Council encourages healthy waterways
Thu 24 May 2007
Sarah McAtamney, Journalism
The Maroochy Shire Council is encouraging Sunshine Coast businesses and residents not to become complacent about what they pour down drains.
The Maroochy River Recovery Program won the Healthy Waterways Awards 2007 and the prestigious Minister’s Award, but a Council spokeswoman said people should not become complacent when it came to looking after the coast’s waterways.
“Council is very pleased with the progress of this initiative to date, but we are also very much aware that there is still a lot of work to do to address more than 100 years of impacts on our rivers and streams,” the Council spokeswoman said.
Maroochy Shire Mayor Joe Natoli was unavailable for comment, however his spokeswoman said the community had an important role to play and should help clean the Coast’s vital waterways.
“There are many things the community can do to assist in improving the water quality in the Maroochy River. Reducing pollutants entering our waterways, particularly stormwater drains is one example,” the Council spokeswoman said.
Council also advised that people could help ensure better health of waterways by washing their cars on the lawn and not on the driveway. Other ways included reducing the use of fertilisers and disposing of rubbish correctly.
“People can also get involved with community groups that work on revegetation, or other locally-based water watch projects,” the Council spokeswoman said.
The Maroochy Council had poor results in the Healthy Waterways Report Card in 2004, the same year the $3.6 million Maroochy River Recovery Initiative started.
Since then, 15 projects have been launched. The largest project was the Maroochydore Sewage Treatment Plant, which has been upgraded.
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