“Liquid manure” Letter to the Editor on Yass water

To the Editor,

I read with interest your article “Boil Water Alert” and “Watershed Moment for Yass Valley”, in Wednesday 19^th August edition of Yass Valley Times, and one has to come to the conclusion that indeed we do need a new state of the art water treatment system for the towns of Yass, Bowning, Binalong and very shortly Murrumbateman.

We have been aware for a very long time that the Yass River Catchment (from where our water via Yass Dam is sourced) is a severely degraded catchment area that is prone to heavy sediment and manure wash and high salinity, indeed I have seen water coming down the Yass River that could only be described as “liquid manure” killing all in its path such as the iconic Murray Cod (pictured that was killed in the recent flood) as well as Golden Perch, Redfin, European Carp, Yabbies and freshwater shrimp.

When the water is so polluted that even Carp want to escape the effluent by trying to jump out onto the bank, we know something is extremely wrong with the water quality.

Far more attention should be focused on our water catchment but until this is rectified we will be forced to seek the best water treatment system that can be acquired, at great expense to all concerned and I agree that a three-way payment from all tiers of government is the fair way to proceed.

Yours in Water Quality and the Environment,

Ross P Webster.

Editor’s note.

Ross Webster is a former Yass Valley Councillor, the recipient of the John Betts Memorial Shield for the Yass Area 2016, NSW Fish Habitat Partnership Individual Award 2017 & Yass Valley Australia Day Honours – Individual Community Service award 2018

The Boil Water Alert was lifted on August 20th with NSW Health declaring the tap water for Yass, Bowning and Binalong safe to consume. Residents continue to report discoloured water as an issue.