We’re about to call Anglesea home, and on this day we're here to collect the keys for the first time for our new property, and are killing time by the river mouth and the sea. As much as we’re excited for the surf and the bush, the Anglesea River, dividing the town into two clear halves, is a bit of a troubled beauty.
See those beautiful colours? If you didn't know any better, you might enjoy that lovely shade of green. But it's acidic - whilst I have swum and paddle boarded that river in the past, I wouldn't now. The waters are acidic, fish flapping and dying on it's edge. The ecosystem is under real stress.
As much as the solutions get supported on social media groups - Friends of the Angelsea River - it's complicated. Simply opening the river mouth might not help, though people try to dig channels once in a while surreptitiously.
Most people straight up blame Alcoa - why wouldn't you blame a mine? This coal mine operated from the late '60's until 2015, extracting extracting brown coal and using groundwater to help maintain river flows. Since it shut down, concerns have grown that reduced water and acid sulfate soils are harming the Anglesea River, which has sparked debate over whether filling the old mine pit with water could help or worsen environmental impacts. Couple that with climate change and reduced rainwater and you have a bit of a disaster.
Although there is argument online, and much ignorance, online groups and community are passionate about advocating for the river's long term health, and people are monitoring the river closely.
On this walk we were a little disappointed to see the river mouth had already shut - it should be open to take advantage of the bigger tides this week. Hopefully state and local governments will help support the health of the river more, especially that it's been national news of later as well.
Still, we're super excited about river walks from our place when we move here, and I'm sure we'll be part of the river advocacy as well.
With Love,
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