Introduction

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The Snowy River is by far the most celebrated river on our continent, yet today it is no more than a shadow of its former self. The river before it was dammed began its journey under our highest mountain peak Mount Kosciuszko and carved an impressive path through a varied terrain of spectacular gorges, dryland plains, rugged mountains and coastal farmland.

This all came to an abrupt end through the construction of the Snowy Mountain's Hydro-Electric Scheme (the Scheme ), which began in the 1950s. The Snowy River's fate was sealed in 1967 with the completion of the final storage, Jindabyne Dam. The design of this dam reduced the flow of the Snowy River to less than one per cent of the original flow. This release pattern has existed for 30 years with terrible consequences to the river. There have been occasional exceptions where the Snowy River has had a higher flow, due to the spilling of Jindabyne Dam on two occasions in the 1970s, and to the tributaries downstream of the dam capturing the run off from a thunder storm or shower activity. Unfortunately these events have not been long enough or consistent enough to have any lasting effect on the river. An accurate interpretation of this, is the Snowy River flows at less than one percent for 99 per cent of the time at Dalgety.

The state of the Snowy River has declined progressively, although it became obvious soon after damming, that the Snowy River was in trouble. The loss of floods, seasonality and quantity of water flow for the Snowy River has caused the serious deterioration of the riverine corridor. The catchcry of 'a state of ecological collapse' is not surprising when you read the scientific reports or see first hand the nearly empty river bed, stagnating shallow pools, algal blooms and infestations of willow trees.

Community concern for the Snowy River and the consequences the Scheme would have on it, were acknowledged as far back as 1949, by a government Speaker in the Victorian Parliament. Since then, community concern increased as the river health declined. A steep rise in awareness and concern over the last six years can be attributed to Snowy River communities bringing the plight of the Snowy River into the living rooms of many Australians. National media has recognised the importance of the Snowy as an issue for Australians in general and continues to play an active role in the process.

Corporatisation of the Government utility, the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, was a window of opportunity for communities to insist that the new legislation for the Scheme meet community expectations and government environmental policy. The Snowy River Alliance was formed to bring together the Snowy communities and existing organisations to speak as one voice. The Snowy River Alliance became the principal lobby group to ensure that community expectations were accommodated in the new legislation.

The plight of the Snowy River was also acknowledged by State and Federal political parties with bipartisan agreement that the health of the Snowy River had to be included as part of the corporatisation of the Scheme. In fact, the Snowy River Alliance had obtained enough community and political support to prevent the passage of the Snowy Hydro Bill 1997 through the New South Wales parliament. The outcome of this was the preparation by government of a more accountable Snowy Hydro Bill which included a statutory obligation to undertake an inquiry, which became Snowy Water Inquiry. This inquiry is to assist in the formation of the Snowy Water Licence Agreement dealing with the distribution of water between the environment and consumptive users, in particular, environmental flows for the Snowy River. The Water Licence Agreement will need to be approved by both the Victorian and New South Wales Governments.

To the Snowy River communities the Snowy Water Inquiry is the culmination of years of hard work, research and personal expense, challenging three governments to alter the practices of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. The community expectations are that the Snowy River will receive a meaningful environmental flow regime, based on science, that will provide a significant improvement in Snowy River health, for both the New South Wales and the Victorian sections of river.

The Snowy River Alliance presents this submission in confidence that the three governments will honour their own environmental policies and their broader community obligations.