The Mary River. Image Arkin Mackay.
Professor Angela Arthington of the Australian Rivers Institute and Water Co-operative Research Centre has recently released an excellent and timely paper “Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, threatened by a new dam”.
The paper draws from a number of sources to provide an overview of lungfish distribution, biology and requirements as well as assessing anticipated impacts of a dam at Traveston Crossing.
Peter Garrett also commissioned several studies which were tabled in state parliament in late November. Despite the Premier’s claims to the contrary, the findings by Associate Professor Walker, Professor Bunn and Dr Kuchling were scathing of the dam proposal.
They determined that the part of the Mary River that would be inundated by the dam contains important habitat for the Mary River Turtle, Mary River Cod, Australian Lungfish and the Southern Barred Frog that is critical to their ongoing survival. These experts also advised that it would be highly unlikely that the dam would provide suitable foraging and breeding habitat to support the self-sustaining populations of these species and were critical of many of the mitigation and offset measures proposed by the proponent.
Dr Kuching’s report on the Mary River Turtle says the proposed dam would “modify, destroy, remove, isolate and decrease the availability and quality of habitat” and likely cause a disruption of the breeding cycle of about 50 per cent of the population in the area. The report claims that mitigation measures like nesting bank relocations are unlikely to fully compensate for the lost habitat, and the planned Freshwater Species Conservation Centre would be unlikely to be beneficial because the centre is dependent on the construction of the Traveston Crossing Dam “which would eliminate the majority of the best remaining juvenile habitat in the Mary River.”
The reports can be read here.
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