Six months out from the NSW election, the Minns Government is moving to deliver on its promise to help “fix” the Richmond River, with a dedicated coordinator to take charge of the long-running clean-up effort.

The Richmond River Catchment Coordinator will oversee a new integrated approach to managing one of the most degraded river systems in NSW, bringing government agencies, councils and community groups together across the entire catchment.

It is a significant move for a river which has been the subject of countless studies, plans and promises, but where responsibility for its deteriorating health has long been spread across different government agencies and councils.

The integrated catchment management approach is particularly significant because better coordination was identified as a pressing need during extensive community consultation undertaken more than a decade ago by the Richmond Rivers Rescue group, which spearheaded a major community campaign to restore the river.

The Richmond will now become the first NSW catchment used to demonstrate how an Integrated Catchment Management approach could work.

The coordinator will lead day-to-day work across government and with local organisations and develop a Richmond River Catchment Improvement Plan, bringing existing priorities, projects and funding together under a common roadmap.

North Coast Minister Janelle Saffin said accountability was at the heart of the announcement.

“Everyone wants government to be more accountable for driving better outcomes for the Richmond River and to ensure the work that is needed to be done, is done,” Ms Saffin said.

“We all know the Richmond River needs to be cleaned up, but where do we start? What do we concentrate on first? We need a roadmap to do that.

“This Coordinator will give us the roadmap, the pathway forward in agreement with the relevant authorities with community involved every step of the way.”

Funding for troubled Tuckean Swamp

The announcement also includes $500,000 in new funding to rehabilitate Tuckean Swamp, one of the most problematic areas affecting water quality in the lower Richmond.

The sprawling wetland has been extensively drained since the 1800s, dramatically altering its natural hydrology and contributing acidic and oxygen-depleted water to the river.

The Tuckean has been repeatedly linked to the Richmond’s notorious blackwater events and mass fish kills following floods. Government and scientific work has identified former wetlands including Tuckean as important sources of the low-oxygen water behind major fish kills. 

The new Tuckean Swamp Blue Carbon Demonstration Site project will investigate restoring tidal connectivity in an effort to improve water quality and make the ecosystem more resilient.

It follows another devastating blackwater event after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred last year, when extremely low oxygen levels caused widespread fish deaths throughout the lower Richmond. 

Dead fish on the Ballina waterfront following Cyclone Alfred

Dredging also back on agenda

The announcement comes as another of Ballina’s longest-running river campaigns – dredging – is also back on the government agenda.

The NSW Reconstruction Authority has confirmed dredging will be included in the next Richmond River flood mitigation feasibility study after community feedback on recent CSIRO modelling.

Ballina Shire Council and the community have pushed for dredging for decades, particularly around the Ballina Bar.

Mayor Sharon Cadwallader this week described its inclusion in the new study as a “major leap forward”.

“This is what I’ve been hearing from the community as well,” Cr Cadwallader said.

The H.E. Street dredge was once a familiar sight on the Richmond River, working across the river system to deepen channels and remove sand and silt to maintain navigation. Photo: Richmond River Historical Society.

“This is a major leap forward, in as much as something that was always done and then stopped, and other areas have been benefiting from dredging.

“I’m very pleased to see that that’s now on the agenda.”

Cr Cadwallader also recalled the promise made before the last State election that Labor was the government that could “fix the Richmond River”.

The new coordinator will be appointed for an initial two-year trial, which the Government hopes could eventually become a model for managing other troubled river catchments across NSW.

Water Minister Rose Jackson and Ms Saffin will be in Ballina today for a media conference on the announcement.

Ballina News Daily will have further coverage and reaction later today.