Tallowa Pipeline- Stealing water from Shoalhaven for a Uranium Mine WTF!

Last Tuesday council agreed to support my motion condemning the Tallowa Pipeline proposal. This idea has been around for a little while now as it first came to my attention at the beginning of 2010 when it was supposed to solve the problem of dry western towns like Cobar- by pumping the water that goes over the spill way out west. In its most recent incarnation the Tallowa Pipe Line Proposal is suppose to send Shoalhaven water via the Murray Darling to Roxby Downs and the Olympic Dam mining project.

Tallowa with its newly constructed fish lift thanks to Sydney Catchment Authority

Rally on previous plans to pipe water and lift the height of the wall thanks to SMH

So I thought it was time to act- Mr Smith needs to know  now that the people of Shoalhaven are very hostile towards his idea and its time he just dropped the notion.

For sending rivers inland is not a new ideas people have been trying it for thousands of years and all we manage to do is to destroy ecosystems and build communities on an unsustainable water source.

The water that over tops the Tallowa dam or gets let out is for environmental flows that the river depends on for its own resilience and yes here it is....with the effects of climate change meaning that we will have drier spells ahead we need to place even more value on the resilience of the river and of course the need for it to serve humanity.

There are so many organisms within the Shoalhaven ecosystem that are reliant on fresh water as well as salt for their growth and reproduction- just ask the oyster growers association if they would appreciate their lively hoods messed with by taking the so called 'extra' water.

One Councillor Nigel Soames declared my motion UN Australian for not sharing water with others who needed it- Clr Soames last time I checked Australia was acting pretty un Australian towards asylum seekers so that is totally the wrong argument for me! Maybe if Clr Soames turned up to more of Council briefings  and meeting etc he would get a much better grip on reality.

I did an interview with WIN TV on the issue which aired on Thursday night so at least the issue has got an airing beyond the Shoalhaven.

Politicians far and wide will be receiving a letter soon from Council not supporting the proposal and so to will the Murray -Darling Basin authority- so hopefully for now the issue has been drowned :)