Council says it’s hoping for third time lucky when it moves to reopen Belongil Creek to the ocean (hopefully) this week.
A build-up of sand at the Belongil Creek mouth is acting like a dam, meaning there is a build-up of water in low-lying parts of Belongil and Byron Bay.
Byron Council workers opened the creek mouth twice last week (Friday and Saturday) however the force of the waves and tides pushed the sand back within hours, closing it again.
‘Whenever we mechanically open the mouth of Belongil Creek we have to adhere to a process that includes timing the opening with forecast rain,’ said Chloe Dowsett, Coastal and Biodiversity Coordinator.
‘The reason for the protocol, which has been negotiated with Marine Parks, Crown Land and other stakeholders, is to balance opening of the creek which holds significant environmental and cultural values with flood risk management.
‘We know that people are concerned about water inundation on and around their properties and we are watching the weather with the plan being to open the creek again towards the end of this week, if conditions are suitable,’ Ms Dowsett said.
‘Our adopted strategy aims to reduce the chances of a fish kill and impact on the estuary.’
Belongil Creek is an ICOLL, an intermittently closed and open lagoon system, that opens and closes to the ocean naturally depending on sand build up at the mouth of the creek.
‘As soon as we are able we will be back down there with heavy equipment moving the sand to open up the creek and decrease water levels in the catchment,’ said Chloe Dowsett.
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