HANDS OFF OUR WATER

Kiama Councillor Trevor Fredericks and Kiama Liberal Candidate Ann Sudmalis inspect the Minnamurra River.

FEARS have been voiced that the Minnamurra River could be put at risk if the state government goes ahead with plans to extract water from underground aquifers in Kangaloon.

The state government is testing aquifers near Robertson with a view to extracting water to ease the current water crisis.

It is also considering extracting an additional 30 billion litres from the Shoalhaven River taking the annual total to 105 billion litres.

Kiama Council is writing a letter to Premier Morris Iemma outlining their concerns for both the Minnamurra and Shoalhaven Rivers if the extraction goes ahead.

The NSW Govt has not completed essential scientific and environmental testing of the Kangaloon Aquifer to ensure there is not a detrimental impact on surrounding springs if the water was to be extracted, Cr Trevor Fredericks said.

The Minnamurra River is spring fed and runs through the Minnamurra Rainforest.

The rainforest is one of the most significant subtropical rainforests in southern NSW, and

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relies on the river flow for its survival.

Council has serious concerns the extraction of water from the Kangaloon aquifer could see the Minnamurra River stop flowing, an occurrence which would have huge effects for the towns environment, farmers, residents and tourism.

Liberal candidate for the seat of Kiama, Ann Sudmalis, has also weighed in to the debate saying it would be a far better alternative to recycle Sydneys storm and wastewater than extract water from the aquifers.

If this goes ahead there are potentially three ecosystems at risk here with the Minnamurra and Shoalhaven rivers as well as Lake Illawarra all likely to be affected, she said.

There has been a huge aquifer identified under the Sydney Basin with an estimated yearly potential of 4 billion litres of water.

This is something that should be explored first before accessing the relatively small yield of the Southern Highlands aquifers.

There is even the possibility of topping up the Sydney aquifer with storm water run off.

This option has got to be thoroughly investigated so I call on the NSW Government to end the madness of a scheme to rob the Southern Highlands of its scarce and environmentally sensitive water sources, Mrs Sudmalis said.

In response, Kiama MP Matt Brown slammed both Mr Fredericks and Mrs Sudmalis comments claiming the pair were starting an irresponsible scare campaign.

Those aquifers actually put water in dams around here, he said.

The aquifers act as our first back up under the metropolitan water plan.

The river is not going to dry up the catchment is much bigger than that. Some of the aquifers are as deep as 200 metres, Mr Brown said.