On Saturday May 23rd, two new bridged channels were unveiled with a Healing of Sea Country event to coincide with World Fish Migration Day, celebrating an important milestone in the rehabilitation and conservation of the Panboola wetlands.
Panboola is a thriving coastal wetland on the NSW Far South Coast, well known for its birdlife and saltmarshes. For the last three years, WRL has been assisting the NSW Government and local Pambula community in understanding ways to ensure the values provided by Panboola remain well into the future.
The wetland, once an old racecourse, is an extremely popular walking track valued by the community, however the track acts as a levee reducing natural tidal flows to a section of the estuary and floodplain.
WRL partnered with NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries, to complete extensive technical investigations into the hydrological conditions across the site to understand the dynamic linkages between freshwater and tidal environments. The project also included the design of adaptation works, replacing drainage pipes with two bridged channels, to improve the sites resilience to future threats such as sea level rise and climate change.
Panboola wetlands channel design. Illustrations by Anna Blacka.
On Saturday May 23rd, the two new bridged channels were unveiled with a Healing of Sea Country event to coincide with World Fish Migration Day, celebrating an important milestone in the rehabilitation and conservation of the Panboola wetlands.
Despite the rain the event was well attended by the local community, with a warm Welcome to Country by Uncle BJ Cruse (Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council), a healing smoking ceremony by the Duurunu Miru Dancers, and presentations by the Hon Kristy McBain MP (Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories and Minister for Emergency Management), Dr Michael Holland MP (Member for Bega), Max Osborne (NSW Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries) and the Panboola Wetland Volunteers.
Key WRL staff involved in the restoration work over the years have been Principal Engineers Toby Tucker and Alice Harrison, Senior Engineer Fred Chaaya, Project Engineer Margot Mason, Dr Laura Montano and Anna Blacka.
To read more about WRL’s work in the Panboola wetlands, and view the live cameras, visit the WRL projects page here:
