MEDIA RELEASE
15 October 2009

Mary River Stops Flowing

Recently, the Mary River has stopped flowing to the sea, raising concerns from campaigners regarding what the future holds for the lower Mary catchment and Great Sandy Strait if the proposed Traveston Crossing dam were approved by the Federal Government.

“No water is flowing over the tidal barrage on the Mary River to connect the Mary to the sea,” said Darryl Stewart, Chairman of the Greater Mary Association. “And what is more, Brisbane has not received a drop of water from the Mary yet.”

“When there is no flow over the barrage this means no fresh water to nurture the estuary and its fishery or the Marine Park of the Great Sandy Strait and its internationally vital Ramsar wetlands for migratory shorebirds. The longer the flow stops, the more effect it has on water quality in the estuary. This means steadily deteriorating conditions for estuarine creatures.”

In most years, whether in drought or not, the flow in the Mary falls markedly in the so called “JASON” months from July to November which are the driest months of the year. It then requires substantial rainfall, most of which falls in the upper reaches of the catchment, to provide sufficient run off to regenerate flow down the length of the river.

“The fact that 78% of the Mary catchment happens to lie below the proposed dam is irrelevant rubbish and is one example of the desperate depths that the Queensland Government has reached in trying to justify this unjustifiable dam,” said Mr. Stewart.

“Would someone please advise the Premier and her lame duck cabinet that even Queensland fifth graders know that it is rainfall that drives river flow. The part of the catchment downstream of the proposed dam site might be bigger but it is drier. For example between 1996 and 2005 the part of the catchment around Tiaro produced only 10mm of runoff into the river each year. That is twenty times less than the amount contributed upstream of the proposed dam. Clearly, we need the flows from upstream where more rain falls to provide flows downstream.”

“If we can get that message through to the Premier this week, we might try another simple learning message next week. Watch this space.”

“The situation where we see no flow going to the estuary occurs under the guidance of the Mary Basin Water Resource Plan,” explained Tanzi Smith, Research Coordinator from the Greater Mary Association.

“This is the same regulation that will be operating if the proposed dam goes ahead. This is the same regulation which mysteriously and without scientific justification identified 150,000 ML of water in the Mary Catchment that is available for use. This is the same regulation which is used as a justification for the proposed dam.”

“The Queensland Coordinator General continues to rely on this flawed regulation. He seems to be saying “trust me, it’ll be all right,” suggested Ms Smith. “But we know that the very foundation of the Coordinator General’s claims is full of yawning holes! If the proposed dam goes ahead, nothing is going to improve. Irrigators entitlements won’t improve, the health of the river and the estuary won’t improve. It will only get worse.”

“It is Peter Garrett and Kevin Rudd, our Prime Minister from Queensland, who now have the power to stop this unnecessary dam,” concluded Ms Smith.

The Greater Mary Association is calling on the general public to talk to their local member and write to both Peter Garrett and Kevin Rudd to express opposition to the proposed dam. The public is asked to urge Rudd and Garrett to “Just say No” and to assist the Queensland Government to pursue cheaper and more reliable alternatives.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Darryl Stewart 041 877 1655, Tanzi Smith 040 584 8375
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JOINT MEDIA RELEASE - Greater Mary Association Inc. and Save the Mary River Coordinating Group Inc.

C.G. recognises 1200 serious problems with Traveston dam

Yesterday’s release of the Queensland Coordinator General’s evaluation report for the proposed Traveston Crossing dam raises more questions than it provides answers.

Save the Mary River Coordinating Group secretary David Kreutz said “The Coordinator General bases his report on the assumption that the Traveston Crossing dam is a key component of the Queensland Governments strategy to provide secure water supplies for South East Queensland.”

“This is a myth.”

“It would be a dogger of a dam in a drought,” explained Darryl Stewart president of the Greater Mary Association. “We’ve repeatedly made the point that it would fail in less than 18 months of dry conditions. The Government has never been able to refute this.”

“You’d be crazy to call this water security.”

The report outlined 1200 conditions of approval which Mr Kreutz labeled as unproven and uncharted.

“The 1200 conditions imposed by the Coordinator General means there are 1200 serious problems with this project.”

The release of this report takes the controversial project on to the next stage with Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett finally being in a position to formally take responsibility for the future of the Mary River and Great Sandy Strait.

Mr Kreutz said “We demand that Peter Garrett calls for independent public scrutiny of the 1200 conditions and volumes of associated technical documentation that have not previously been made public.”

“There is widespread unwavering opposition to this proposal. We will continue to harness greater public and scientific support in our fight against this extremely wasteful project.”

Media Contacts

David Kreutz (Save the Mary River Coordinating Group) 043 268 3147

Darryl Stewart (Greater Mary Association) 041 877 1655

Steve Burgess (Save the Mary River Coordinating Group) 07 5484 3749

***MEDIA RELEASE***

5393 More Reasons For Garrett To Listen To The Fraser Coast

A petition to Peter Garrett lodged in Federal Parliament in Canberra last night gives the decision makers on the proposed Traveston Crossing dam 5393 more reasons to listen to the concerns of people on the Fraser Coast regarding the proposal say campaigners.

“We have been requesting the Minister to conduct this independent study for almost twelve months,” said Darryl Stewart, chair of the Greater Mary Association Inc.

“We’ve been told that they are looking into the issues relating to the estuary, but we want a clear guarantee that an independent study will occur prior to any decision by Minister Garrett.”

“We don’t think that is too much to ask, especially considering that over 10,000 submissions to the Environmental Impact came from people who live near the Mary River Estuary, along the Great Sandy Strait or in Hervey Bay.”

The Queensland Government has decided to ignore us. This is Minister Garrett’s chance to show he won’t do the same, ” said Mr Stewart.

The Titmarsh family from Tandora who have lived on the Mary River for five generations were one of many families in the region to get behind the petition which urges Minister Garrett to conduct an independent study of the impacts of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River Estuary, Great Sandy Strait and Hervey Bay.

“The 5000 plus signatures on this petition show that people from all over Australia agree that the Queensland Government saying there won’t be any impacts on us just don’t make sense,” explained Mr Titmarsh who last year ran 81 km in one day as part of his Mary Mud Double Marathon which drew attention to the plight of the Mary River estuary and Great Sandy Strait.

“We want to make sure that the kids of today, like my grand daughter can still enjoy the Mary and the Strait when they are my age,” said Mr Titmarsh who is no stranger to Canberra after he ran the last leg of the GetUp! Climate Torch relay last year.

The petition was tabled by Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss and Shadow Environment Minister Greg Hunt who stated, “The Labor Party had cynically put plans for the dam on hold just prior to the Queensland election. Peter Garrett must not be complicit in this act of deception. If he examines the science and considers the research that I have seen, he will agree the dam would be a disaster, and must make his decision accordingly.”

Contacts:

Darryl Stewart 041 877 1655

Lindsay Titmarsh 07 4121 5088

Tanzi Smith 040 584 8375

Background

Last year a forum on the downstream impacts of the proposed dam was held in Hervey Bay providing much evidence to justify the concerns of Fraser Coast residents and the national community. A summary (7min) of research presented at this forum by engineers, scientists, commercial and recreational fishermen and conservationists is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-iTDSQ_U3s

Full copies of the slides of presentations made that day are available at:

http://www.slideshare.net/greatermary

For further detail, or contacts for presenters on that day, please contact Tanzi Smith on 0405848375 or email her at run.mary.run@gmail.com.

The wording of the petition:

This petition is from concerned Australian residents and visitors to Australia.

We wish to convey to the House and Minister Garrett that we cherish the outstanding natural, recreational and economic values of Hervey Bay and our wetland of international significance, the Great Sandy Strait. We believe that the proposed Traveston Crossing dam will have a permanent detrimental impact on the fisheries and broader ecosystems of the Great Sandy Strait, the Mary River estuary and Hervey Bay.

We applaud Minister Garrett on the independent reviews he has already undertaken and ask that he commission and make public a detailed and thorough independent investigation of the optimal environmental flows needed to ensure that the ecosystems and fisheries of the Great Sandy Strait, Mary River estuary and Hervey Bay do not fall victim to excess water extraction from the Mary River associated with the proposed Traveston Crossing dam.

***MEDIA RELEASE***

5,000 Strong Petition Urges Garrett Action on Traveston Crossing Dam Travesty

A petition with 5,393 signatures calling on Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett to thoroughly investigate the environmental impacts of the Bligh Labor Government’s proposed Traveston Dam in south east Queensland will tonight be tabled in Federal Parliament by Shadow Environment Minister Greg Hunt and Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss.

The petition asks Mr Garrett to carry out an independent investigation of the optimal environmental flows needed to ensure that the ecosystems and fisheries of the Great Sandy Strait, Mary River estuary and Hervey Bay do not fall victim to excess water extraction from the Mary River associated with the proposed Traveston Crossing dam.

“I welcome the opportunity to support the environment and the community in their opposition to the Traveston Crossing dam,” Mr Hunt said.

“When I visited the site of the proposed dam last year with Warren Truss, I was impressed by the convincing research that showed the devastating environmental impacts the dam would have, should it be approved.

“It was clear that Anna Bligh was intent on creating a massive evaporation pond over some of Queensland’s best farming land.”

Mr Hunt said the fate of the dam will rest with Mr Garrett, who will make a final decision on the project under the Federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

“The Labor Party had cynically put plans for the dam on hold just prior to the Queensland election. Peter Garrett must not be complicit in this act of deception. If he examines the science and considers the research that I have seen, he will agree the dam would be a disaster, and must make his decision accordingly.”

Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss said the signatures reflect the community’s deep concern about the environmental destruction that would be inflicted on the entire Mary Valley and the RAMSAR listed Great Sandy Straits should the dam be allowed to proceed.

“Research demonstrates that there are no strategies that can prevent the devastation that would be wreaked upon the endangered Mary River Cod, Mary River Turtle, Giant Barred Frog and the vulnerable Queensland Lungfish should the dam be granted approval by Mr Garrett.

“Brisbane’s water crisis is of Anna Bligh’s creation, and in spite of Anna Bligh’s recent spin and hysteria, there are better and cheaper alternatives available to supply water to Brisbane, which make the Traveston Crossing dam unnecessary.

“Peter Garrett must not allow the Mary Valley and Great Sandy Straits to be sacrificed by the Bligh Labor Government.

“Peter Garrett must stand up to Labor’s machine and stand up for the environment.”

Media contacts: John Deller (Mr Hunt’s office) on 0400 496 596 or 03 5979 3188

Simon Kelly (Mr Truss’ office) on 0418 824 779

***MEDIA RELEASE ***

Queensland Government Desperate with Traveston Dam Referral

The long-awaited "referral" of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam to Peter Garrett is more an act of desperation than careful planning say those opposed to the project.

What has actually occurred IS NOT a state or federal approval of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam, but the decision of the Coordinator General to send a draft of proposed approval conditions for the project to the federal government for consideration and feedback, PRIOR to the Coordinator General producing his assessment report on the proposal.

The Save the Mary River Coordinating Group President, Glenda Pickersgill, said the decision to send the draft conditions placed by the state’s Coordinator General has “everything to do with events unfolding in the Federal Court case over the failure to comply with conditions on Paradise dam.”

“This next step in the process has been in the wings for more than 12 months but the timing is surely no coincidence given the events of the last week.”

In the Federal Court last week, the State Solicitor General revealed there had been a request by Sunwater, the state government owned company to Minster Peter Garrett to alter the original conditions placed on the building of Paradise Dam and, as a result, the case has been adjourned until early November.

Now, the State Government has just released the draft Coordinator General's report with draft conditions on the proposed Traveston crossing Dam to the Federal Environment Minister. Although the Premier is claiming a "green light", it is far from it with the Coordinator General's draft report not being available for any critic of the detail.

Ms Pickersgill said "The government is promising something that it cannot deliver. In order to get the 70,000 ML / year the premier claims would be available, the governement's own modelling shows that the river downstream of the dam could be run dry for up to 6 months at a time. This would bad news for the river, the Wetlands of the Great Sandy Straits, Hervey Bay, and World Heritage Fraser island. How environmentally friendly is that?”

"The last dam this government built, Paradise Dam on the Burnett River, is currently in the federal courts over not meeting the environment conditions for its constuction, and hasn't delivered on the economic promises either. Sunwater, a government owned company, have completely ignored the federal condition to provide a fishway suitable for lungfish and that it was to commence when the dam became operational." she said.

"How can anyone have faith in applying conditions when they include totally untested and unproven methods? How can you interpret the request to change the conditions as anything other than an admission of failure to meet them?”

"Similarly the Queensland government's track record for delivering water projects on time and on budget is appalling. For example the Western Corridor and Tugan desalination projects have not produced the water that was promised, nor met the timelines or stayed within the budget."

"The original $1.59 Billion project doesn't include the associated pipelines, or the blowouts of $100M on land purchasing already. The proposed Traveston Crossing dam is not a reliable water supply for a drought strategy and it more expensive than catching water where it falls, implementing water efficiencies in the household or even desalination."

"Because of it's small volume, location, shallowness and associated high evaporation and seepage losses, it would empty very quickly in a drought - providing about 18 months of drought storage at best.. Like a shallow saucer left out in the backyard it would fill very easily when it rains, but provide no useful water storage at all when things get dry."

Ms Pickersgill said big dams not only seriously reduce viable lungfish spawning areas and suitable cover for juveniles but they cause many deaths in the event of overtopping, such as recently shown at North Pine Dam and Somerset Dam.

“Paradise is on trial because of the failings of its unproven fishway system. The proposed Traveston Dam would boast a “world-first” (ie untested) turtle ramp as well.”

The premier should also be reminded that "green" is not a good colour for a dam . The poor water quality and heavy weed infestations anticipated in this storage would make it one of the most destructive impacts that could be imagined for the threatened species of the Mary River which the secret approval conditions are intended to protect.

“For some months now we’ve been calling on the government to send the information off to the federal minister for a decision. Several independent reports commissioned by the minister concurred with many of our concerns that there are no proven mitigation measures so we should feel pretty confident."

“There’s no doubt that we’ve won this on science and that’s what the Minister’s decision has to be based on. We’ve won it on poll-demonstrated opposition, even in Brisbane, but the Premier, despite her election night promise to listen, only seems to listen to the government’s spin department.”

"No public consultation has been entered into on these proposed mitigation measures throughout the state EIS process to date and we are calling for the full extent of these proposals be made available for public comment as part of the Federal approval process in the hands of the federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett.

Contacts for Media: David Kreutz mb 0432683147, Steve Burgess 5483749, Glenda Pickersgill 0411 443 589, Darryl Stewart (Greater Mary Association) 0418 771 655.

Lessons to Learn from Estuarine Health Report

A recent report into the health of 18 estuaries from Miriam Vale to Rainbow Beach provides even more compelling evidence to scrap the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam in south-east Queensland.

The detailed study conducted by the Burnett Mary Regional Group in collaboration with the Qld EPA examined data collected over two years to come up with its report card . While some of the smaller creeks receive A ratings, the two largest rivers, the Burnett and the Mary, are rated as D- (extreme estuary health risk) and C+(moderate estuary health risk) respectively.

Save the Mary River President Glenda Pickersgill said that comparing the Burnett and the Mary rivers provided a valuable insight into the highly likely impact of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.

“In the Burnett and its tribu-taries there are more than 30 dams and weirs, the most recent being the controversial Paradise Dam near Biggenden. This report cuts the speculation and allows us to see the end result of such im-poundments on the estuary.”

“While the Traveston Environ-mental Impact Study claims that downstream impacts would be minimal, this report, by examin-ing the track record for the heavily impounded Burnett, clearly finds otherwise.”

“The cumulative effects of how we treat or overuse a river show up in its estuary and it‟s to be hoped the government will heed this warn-ing,” Ms Pickersgill said.

Chairman of the Greater Mary Association, Darryl Stewart said that one of the recommendations for ongoing management of the Mary estuary is to ensure it “has an adequate environmental flow allocation".

The Mary Basin Water Resource Plan that the Queensland Government rely so heavily on in their justification for the proposed dam does not consider environmental flow to the estuary. In fact if the dam does go ahead, based on the Government's own figures, flows to the estuary could stop for more than six months. And this would be operating in accordance with the Water Re-source Plan. It is just totally irre-sponsible!"

"The Mary estuary should not be viewed in isolation, its waters intermingle with and nourish the internationally recognised Ramsar wetlands, the Great Sandy Strait and the World Heritage listed marine environment of Fraser Island.”

There is a petition from dam op-ponents going to federal parlia-ment calling for an independent assessment of the impacts of pro-posed Traveston Crossing Dam on the estuary.

“The government has a chance to learn from the Burnett. They've always been gung-ho in their as-sertion that a dam at Traveston Crossing would have minimal downstream impacts. Gathering this data from the Burnett should put an end to that,” said Mr Stew-art. The real question, though, is whether the Premier and her Sus-tainability Minister are listening".

Joint press release, GMA and Save the Mary River Coordinating Group

Dugong Candle Spectacular!

The plight of dugongs was spectacularly highlighted in Hervey Bay on June 6 for World Environment Day.

Our Dugong - Yuwang’kan is the latest public candle installation by the Art for Earth team, in collaboration with the Mary River campaign, following the success of Dok’ku at Tandora homestead in June 2008.

At Dayman Park this year, hundreds of supporters young and old, gathered before sunset to help light 4,000 candles, creating a giant glowing image of a dugong family feeding on seagrass.

Footage of the display was taken from the air, and participants were delighted when sky-divers dropped over the site, filming the spectacle as they descended. A short documentary of the event is soon to be released. So stay tuned!

The Greater Mary Association (GMA) was a project partner for the event in the hope of raising awareness about dugong populations in the Mary River estuary and the potential threat the proposed dam would have on seagrass – the food supply for this vulnerable species.

Under the EPBC Act, Minister Garrett is obligated to consider the impact of the proposed dam on dugong populations in the Great Sandy Strait and Hervey Bay.

QWIPL has conducted no analysis of how a dam on the Mary would affect the characteristics of estuarine waters and sediment which determine the survival of seagrass pastures.

Check out the GMA photo gallery for pictures of this event!

Go to: www.picasaweb.google.com/greatermary and click on the Our Dugong – Yuwang’kan album link.