‘No hope’ for acidic river
Group says water pumping threatens Anglesea waterway
A LOCAL environmental group claims the Anglesea River “has no hope” as a result of the damage it could face under water pumping related to the Eden Project.
The Friends of the Anglesea River was formed in December and has gained over 150 members fighting for the restoration of the river, which it says is now too acidic for marine life.
Member Keith Shipton believes there is a direct link between the current state of the river and Alcoa’s water pump.
“The elephant in the room is the continued extraction of water from the upper Eastern
View aquifer and we believe the river has no hope of recovering while that is going on,” Mr Shipton said.
“A science professor from the University of Melbourne had previously done work on the river specifically looking at Alcoa’s mine and power system over 45 years.
“They discovered there was something called a cone of depression – if you can imagine an aquifer is a pretty lateral underwater supply which collapsed and has a big dip in it up to 50m lower than the rest of the aquifer.
“The cone of depression means there is more intense drying at the surface, which creates acidic water that washes down into the river.”
While Mr Shipton said the group did not have a position on the Eden Project, he said it had tasked Alcoa with filling the mine void to at least 50 per cent by 2024.
“A colleague of mine in this exercise presented data that showed when they stopped pumping water from the aquifer, which they did after 2016, the cone of depression recovered remarkably quick,” he said. “There are many ways the river could be remediated but it has never been given any loving and care in terms of its health.
“I don’t think people were really aware, we were almost attuned to the fish kills and desensitised to the fact that it is pretty shocking.
“It is about the same acidity as grape fruit.”
The Eden project – a $150m eco-tourism retail attraction earmarked for Anglesea’s former Alcoa mine – has reached its halfway point in its initial testing.
Eden Project International chief executive David Harland said the results of the initial pump test at the former mine were looking “positive”.
“Both Eden and Alcoa were really pleased to see the first phase of the test completed in December,” Mr Harland said.
“The completion of this sixmonth period marks the halfway point of the test and it has progressed in accordance with licence conditions and with no adverse impacts on groundwater dependent ecosystems including the Anglesea River.
“Specialist environmental
consultants are now collating, analysing and validating the data collected during the first phase to determine a sustainable pumping rate.”
Mr Shipton said Friends of the Anglesea River was now calling on the consultants to hear its findings before making a decision on the remainder of the water pumping program.