Anglesea River monitoring continues after artificial opening

MORE than a week after Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA) made the decision to artificially open the Anglesea River, the river is no longer flowing out to sea.

The Anglesea River EstuaryWatch group confirmed the change on Friday (August 29), after further water quality testing.

“Although the estuary appears closed at low tide, there may still be some seawater that overtops the sand and into the river at high tide,” a Corangamite CMA spokesperson said, following the testing.

“Estuaries are dynamic in nature, so Corangamite CMA and Anglesea River EstuaryWatch will continue to monitor the river mouth closely over the next week.”

 

 

Advice on the authority’s website, prior to Friday’s water test, indicated it was still too early to determine the full impact of the opening, but it warned “multiple tidal cycles” were required to improve water quality in the river and this may not be possible under the current conditions.

“Given the low catchment inflow conditions upstream at the time, there is a high risk that a successful and sustained opening will not be achieved and water quality in the estuary may decline, resulting in no improvement to the estuary’s ecological health,” Corangamite CMA’s website reads.

Fish deaths in the Anglesea River were first observed on August 5, with water quality monitoring indicating high levels of acidity through parts of the system.

This acidity, a Corangamite CMA spokesperson said, has been “caused by naturally occurring acid in soils in the upper catchment”.

While the decision was initially made not to open the estuary mouth due to concerns it would cause further harm, worsening conditions and a decrease in the area of refuge available to the fish in the estuary prompted a new response, and an artificial opening was made on August 20.

 

 

Friends of the Anglesea River co-founder Keith Shipton said it had been distressing for the community to see the marine life suffering.

“It’s a little bit of an unusual fish kill this time. In previous years, we woke up in the morning and most of our fish were belly up in the river and that was it — it was a clean-up. But this has been much more prolonged.”

He estimates there have been six fish kill events over the last 25 years. But inaction ensures the cycle continues.

“It’s appalling and it’s got to stop. We’re at the gateway to the Great Ocean Road, we’ve got an aquatic desert for a river, and the state government should be ashamed of itself.”