A recent attempt by someone to open the mouth of Tallow Creek at Suffolk Park has prompted the Byron Shire Council and NSW Government authorities to remind people the act is illegal.
On Monday the council issued a media release saying staff from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) last week found someone had dug a trench from the mouth of Tallow Creek to the ocean.
Tallow Creek is an ICOLL, an acronym that stands for an intermittently closed and open lake or lagoon.
The Tallow Creek ICOLL opens periodically to the ocean depending on the build-up of sand at the mouth of the creek and rainfall.
The council said the ICOLL was a highly sensitive marine environment and cultural site officially governed by strict rules and regulations.
Any decisions to open the ICOLL artificially require input from several bodies including the council, NPWS, the NSW Marine Parks Authority and the Arakwal Corporation.
Byron Shire Council Coast and Biodiversity Coordinator Chloe Dowsett said interference with the ICOLL, such as the recent illegal digging of the trench, was a fineable offence of up to $110,000.
Risk of fish kill
‘A sudden release of water out of an ICOLL into the ocean can cause fish kills, and long-lasting impacts on the marine environment,’ Ms Dowsett said.
‘Council’s preference, and that of the NPWS and other agencies, is to allow Mother Nature to do her job in relation to Tallow Creek, and in the rare instances that we do take action we consider many factors including predicted rainfall to minimise the chance of a fish kill,’ she said.
There are two ICOLLs in the Byron Shire, Tallow Creek and Belongil Creek.
The council said it was reviewing its ‘Entrance Opening Strategies’.
Byron Shire residents living near the ICOLLs can often be found complaining in local social media groups of flooded yards and infrastructure after prolonged or heavy rain when the creeks are slow to open to the sea.
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