Debnam Kayaks To Announce River Plan

[mrmoshe]

Debnam kayaks to announce river plan

NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam kayaked up the Hawkesbury-Nepean River today to announce his plan to restore the health of the weed-choked waterway.

A day after going scuba diving in Botany Bay to highlight the damage he says the State Government's planned desalination plant would do to local marine life, Mr Debnam's penchant for water sports continued as he examined the state of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River aboard a kayak.

Mr Debnam and the Liberal candidate for Londonderry, Bart Bassett, said a coalition government would buy a weed harvester for the river, significantly increase environmental flows, and conduct a commission of inquiry into longwall mining of the Nepean and Bargo rivers.

"Today, Bart Bassett and I have kayaked up the Hawkesbury-Nepean River to inspect the river's health first-hand," Mr Debnam said.

"The recent rain in the area has increased the river's flow and washed some of the weed away.

"This highlights the importance of maintaining environmental flows to improve the health of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River."

Mr Debnam said the Opposition's water plan to provide 86 gigalitres of recycled water would enhance environmental flows in the Hawkesbury-Nepean and other rivers.

"As a first priority, we will use this new purified recycled water to take the strain off the existing drinking water supply in our dams by substituting it for water currently used for agriculture, industry and environmental flows in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River," he said.

"The increased environmental flows in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River will help improve the health of the river, helping to tackle the salvinia and alligator weed and the egeria densa."