Tamar Estuary
River Health Action Plan
7
The South Launceston Diversion is probably a more long term project given the disruption it would cause given
its likely route. This project may need three years to undertake and be in the latter tranche of the rollout of
projects. The offline storages and the new combined rising main from Margaret Street pump station are more
discrete and could be completed in the period between the Ti Tree Bend upgrade /West Launceston Diversion
and the South Launceston Diversion.
Other Recommendations
The Taskforce is committed to progressing a number of other recommendations made in the Plan. Firstly, there
is need for a comprehensive communications and education plan to be delivered around the proposed
recommendations. The Taskforce notes that there is a lack of common understanding amongst the community
around how the Estuary operates, both in terms of the natural features and the impact of human interventions.
The recommended projects need to be presented in this context. The expected improvements from investment
must also be presented in an accessible and tangible form that the community can readily understand. The
Taskforce (or its replacement) should develop this content if the recommended projects are funded.
On the issue of funding, Launceston City Council will commit funding to assist delivery of the proposed combined
system projects, though Council has not yet approved an amount. Negotiation with TasWater will be required to
agree a funding contribution for the recommended combined system projects that are comprised within its
Launceston Sewerage Improvement Project. TasWater’s timing for these projects may not align with the
Taskforce’s intended schedule and as such some negotiation may be required to bring the works forward. Funding
of the proposed dairy and some of the grazing catchment action initiatives could be funded from the allocation
provided to the Taskforce by the Department of Energy and Environment and it is recommended that this source
of funds be allocated for that purpose.
In addition to the hard infrastructure projects and catchment actions, the Taskforce also recommends that the
Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment develops a discussion paper that overviews the
current regulatory arrangements for the combined system, with a view to a more detailed review by EPA
Tasmania that canvasses the options and potential costs and benefits of a more formal regulatory framework for
the combined system. Despite local community concerns, combined systems operate successfully around the
world and the common approach appears to be to set up a regulatory arrangement that requires best practice
management and continuous improvement of the network. The intention is for the recommended discussion
paper to be prepared and released before the end of the first quarter of 2018, with feedback to be sought from
stakeholders regarding whether a detailed review and possible reform is supported.
An increased monitoring and analysis program is considered necessary by the Taskforce to accompany the
proposed actions and investments. This will ensure that progress against the target improvements can be tracked
and reported on and any learnings captured to aid future management decision making or to improve on actions
and investments yet to be undertaken. An extended monitoring regime that would provide measurable data to
assess the success of actions proposed by the Taskforce is likely to cost in the order of $250,000 per annum.
Two other pieces of work are still being progressed by the Taskforce with an intention to deliver findings by the
end of the first quarter of 2018. The first of these is a recommendation for an ongoing governance structure for
the Estuary, while the second will respond to the submissions received through consultation that seek an
approach to improving the visual and recreational amenity associated with the process of sedimentation. Specialist
advice is being sought on each of these issues.
Tamar Estuary
River Health Action Plan
8
Recommendations
The Taskforce makes the following recommendations:
1.
Catchment actions to the value of $10 million be implemented across dairy, grazing and urban areas. These
actions will seek to exclude stock from streams, rehabilitate riparian vegetation buffers on grazing
properties, ensure better effluent management on dairy farms and remove sewage intrusion into separated
stormwater system in urban Launceston. These actions are expected to reduce pathogen concentrations in
the Launceston to Legana zone of the Estuary by more than 4 per cent.
2.
Priority projects to the value of $84.6 million are implemented within the combined system. The projects
include improved pumping rates and transmission capacity to take greater volumes of combined system
flows to Ti Tree Bend sewerage treatment plant, implementing a series of off line storages to capture the
“first flush” of combined system sewage which would otherwise overflow into the Estuary and diverting
separated sewerage catchments straight to Ti Tree Bend instead of them joining the combined system at
Margaret Street and the Esplanade. These projects are expected to reduce pathogen concentrations in the
Launceston to Legana zone of the Estuary by more than 35 per cent.
Projects
Estimated Cost ($
million)
Catchment Actions
Brumbys-Lake, Macquarie, Meander & Tamar - Dairy
1.10
North Esk - Grazing
1.33
Upper Tamar – Grazing
1.66
Brumbys-Lake, Meander and South Esk – Grazing
5.41
Launceston sewage stormwater intrusion
0.50
Combined system actions
Esplanade storage
6.7
Forster St storage
8.4
New Margaret St storage
10.0
South Launceston Diversion
18.1
West Launceston Diversion
4.6
New combined rising main
26.8
Ti Tree Bend plant nutrient removal upgrade
10.0
Total
94.6
3.
A discussion paper is prepared by the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment of
the regulatory arrangements surrounding the combined system in consultation with relevant stakeholders.
The paper would then form the basis of a review to be undertaken by EPA Tasmania on potential changes
to the existing regulatory framework to recognise and regulate combined systems consistent with best
practice frameworks elsewhere.
4.
An increased monitoring and analysis program in the Estuary to accompany the proposed actions and
investments. This will ensure that progress against the expected improvements can be tracked and
reported on and any learnings captured to aid future management decision making or to improve on
actions and investments yet to be undertaken.