Ms BADGER – Minister, the 2024 State of the Environment Report was pretty clear on the state of Tasmania’s rivers, particularly the need for greater monitoring of river health, downstream wetland health as well.
In 2001, prior to Basslink coming on board, there was a series of quite intense studies done into what the change in release for hydro-powered generation of water would mean for various rivers’ health. That was an incredibly pivotal study. It found the conditions of the meromictic lakes and how they had deteriorated significantly, among other things. Those flow studies under the projected Marinus release rates haven’t been done, but the decision on Marinus has been made. When are we going to have the river flow and the environmental flow reports for all the affected rivers under Marinus? I note that we’ve asked Hydro and they didn’t have it, so I’m coming to your department.
Mr PEARCE – You rightly point out that this is a Hydro issue, however, I’m going to genuinely try to answer as much as I can. Bear in mind I don’t have numbers that Hydro would normally have.
Ms BADGER – Sure.
Mr PEARCE – The stream flow, water quality, and groundwater data collected by NRE Tas is publicly available on the NRE Tas Water Information web portal, as is stream flow data from Tasmanian Irrigation. Hydro has some selected Tasmanian sites but not all, but there are some there.
NRE Tas also publishes river health monitoring results for 53 long‑term river health monitoring sites via the NRE Water Information Tasmanian web portal. River health monitoring focuses on macroinvertebrates, riverbed sentiment, algae, riparian habitat indicators. It looks at things like – in spring 2024 sampling surveys for river health monitoring were processed and analysed and the 2025 autumn sampling survey has been completed. That’s up on the site – the portal that I talked about.
As part of the Tasmanian government’s rural water use strategy – this is a different system now, known as the Drivers of Change project – has undertaken monthly water‑quality sampling for nutrients, physiochemical and bacteria at 50 sites across the state. Detailed water health investigations have been undertaken in the Leven, Pipers, Ringarooma and Mountain River catchments and this project is improving our science and understanding of the likely causes of any changes in waterway health. It’s really helpful as we build a holistic strategic picture. That’s about where I’m at and the extent of it.
Ms BADGER – Can I take from your answer that you’re not currently actively in partnership with Hydro to monitor affected river health under what would be projected flows, not current monitoring – the projected flows.
Mr PEARCE – We certainly work collaboratively with Hydro.
Ms BADGER – Yes, but you’re not doing any work on environmental flows under Marinus specifically?
Mr PEARCE – No.
Ms BADGER – Thank you. Next question. Minister, in 2019, the department completed a review of trends in river health in Tasmania. It’s a review that’s been much discussed by the Greens in parliament ever since because it showed a significant and disconcerting decline in river health across many locations, as the State of the Environment Report also articulated.
Since the release of this report, which I note was through an RTI, the Greens have been questioning what legislative, regulatory and policy reforms the government would undertake to reverse the trend of declining river health. In a briefing earlier this year I was told that many of these important matters would be considered under a paper that would be called the Strategic Directions for Healthy Waterways, which was was due this year, but since then the delivery timeline for that paper has been delayed to 2027. I was wondering why the delay around that paper. Who made the decision? Whether funding was part of it?
Mr PEARCE – Thanks for the question. It’s important question. The subject matter expert we have in the room, his name’s Bryce Graham. What this bloke doesn’t know about our waterways, isn’t worth knowing. Thanks, Bryce.
Mr GRAHAM – Good evening, everybody. I’m Bryce Graham. I’m acting Director of Water Management. Your question regarding the strategic directions on waterway health, that’s specifically your question, why it’s been delayed, is that correct?
Ms BADGER – Yes.
Mr GRAHAM – Thank you. It’s a policy project under the Healthy Waterway suite of projects under the rural water use strategy. It will set up the road map of roles and responsibilities for river health and water quality management and monitoring. It will also identify gaps and seek to improve governance arrangements.
The project is yet to commence, with scoping of this project to commence in the first half of 2026. We’ve had a lot of projects on, Ms Badger. We are getting around to it. It is listed in the 2025‑27 Rural Water Use implementation plan released on 16 November and it’s listed to commence in 2025‑26 and be completed in 2026‑27.
This project will rely on the outcomes of some of the other waterway health rural water use strategy projects being developed, including the Drivers of Change, as mentioned by the minister, and waterway health projects currently underway and due for completion by June 2026. That’s what I have about that.
Ms BADGER – Yes, absolutely. Just the other aspect of that question, and sorry, I think we might have been a bit distracting while asking it. It was just around the funding, and I know it because it’s under the Rural Water Use strategy. There was ongoing funding of around $200,000 – off the top of my head in previous budgets – and in this one there’s $440,000, but it’s just for this year, not in the forward Estimates. I just wanted to clear up that it’s reliant on the results of other studies, as you say, and that funding or a lack thereof, is not impinging on the release of this report.
Mr GRAHAM – Not that I’m aware of, no. That $440,000 that was in the Budget for this year is for implementation and advancement of the water information management system. Also looking at the collaborative statewide water quality monitoring program. That’s what that funding is going to.
Through you, minister. May I also talk about the Hydro management, you talked about in your previous question. Each year Hydro provides us with their environmental plan for the year and we engage with Hydro every quarter on their environmental monitoring and what they do and they provide us with inputs and the like. To date I haven’t seen the latest one, sorry, I have seen the one for – I have to get the year right – 2024‑25 I have. I’m not sure about 2025‑26, I’d have to check on that. I’d have to see what the projects are in there for that, but I cannot tell you whether there is anything in Marinus on there until I check that number.
Ms BADGER – Can we take that on notice just through you, minister, is that alright? Take what you might have on projected Marinus?
Mr PEARCE – Yeah
Ms BADGER – Thank you.
