Options to improve the Big Swamp north of Taree will be scrutinised in a $25,000 study.
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Member for Port Macquarie, Leslie Williams this week announced the State government had allocated $25,000 to MidCoast Council to do a cost benefit analysis and distributional analysis of options for the remediation of the Big Swamp. The money was awarded to council under the Coastal and Estuary Grants Program which provides technical and financial support to local government to help with managing the coastal zone.
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“During the early 1900’s a large portion of the Big Swamp was drained to reclaim the land for agriculture. It was previously a large wetland that fed into Cattai Creek and supported an extensive assortment of wildlife, particularly birdlife. The combination of extensive drainage and sulfidic subsoils has acidified the soil and adjacent waterways,” Mrs Williams said.
“The whole area, covering around 2000 hectares, is now acidic which negatively impacts on water quality, aquatic ecology, oyster production and commercial and recreational fishing.”
"The Big Swamp is now the focus of a broad acre acid sulfate soil remediation project within the Pipeclay Canal – Cattai Creek catchment which has been identified as one of the worst ASS hotspots in the State,” Mrs Williams said.
The funding allocation supports council’s goal to “keep on pursuing funding so the project can be continued as around 1200 hectares of land within the Big Swamp project area is still producing acid sulfate runoff into the Manning River.”
MidCoast Council will “also continue to monitor a range of environmental indicators on site to determine how successful the project has been and to guide future remediation efforts.”