PHOTO: Water flowing over the Homestead Dam fishway at Toorale. Source: Matthew Gordos, NSW DPI, Fisheries.
Walgett mayor Jason Ramien has said that a NSW Government proposal for the Calmundi, Banarway and Louth weirs came about because “they haven’t been listening to the community” but it now looks like the Department in charge might be changing course.
“We want more water security, not less,” Cr Ramien told the Western Plains App.
“People actually want those weirs heightened, not reduced. The community does not want the current design at all.”
The department’s plan was ‘to install a fishway in a small section of the (Louth) weir so fish can pass over when there is enough water in the river.’
They say they are not proposing to reduce the height of the entire weir or remove the Louth, Calmundi and Banarway weirs.
The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) told the Western Plains App it will be upgrading the weirs later in the year “to fix leaks and lock in better water security for landholders”…