NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change assumed responcibility for Lake Tabourie

In April 2007, the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW assumed responsibility for many of the lakes, rivers and estuaries within NSW. The details of which are outlined on their web site www.naturalresources.nsw.gov.au/estuaries/

The Objective of this policy is to;
To manage the rivers and estuaries of NSW in ways which,
* Slow, halt or reverse the overall rate of degradation in their systems,
* Ensure the long-term sustainability of their essential biophysical functions
* Maintain the beneficial use of these resources.

After reading through the numerous documents listed on this site it is quite obvious that under the terms and conditions of the NSW State Rivers and Estuaries Policy there is a requirement to maintain and restore the natural order of these resources and Lake Tabourie certainly falls under that category.

So who is responsible for implementing this care?

To quote directly from the policy "The NSW Government will rely upon its agencies, local authorities and the community to translate the suite of component polices into practical management strategies. In offering a more coordinated and intensified encouragement role, the NSW Government looks forward to working with the community to achieve the Policy's objectives, so that the rivers and estuaries will continue to provide a quality environment, supporting a full range of community needs and amenities"
As required Shaolhaven Council implemented the Lake Tabourie Estuary Management Plan March 1997. [This can be found on the above website under "Major Estuaries of NSW" scroll to Lake Tabourie, open this file which is specific to Lake Tabourie]

The Management plan is actioned and reviewed by a committee, The Far South Natural Resource and Floodplain Management Committee and is currently under review. This committee is made up of Council and members of the local cummunity. At present the van park is not represented. I do feel the van park should have representation after all between three and five thounsand people visit Lake Tabourie tourist park annually, most regualr visitors.

One initiative the committee took was a community survey date July 2009 to evaluate if there had been change in the things that people valued about the lake, or the issues that need to be managed. The results confirm the thoughts and opinions we all share. The lake is a fantastic resource that we all enjoy, however, it has declined to a shallow, stinky undesirable swamp and the people want it fixed, they want the entrance opened and the lakes natural well being restored.

We need to support this process to ensure the appropriate action is taken to restore and maintain the lake in a fashion that upholds the objectives of the NSW State Rivers an d Estuaries Policy. Time is running short as the review meeting will be held in March this year, the committee is open to suggestions and ideas on what should be done to resolve this, so I am looking for feed back and suggestions that we can present.

Polution, smell, algae, silting, water quality and cleanliness and the enterance are the main factors.