Category: Water Options

The NSW Far North Coast Regional Water Supply Project

NRG: The NSW Far North Coast Regional Water Supply Project will be assessing regional options to improve long-term water security in our region. Several information sessions will be held to inform the public about the project. One will be held online; the others will be local drop-in sessions. See details below, as provided by the project:

Online session:
Wednesday 19 November 2025, from 10.30 am – 12 pm via MS Teams. To register, go here.

Drop-in sessions:
Sessions will be held in Tweed Heads, Byron Bay, Ballina, Mullumbimby, Casino, Lismore and Murwillumbah. read more

Again, NO Byrrill Creek Dam

Dear Friends of the Environment.

The NSW Natural Resources Commission (NRC) is undertaking a Review, including submissions from the public, of the existing Tweed Water Sharing Plan (WSP) which expires next year. Currently there is a Clause 48 (1) that prohibits the building of a dam at Byrrill Creek.

10 years ago Save Byrrill Creek fought a long campaign to have this prohibition upheld, especially when councillors chose Byrrill Creek Dam as their primary Water Augmentation. Luckily, with a new more environmentally aware Council elected, in Oct 2011 this was rescinded, and in May 2012 the Council placed a 20-year Moratorium on any dam proposal at Byrrill Creek. Some Councillors to this day still want to dam Byrrill Creek.

There are also other important environmental issues in the Water Sharing Plan that could be covered.

It is vital to keep the prohibition within the New Tweed Water Sharing Plan, so we need lots of people to write a submission to the NRC (by 5 July) and also to Council. Council are also making a submission and are holding an extraordinary meeting on the 2^nd July to discuss this. read more

THE NOBBYS CREEK WATER EXTRACTION D.A. HAS BEEN FORMALLY REJECTED BY COUNCIL – HURRAH

From Nimbin EC: “There’s a bit of reading here, but it is well worth it ………………………………………

You will recall that Council had deemed the Nobbys Creek water extraction expansion application would be refused, so Appleby lodged an appeal in the Land and Environment Court. As part of the court process, Council was required to formally assess the application. Thanks to you, wonderful supporters, 297 objections were received and formed part of the assessment. (One submission was in support.)

The reasons have been extracted here:

The application has not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling is a sustainable use of this resource, or that it will not have an adverse impact on natural water systems or the potential agricultural use of the land, the environment, or other groundwater or surface users,

and that it has
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling is a sustainable use of this resource, or that it will not have an adverse impact on the environment, agricultural uses, or other groundwater or surface users, or that it maintains the rural landscape character of the land,
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling will not have an adverse impact on natural water systems or the potential agricultural use of the land in regard to the sustainable use of this resource.
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling is a sustainable use of this resource, or that it will not impact on the environment, agricultural uses, or other groundwater or surface users.
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling is a sustainable use of this resource, or that it will not impact on the environment, agricultural uses, or other groundwater or surface users.
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling will not impact on the environment, agricultural uses, or other groundwater or surface users, and that the rural character and amenity of the area will not be adversely affected.
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling is a sustainable use of this resource, or that it will not impact on the environment, agricultural uses, or other groundwater or surface users, and that the rural character and amenity of the area will not be adversely affected or that the rural road is suitable for the use.
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling is a sustainable use of this resource, or that it will not impact on the environment, agricultural uses, or other groundwater or surface users, and that the rural character and amenity of the area will not be adversely affected or that the rural road is suitable for the use.
– not adequately established that the commercial extraction of groundwater for water bottling is a sustainable use of this resource, or that it will not impact on the environment, agricultural uses, or other groundwater or surface users, and that the rural character and amenity of the area will not be adversely affected or that the rural road is suitable for the use.
– in terms of public interest, the application has not obtained appropriate owners consent for the use of the unlawful structures within the road reserve, and that
– the application will not result in any public benefit or additional employment and so is not in the public interest to provide use of public road reserve.

Thank you to all those that lodged submissions. Cheers!

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Last night, Development Application DA19/0888 for alterations and additions to an existing water bottling facility at No. 24 Bryens Road Nobbys Creek, was REFUSED by a majority vote of Council.
VOTE FOR – Cr Katie Milne (Mayor), Cr Chris Cherry (Deputy Mayor), Cr Reece Byrnes, C Ron Cooper, Cr James Owen
VOTE AGAINST – Cr Pryce Allsop, Cr Warren Polglase.

Confluence

A gathering about the serious business of water. read more

Resolution on ‘No Water Mining’ at Tweed Shire Council Meeting Thursday 15 November 2018

Taken from Minutes of the Meeting..

6 [NOM-Cr K Milne] Removal of LEP clause 7.15 re Commercial Water Bottling Activities

Cr K Milne
Cr R Cooper
RESOLVED that:

1. Council re-instigates a more comprehensive planning proposal to remove clause 7.15 of the Tweed Local Environment Plan to prohibit water extraction for commercial water bottling facilities in light of the precautionary principle in regard to the long term sustainability of this activity, safety and amenity concerns, wear and tear on unsuitable rural roads, and the high level of opposition in the community for this activity.
2. The Planning Proposal to be progressed as a matter of the highest priority and the Gateway application be brought to Council for endorsement.
3. Council requests support for urgent action on this planning proposal from the NSW Minister for Planning Anthony Roberts, the Minister for Regional Water Niall Blair, and our local State members.

The Motion was Carried
FOR VOTE – Cr C Milne, Cr C Cherry, Cr R Cooper, Cr R Byrnes
AGAINST VOTE – Cr W Polglase, Cr P Allsop
ABSENT. DID NOT VOTE – Cr J Owen

The detailed Background Notes on this motion are available at Item 6 in the 15 November Meeting Agenda

Protest Water Mining Saturday 27th November 10am at Uki

Bring signs you make or red triangles, wear red (for Stop) or blue (for clean water.)

Call on governments at all levels to ban water extraction for commercial bottling unless there is prior public approval.

Meet in the little park next to the Uki Hall.

Inquiry into water augmentation in rural and regional New South Wales

The NSW Legislative Council’s General Purpose Standing Committee No.5 is currently conducting an inquiry into water augmentation in rural and regional New South Wales.

The closing date for submissions is14 August 2016.

The inquiry will take place over 18 months, and the committee intends to hold public hearings across rural and regional New South Wales, following the closing date for submissions.

Terms of reference.

More information.

Draft Water Sharing Plan for the North Coast Coastal Sands Groundwater Sources

The draft Water Sharing Plan for the North Coast Coastal Sands Groundwater Sources includes proposed rules for protecting the environment, water extractions, managing licence holders’ water accounts, and water trading in the plan area.

The draft plan area comprises all coastal sand aquifers from the Queensland border to the Hawkesbury River.

Set back distances from the boundary of National Parks estates has been identified as a specific Key Issue within the plan area.

Report Card for the Tweed – Brunswick Coastal Sands

Draft Water Sharing Plan for the North Coast Coastal Sands Groundwater Sources

CEC submission

Tweed water supply augmentation

At Council meeting on 10th December the following motion was passed on the casting vote of the Mayor.

Mayoral Minute Water Supply Augmentation

1. Based on the information currently available, Council adopts the raising of the wall of the Clarrie Hall Dam as the preferred option for future water security and proceeds with the planning approval and land acquisitions phase for the project.

2. Concurrently a comprehensive independent review of Council’s Water Supply-Demand options is undertaken as a matter of priority, to ascertain further consideration of the most ecologically sustainable, climate change resilient, cost effective and socially acceptable long term water management and augmentation options available. Such a review should include, but not be limited to, a full range of demand management, drought security and supply options.

3. The community working group that was previously established to consider the water augmentation options be reconvened (with the exception for new Councillor representatives, and any vacancies to be advertised), to recommend the terms of reference for the review, recommend the selection criteria and weightings for selecting a preferred consultant for the review, and as a project reference group for the review.

http://www.tweeddailynews.com.au/news/mayor-sinks-byrrill-creek-plan/2870042/

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MORATORIUM ON BYRRILL CREEK DAM MAY BE RESCINDED

COUNCIL MEETING THURSDAY 10TH DECEMBER

Cr. Barry Longland, Byrne & Polglase have proposed a rescission on the 20 year Moratorium on Byrrill Creek Dam at the Council Meeting Thursday 10th December.

Cr Caroline Byrne has also proposed to approve preliminary plans to move forward on both Byrrill Creek Dam and the raising of Clarrie Hall Dam. See Meeting Agenda Item 31 below.

Your help with Letters to the Editor & emails to Cr Barry Longland asap would be really appreciated. And a good Attendance at the Council Meeting from 4pm on is really important.

Councillor Barry Longland: blongland@tweed.nsw.gov.au
Tweed Valley Weekly: editor@the weekly.net.au
Tweed Daily News: letters@tweeddailynews.com.au
Byron Echo: editor@echo.net.au

Dot Points for letters- Please write in your own words

Removing the Council moratorium on building a dam at Byrrill Creek gives the opportunity for the State Government to intervene and take the decision to build a dam at Byrrill Creek out of Tweed Councils hands entirely..

The Byrrill Creek area is too high in conservation & ecological values to consider a dam there.

Despite our reservations,(due to Cr Longland’s support of the rescission motion) it is time to accept that the pre approval plans for raising of Clarrie Hall Dam need to be supported now ( as the lesser of the 2 evils). Clarrie Hall has been shown as the top priority of the Council Staff Report of the 19th November, as the most cost effective way to proceed.

We also request that, at the same time, the Councils Demand Management Strategy & Water Options be examined by an independent body, specifically the Institute for Sustainable Futures, to explore sustainable solutions to Tweeds Water Augmentation.

To move forward on approvals for both dams is a pointless and very costly waste of ratepayers money. By 2036 the shire needs approx 4,000ML extra water. The proposed large Byrrill Creek Dam is 36,000ML & the raised Clarrie Hall Dam is 22,700ML.- Put together this is an oversupply of 54,000ML!

For some environmental facts on the Byrrill Creek area visit http://www.byrrillcreek.com/

Council Meeting Thursday 10 December 2015
Agenda Item 31 Page 212

Byrrill Creek Dam Site read more

COUNCIL VOTES ON DAM ISSUES THIS THURS 19th 4pm at Council Chambers.

Yes we knew it could resurface and it’s not much warning!

Please come along & support the No Dam at Byrrill Creek cause.

The Council’s Staff Report recommends raising the Clarrie Hall Dam as the first choice. The report highlights the risks and expense of a dam at Byrrill Creek over the Clarrie Hall option. They have also looked at 2 pipeline options to link into SE QLD water- No sustainable solutions have been included as water supply options.

At present there is a 20 year Council moratorium on Byrrill Creek Dam (May 2012) but this can be overturned by a future Council.

The former CWG members are getting a statement together & a few people are planning to address Council in Community Access at 4pm.

To find more info http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Controls/Meetings/Documents/CouncilAgenda19November2015.pdf

Item 24

[E-CM] Water Supply Augmentation – Selection of Preferred OptionAlso Attachment 1 -Comparison of Water Supply Options (below Agenda)

page 129-146

You can also check out the Byrrill Creek website which we are updating: http://www.byrrillcreek.com

Your Support is Really Appreciated,

Joanna Gardner.- Save Byrrill Creek – 66797039

CEC on Geo-Engineering, Fluoride, EMR, nano-particles etc

The Caldera Environment Centre

The CEC is a serious environmental organisation and is concerned with tangible environmental issues such as land-clearance, illegal development, and enforcement of environmental regulation. The current energy being devoted to issues such as geo-engineering, chem-trails, fluoride and other conspiracy theories is not something we support in any way at all. The CEC was embarrassed to learn that our latest World Environment Day event we had people promoting these ideas, they were not invited and applied under false pretences and will be excluded from future events.

Ultimately, the issues of fluoride, vaccines and geo-engineering are a DISTRACTION and saps the energy of people on the left. If we united behind a common cause and became motivated we can move mountains. We proved this with the anti-CSG campaign. However, while we chase red-herrings with issues like Fluoride as a collective movement we will achieve nothing but ridicule.

These conspiracies are a distraction, probably funded by the fossil-fuel lobby to keep people distracted and chasing phantoms instead of focusing on real environmental issues.

Did you know the North coast has no environmental protection? Planning laws are being rewritten to favour developers, the threatened species act is about to be re-written by the conservative government (who took away our meagre environmental protections in the first place). Koala’s are going extinct… and we worry about vaccines.

This is the formula of the Tobacco industry and other multinational industries when confronted with overwhelming opposition. The divestment movement is gaining momentum. Renewable energy is becoming more and more widespread, the science of climate change is irrefutable and the effects are now noticeable. What does an industry do when confronted with a changing social reality?

Step 1: Create doubt, obfuscate arguments about climate change with
straw men and red herrings.

Step 2: Attack opposition, discredit politicians and scientists and citizens working on real change,

Step 3: DIVIDE THE OPPOSITION- having everyone on the left united against the fossil fuel industry would be/could be the basis of legitimate social revolution. Why not use a few millions of their petro-billionaire fortunes to create misinformation and distractions for gullible types to make them stare at clouds, protest fluoride, vaccines, EMR or other stuff instead of focusing on the main game i.e. positive change and taking out the fossil fuel barons?

The idea that there may be some form of geo-engineering happening that is responsible for the climate-change signature is a nonsense. It is just another excuse for inaction, akin to the argument “my (personal/national) footprint is so small it doesn’t matter if I change while there is this other stuff going on”. By dispersing the people on the left, we waste time debating unprovable stuff like this instead of doing something meaningful with our lives. Now we have protests about fluoride! Buy a water filter and let’s all move on with our lives.

And while this nonsense dominates people’s minds koalas are going extinct. There is No Local Environmental Plan for the north coast, no regional environmental Plan, state planning laws about to be re-written, state environmental laws about to be rewritten, sustainability has been redefined in economic connotations, the
federal government pushing dams… THESE are the real conspiracies.

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Shutting off Tap Water: Revenge of the Rainforest

by Robert Hunziker / February 27th, 2015
From Dissident Voice

Imagine this scenario: The following is a Public Service Announcement by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Water, July 4, 2015: Because of low water levels in state reservoirs, the Division of Water proclaims a statewide water-rationing program. Starting next month, on August 1st, 2015, water service will turn off at 1:00 P.M. on a daily basis for an indeterminate period of time. Service will return the following morning.

Now, imagine a city the size of the State of New York with its 20 million people subjected to the same water-rationing plan. As it happens, São Paulo, capital city of Brazil, home to 20 million, is such a city. The water is turned off every day at 1:00 P.M., as reported by Donna Bowater.1

Brazil contains an estimated 12% of the world’s fresh water, but São Paulo is running dry.

Fatally, the city’s Cantareira Water Reservoir (water resource for 6.2 million of the city’s 20 million) is down to 6% of capacity, yes, six percent! The city’s other reservoirs are also dangerously low. Perilously, São Paulo’s days of water supply are numbered.

What’s the Problem?

Deforestation, the nearly complete disappearance of the Atlantic Forest and continuing deforestation of the Amazon, that’s the problem. Forests have an innate ability to import moisture and to cool down and to favor rain, which is what makes “regional climates” so unique.

According to one of Brazil’s leading earth scientist and climatologist, Dr. Antonio Nobre, Earth System Science Centre and Chief Science Advisor, National Institute for Research in the Amazon, Brazil: “There is a hot dry air mass sitting down here [São Paulo] like an elephant and nothing can move it… If deforestation in the Amazon continues, São Paulo will probably dry up.”2

According to Dr. Nobre: “Vegetation-climate equilibrium is teetering on the brink of the abyss. If it tips, the Amazon will start to become a much drier savanna, with calamitous consequences.”3

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Tweed Shire- unbottled water best

Echonetdaily reports on Tweed Shire initiative to discourage consumption of bottled water

Council water-unit officer Elizabeth Seidl said in the article that ‘Australia’s annual consumption of bottled water exceeds 600 million litres, even though Australians are able to drink some of the best tap water in the world.

Ms Seidl said the safety of the Tweed’s tap water ‘is equal to the best bottled water and better than most’.

She also said bottled water caused major environmental problems with discarded bottles creating ‘massive amounts of landfill and litter on our streets and beaches’.

‘Significant resources are also needed to bottle, transport and refrigerate water, especially if that water is imported from overseas,’ she said.

‘The manufacture of plastic water bottles squanders a non-renewable resource, oil, and the road and air miles generated by transporting bottled water are a significant generator of greenhouse gases.

‘The refrigeration needed for bottled water also causes emissions and bottled spring water can sometimes put unsustainable pressure on natural aquifers,’ she said.

But Mr Parker claims ‘the argument by a council representative that the Tweed region has great quality tap water and therefore they don’t need it in vending machines shows a misunderstanding by the council of consumer behaviour and the impact of obesity and chronic disease.

For all the reasons given above, it is clearly preferable to drink Unbottled water, unless it is fresh from your creek,river or filtered rainwater. Tweed Shire Council has made great efforts to provide residents with drinkable water, especially from the highest quality water treatment/filtration plant at Bray Park. However questions need to be asked about the additives (currently present or proposed) such as Chlorine, Flouride, and others even more harmful.
Also because of the deteriorated state of the pipes and the distances it travels,water monitoring will likely show a significant difference in quality at Bray Park, Murwillumbah and Tweed heads.
Much can still be done to improve what comes out of the tap.

June 2012 Water Workshops

Caldera Environment Centre media statement

June 2012 Water Workshops

The CEC was proud to have been a co-sponsor of these water workshops and it was refreshing to have such informative presentations on sustainable development in our community. Dr Litowski from the Sydney Olympic Park Authority has demonstrated that ecologically sustainable development is possible; the technology is here in Australia and has been in place for nearly20 years. “Most importantly for the nay-sayers to realise is that these technologies won’t bankrupt you and they can actually improve the marketing potential of the finished development”, said Mr Sam Dawson, CEC secretary.

Mr Thompson of Geolink, has reviewed council supplied data and has confirmed that the public needs to be sceptical of council and its claims that the shire “needs” a dam. “A dam is completely unnecessary” said Mr Dawson who also stated in his introductory talk at the Saturday workshop, dams are a modern form of pyramid building; they are a 20th century solution for a 21st century problem, and are terribly destructive.

The Saturday workshop was also a welcome opportunity to sit down with the representative of the Shire’s largest housing developer, LEDA and hear their side of the story. This was very informative and helps us as a community group better understand the pressures facing industry and business in our area.

“From what I heard at the workshops, the ball is squarely in the council’s court” said CEC secretary Sam Dawson. “It is up to the TSC to set standards and goals for the community and for businesses and developers. Without inspirational leadership, there is no incentive for business to improve the quality of its developments and become ecologically sustainable. Developers are merely victims of market forces and won’t undertake ambitious initiatives without prompting by council to do so.”

The CEC advocates greater autonomy of residents and is supportive of technologies that enable people to be independent.

For further information contact

Sam Dawson, Secretary, CEC .

P: 0266727765

M: 0499 146568

E: caldera@calderaenvironmentcentre.org