Traveston Crossing Dam - Opposition To The Dam

Opposition To The Dam

The proposed dam aroused opposition from many groups and organisations, from local farmers and fisherman to environmentalists and politicians (both nationally and internationally).

Fraser Island Defenders Organisation, John Sinclair, stated, "The dramatic reduction and almost total blockage of environmental flow into this most significant estuary will heavily impact on these very sensitive aspects of marine ecology."

The Australian Conservation Foundation campaigned for the protection of species such as the Mary River Turtle, the Queensland Lungfish and the Mary River Cod.

The Gubbi Gubbi Aboriginal people, whose land would have been affected by the dam, were offered an agreement by the Queensland government worth more than $1 million, which the Gubbi Gubbi people flatly refused. Regarding the Mary River Dam Dr Eve Fesl stated, “We said we would have nothing to do with it. We’re not going to sign away our history, our culture, the Mary Valley. No way,” and, “They couldn’t give a damn about the Mary River. They saw the dollar signs and they wet their pants,” she said. She also stated, "Our whole history and culture will be washed out if that dam is built. But not only that, a number of threatened species could be wiped out.”

Greens Senator Bob Brown said, "the dam should be opposed because it would flood thousands of hectares of prime food-producing land near Brisbane, Aboriginal heritage sites and the main nursery for the world famous Australian Lungfish. I've told the minister there is no way he should allow the major breeding ground for the Queensland Lungfish or the Mary River Turtle, or Mary River Cod, to be obliterated." "If the rest of Australia knew what damage was being proposed on the Mary River, they would stand up and stop this dreadful dam!"

Sunshine Coast Government MPs and environmentalists "called on the State Government to scrap the Traveston Dam after it yesterday revealed plans for desalination plants at Marcoola, Kawana and Bribie Island." Sunshine Coast Regional Council Mayor Bob Abbot "told thedaily.com.au the announcement confirmed what the Mary River council of mayors had been saying more than a year ago - that the Traveston Dam should be scrapped - and that alternatives such as desalination properly explored." Fiona Simpson stated, "this strategy and the Water Commissioner’s comments left no doubt that the Traveston Dam was a political decision and desalination was a better and more reliable option."

A University of Technology, Sydney report stated that "the proposed Traveston Dam near Gympie could pump up to 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere each year" and “even desalination, itself a last resort in a severe drought, would result in fewer emissions at 280,000 to 350,000 (annual tonnes) to yield the same quantity of water".

According to the Australian Conservation Foundation, "Eighty five per cent of Brisbane residents agree 'the Queensland Government should consider alternatives to building Traveston Dam' according to a poll released by the Australian Conservation Foundation".

The independent expert Associate Professor Keith Walker says that the mitigation and offset strategies such as the Freshwater Species Conservation Centre were inadequate, risky and ill-defined and that the proposed fish and turtle ladders were unproven.

"Don't Murray the Mary" Environmental campaigner Steve Posselt, who protested the dam by kayaking 861 kilometres (535 miles) to raise awareness of the environmental impact of damming the Mary River, stated that "Traveston Crossing Dam will be less than 2m deep over a great percentage of its area. Evaporation is somewhere between 1.5 to 2 metres (4 ft 10 in to 6 ft 7 in) per annum. Wivenhoe Dam is not a deep dam and suffers similarly from significant greenhouse gas generation. The longer the water level is low between fills, the more vegetation regeneration occurs. There is no escaping the fact that on an average annual basis large volumes of methane are produced when this vegetation rots. Methane is more than twenty times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2(Carbon dioxide)."

The Great Sandy Strait depends on the Mary River to sustain its complex ecosystem. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and is also of huge significance to Aboriginal Australian history. The Great Sandy Strait lies between the western fringes of World Heritage Listed Fraser Island and the south-east Queensland coast. Most of its eastern side is within the World Heritage Area and its beauty and unique ecology attract thousands of tourists annually. It is listed under the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Significance and is also one of Australia’s most important nesting sites for migratory trans-equatorial shorebirds.