Environmental values of the Williams River

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What will Australia be losing if the Williams River is dammed (and damned)?

A home for many native species

The Williams River has its source in the Barrington Tops National Park—

The area slated to be flooded is home to Regent Honey eaters, Swift parrots, bandicoot and Spotted Tailed quolls – all of whom would lose their homes under the dams’s waters. Photo: Vanessa Culliford

parts of which are World Heritage Listed. It is home to many species, such as:

•    Regent Honey eaters
•    Swift parrots
•    Bandicoot
•    Spotted Tailed quolls
•    Possums
•    Platypus
•    Long-necked turtles
•    Fresh water crayfish
•    Five species of mussels
•    Fish such as bass, mullet, eel and bullrout
•    And many more

A healthy river contains a mix of many different habitats, from tree lined banks where possums play to the still, shady waters favoured by platypus.  Snagged branches moved around by the rivers swirling waters help to create sheltered habitats for baby fish and other creatures.

Wetlands of international significance

In 1984, the Hunter Estuary Wetlands were declared a Ramsar site, including the Kooragang Nature Reserve and the Shortland Wetlands. The Ramsar Convention (The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands. It exists to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future. It recognises the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value. 

This means that these wetlands, and their conservation, are of international significance. Birds from as far away as Japan and China rely on these wetlands for their migration.

A biodiversity haven

The wetlands contain a huge variety of habitats, including:
•    Expanses of mangrove
•    Saltmarsh areas
•    Creekside woodlands
•    Patches of lowland floodplain rainforest
•    Seasonal freshwater wetlands

As home to twenty-seven threatened species, over 180 species of birds (including twenty-four migratory species), forty-two species of fish and crustaceans, fifteen species of frog, ten species of bat and over 300 species of indigenous plants—this area is a biodiversity haven, under threat.

Tillgera Dam will unnecessarily destroy this pristine environment.

If constructed, Tillegra Dam will capture and store flood waters, denying downstream wetlands their usual regular, life-giving flooding. This will devastate complex ecological processes and spell disaster for the animals and plants that call this area home.
The Lower Hunter is the only urban region in Australia without water restrictions. Current water storages are over 93%. The volume of water that would be stored in Tillegra Dam would give an absurd and unnecessary level of water supply—at the cost of an irreplaceable ecosystem and habitat.