Shire seeks urgent investigation into river’s health

THE SURF Coast Shire has opposed Alcoa’s application to continue pumping groundwater into its former coal mine in Anglesea, calling instead for an urgent investigation into the poor health of the town’s river system.

State water and planning authorities, along with Alcoa, state that there is “no evidence” that decades of pumping water from an aquifer beneath the mine is linked to the now-constantly acidic river, but the shire now wants proof.

Councillors unanimously endorsed a report calling for hydrogeological modelling to properly explain the interaction between surface and groundwater in the catchment, given the river has been devoid of fish for years, is now a hotspot for mosquitoes, and “barely” flows.

Alcoa is undertaking a trial to assess the feasibility of turning the mine into a water body and has applied for a six-month extension of its water licence with Southern Rural Water (SRW).

The council’s submission to SRW on the application was strengthened by councillors at last week’s meeting to formally state the council does not support groundwater extraction unless it is proven to have no detrimental impact on the river and/or its catchment.

It is a win for the Friends of Anglesea River (FOAR) group, who earlier this year commissioned a discussion paper from hydrological expert Professor Ralf Haese from the University of Melbourne that concluded it was highly likely Alcoa’s drawdown of the water table was affecting the river.

Although the paper has been forwarded to planning and water authorities responsible for managing the Alcoa site, FOAR – and now the council – do not believe issues raised in the paper are being sufficiently considered.

“If you avoid looking for evidence, then you won’t find it,” FOAR’s Dick O’Hanlon said.

He said the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority and SRW should be “embarrassed that they have made no effort to respond to any of the points raised in the discussion paper.

“Alcoa at least took the trouble to understand the paper and make a direct, although unconvincing, response.”

Anglesea Ward councillor Mike Bodsworth received a round of applause from fellow councillors after speaking on the issue at last week’s meeting.

“This is a complex issue and we need expert analysis of the impact of historical groundwater extraction,” Cr Bodsworth said.

The council’s submission is among between 30 and 40 others lodged against the proposal.

The council has also called for more respectful engagement with Wadawurrung Traditional Owners; consideration of any relevant lessons from groundwater extraction causing acidification at the Barwon Downs borefield; for the findings from hydrogeological research to be shared with the Anglesea community, and for the council to involved in development of an Anglesea River and Catchment Recovery Plan, including environmental goals and how they might be achieved.

An SRW spokesperson recently stated the organisation was assessing all submissions but was unable to provide a timeline of when it will make a decision on Alcoa’s application.

In its June community update, issued last week, Alcoa stated the pump test “has run in accordance with the licence and analysis of the data so far has not identified any adverse impact on groundwater dependent ecosystems including the Anglesea River.”