LEC's main campaign focus is its water efficiency and quality.
Northern Waterway Assessment
Northern Waterway Assessment was a project conducted in 2003-2005 in a partnership with NRM North and the Launceston Environment Centre through funding received under the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust. The program was initiated to determine the state of water resources throughout northern Tasmania and to monitor and evaluate the results of on-ground actions taken to improve the condition of the environment. It also recognised that establishing and supporting volunteer involvement in water quality monitoring is a successful way of encouraging community awareness and participation in actions to improve the health of rivers and wetlands.
The Report
The Northern Water Monitoring Program report :
• Brings together and summarises water quality and stream condition data collected by different agencies in Northern Tasmania;
• Provides an indication of the water quality and river health of catchments within the NRM North region; and Identifies catchments with sites in poor condition as well as catchments with sites in relatively pristine condition that can be used for future benchmarking. Download the executive summary of the report - (2Mb in file size), or contact us so we can send out a CD ROM with the full report.
Tassie Water Savers
Tassie WaterSavers was an initiative of the Launceston Environment Centre to make northern and north-eastern Tasmania a world leader in water management.
It is a positive, pro-active campaign that provides educational services to the community on how they can reduce their water use by 15% and identifies what policies are needed to make water conservation in Tasmania a priority.
IMPORTANT
• The Launceston Environment Centre campaign to reduce water consumption in Tasmania’s north by 15% is under threat from the proposal to build a pulp mill near Launceston.
• Any water saving initiatives you implement at home will be a waste of time if the government and upper house approves the mill.
• For example, to save 34 million litres of water use a year in Launceston we would have to install 3000 low flow shower heads in houses across the city.
• That is a big effort which would be a complete waste of time when you consider the proposed pulp mill will use 500 million litres a week!
Four reasons to become a Tassie WaterSaver
1. Climate Change and water:
Tasmania is not immune from climate change and models show the north and north-east of the state will become drier. Add to that, the region is in the grip of a 1 in 100 year drought which will intensify over the summer.
Climate change means less water for our region so making savings now will ensure the hard landing of a new climate is a little softer for all of us and the environment.
Follow this link for the latest climate change predictions for Tasmania’s north
2. Industrial expansion, land use change and population growth:
Changing land use, such as the conversion of grazing land into plantations can reduce the amount of water entering into our rivers, creeks and groundwater.
View the report commissioned by the Launceston City Council examining the impact on flows into the North Esk River from land use change or download the full report - (file size is 4.6mb).
Industrial expansion in our region is a thirsty business. If approved , the proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley will use the same amount of water that would fill 27,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
The more the population grows in Tasmania the more water will be used in gardens, bathrooms and kitchens.
3. Saving you money:
The price of water delivered by Esk Water is now 56c per thousand litres so saving water will save you money.
4. Environmental flows:
The more water we save, the more water there is for the environment. We should look to our mainland cousins and learn by the terrible mistakes they have made to make sure our waterways do not suffer the same fate as the Murray-Darling system.
Keeping our rivers healthy ensure we maintain a healthy eco-system, maintain economic activity and promote social well being.
Reduced water flows in rivers and creeks can encourage weed growth, starve wetlands of water, kill riparian vegetation, alter breeding patterns of our native fish and birds and cause toxic algal blooms.
And it is not only the river that suffers. Siltation can build in estuaries meaning local communities have to pay for expensive dredging works. Dunes that protect the coast from storm and tidal activity are not replenished leaving our coastal communities and beaches vulnerable to erosion.
Healthy rivers are also important recreation areas for our communities and assist tourism.
As the Murray-Darling Basin is now clearly demonstrating, a healthy river system is also essential to the agricultural sector.
How to be a Tassie WaterSaver
Being a Tassie WaterSaver is easy! It is about taking practical steps to save water. It’s not just about talking, it’s about doing. By sharing information and then taking action we can reduce water consumption in northern Tasmania! Go on, download the Tassie WaterSaver brochures and start saving water right now!
• Saving Water in the Home - view online brochure (276Kb)
• Saving Water in the Garden - view online brochure (276Kb)
Stormwater harvesting!
Launceston is in a great position to harvest stormwater.
The original planners of Launceston implemented a dual water system where both sewage and stormwater are collected together. This presents Launceston with an amazing opportunity to use captured stormwater in our industry, farms, parks and gardens.
Treated stormwater could be directed to all new subdivisions where it could be used to water gardens, clean cars and flush the loo. Treated stormwater could be used by industry, such as directing harvested stormwater to the proposed pulp mill. Or, the farming community could benefit with the introduction of a stormwater irrigation area in Tasmania’s north.
For our region to be a world leader in water management, we need to do some of these things and make use of the stormwater we capture in our homes, gardens and businesses.
Download (this will be available soon) our fact sheet on stormwater harvesting