mudflats contribute substantially to the environmental values and health of the estuary.
"Although sedimentation in estuaries is a natural process the sheer volume and nature of the accumulated silt is an environmental problem.
"The concept of learning to love the mud is unacceptable."
Launceston deserves to have the Yacht Basin back to ensure the viability of the clubs and businesses that utilise the waterway and its environs.
Launceston deserves to have the Yacht Basin back to ensure the viability of the clubs and businesses that utilise the waterway and its environs.
It is also important for the continuation of such events as the Launceston Henley Regatta which is under threat as experienced at this year's regatta.
The increased siltation resulted in the need to rescue a sculler from the mud and a greatly reduced regatta program.
It should be noted that the many locals and tourists who walk around the Yacht Basin on their way to our iconic Cataract Gorge are continually asking what are you doing about the mud?
We encourage further investigation of the proposed TEMT dredging models for the basin, to ensure the Tamar Rowing Club has access to water at all tides.
- Tamar Rowing Club president and committee