Tomago Wetland restoration project
Winner of the 2013 National Trust of Australia鈥檚 Award for Conservation, and 2014 Engineering Excellence Award.
Winner of the 2013 National Trust of Australia鈥檚 Award for Conservation, and 2014 Engineering Excellence Award.
Since 2004, WRL has been working in collaboration with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) and the Department of Primary Industries (NSW Fisheries) to transform the Tomago Wetlands site from a large acidic landscape into a restored productive tidal wetland. The wetland is being created to compensate for migratory wading bird habitat destroyed elsewhere in the lower Hunter River estuary.
The project has been joint-funded by NSW Fisheries, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Hunter Region Local Land Services (formerly Hunter River Catchment Management Authority) with in-kind support provided by WRL. Advice and assistance from the Hunter Bird Observers Club (HBOC) has been provided throughout the project.
The specific challenge faced by the Tomago Wetland Restoration听Project was to design and build a system that would naturally encourage salt marsh regeneration, an ecological community in serious decline in NSW. Salt marsh requires very specific hydrological and water quality conditions. The engineering challenge was to deliver the right volume of water, to the right place, at the right depth, at the right time and at the right salinity to allow nature to flourish and generate salt marsh.
Previous projects have taken a trial and error 鈥渟hot gun鈥 approach to restoration with limited success. The engineering design and assessment approach applied to research, planning and on-ground solutions at Tomago Wetland sets a new standard in engineering practice and has been highly successful.
Key features of the project include:
This project utilised innovative engineering practice to create > 400 hectares of thriving wetlands attracting thousands of migratory birds.听The methods and on-ground practices developed from this project are now being used at other sites including large restoration projects on the Manning, Clarence, Shoalhaven and Macleay Rivers in NSW.听The site is also used as听a demonstration site听to train practitioners in 鈥淲etland Hydrology and Restoration鈥.
Two aspects that showcase leading practice are:
A primary aspect of this project is听avoiding the 鈥榯rial by error鈥櫶齛pproach common to most environmental restoration projects.听As such, all planning for the project focused on听sustainable, environmentally mature outcomes.听This is unique in environmental projects and limits long-term maintenance costs.
Environmental sustainability was delivered by:
The community is the obvious beneficiary in this project with:
Various challenges were overcome with innovative solutions.听Examples include:
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The recent sighting of thousands of migratory shorebirds is the best demonstration that the project achieved what it set out to accomplish.
Parts of this restoration project were funded by the NSW Government under the Marine Estate Management Strategy. The ten-year Strategy was developed by the NSW Marine Estate Management Authority to coordinate the management of the marine estate. WRL would also like to thank NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services, the Department of Primary Industries (NSW Fisheries),听Hunter Bird Observers Club and Hunter Local Land Services for their valuable contributions.
Images of birdlife at Tomago provided by听Ann Lindsey, Hunter Bird Observers Club.
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