Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce

Established under the Launceston City Deal, the Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce (TEMT) has been charged with developing a River Health Action Plan, which is to be completed by the end of 2017. The Plan is to recommend priority investments and policy actions which will lead to measurable Estuary health improvement and will look at ongoing governance of the Estuary.

Sediment Management

The TEMT recently commissioned an analysis of the impacts of planned releases of water from Lake Trevallyn with and without sediment raking as a potential option for managing sedimentation.  Concurrently, the City of Launceston and the Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers (TEER) Program undertook a review of historic water depth (bathymetry) and water quality data to explore the extent to which sediment raking has met its objectives and what trade-offs might be associated with sediment raking.

The two separate but related projects focused on sediment management in Zone 1 (Launceston to Legana) of the Tamar River estuary. Both projects focused on sediment management in the upper estuary and the learnings from each project have the potential to provide multiple lines of evidence around the impacts of sediment raking and flows on sedimentation and water quality, these projects have been run concurrently. In addition to the detailed report for each project a simplified summary of outcomes and key messages across both projects has been prepared. The objectives against which sedimentation management actions were assessed are largely focused around navigation, recreational access and aesthetics.

Sedimentation Response

Through the public consultation process, the Taskforce received a number of submissions proposing action to ameliorate the impacts of sedimentation on the amenity values of the Estuary. Consequently, the Taskforce commissioned specialist scientific and environmental firm BMT WBM to advise on the merits of those proposals. The advice received from BMT WBM, as well as the Taskforce's statement on this advice and the steps it is to take in the area of sedimentation going forward, are included in the two documents below.

River Health Action Plan

The River Health Action Plan is the first output from the Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce. The Plan presents the Taskforce's recommendations for an investment plan to improve public health in the Launceston to Legana zone of the Estuary through actions both in the catchment and on the combined sewerage and stormwater system.  Appendices to the Plan are also contained below and include two reports from the Taskforce’s Combined System Overflows Working Group and one from its Catchment Actions Working Group.

Public submissions

In September 2017 the TEMT called for public submissions regarding the community’s views on the level of service expected from the Estuary, and proposed solutions. You can view and download the submissions received by accessing the links on this page.

If you have any queries regarding the work of the TEMT, please forward them to temt@stategrowth.tas.gov.au