Thirlmere Lakes are in trouble

This is my contribution to the Blog Action Day on the theme of Water .

While I am not campaigning on clean drinking water (in this blog), I cannot resist pointing out that the UNESCO recognised World Heritage Lakes are drying out (dying) right under the noses of people who are pretending that it is simply caused by "The Drought". Rubbish.
I have done the stats on the local rainfall since the 1880s and yes it has been dry, but the lakes are drying out now, after good rain over the last 3 years, and especially over the last few months. But the levels are dropping, and dropping fast.

Hence this is my contribution to Blog Action Day. I wish to point out what is happening to World Heritage listed lakes at Thirlmere. in the Lower Blue Mountains National Park.

Governments, both State and Federal are ignoring this issue.

I shall personally write to the relevant Authorities TODAY.

*****

The Thirlmere Lakes are in trouble. They are drying out.

An official inspection of Thirlmere Lakes
Cate Faehrmann MLC and
Rivers SOS representatives Caroline Graham and Julie Sheppard

and Clr Cassandra Twarloh of the Wollondilly Shire Council. People seem to not know why the Thirlmere Lakes are drying out, but coincidentally, the local colliery (see Map linked here) is pumping 4 Megalitres per day of water into the Bargo River. That groundwater is coming from an aquifer somewhere close to the Thirlmere Lakes. So it seems highly likely to me that the Tahmoor Colliery is having an impact on the Thirlmere Lakes.

My brother, the engineer has done the sums for me, to convert 4 megalitres into a unit we can all get out heads around - Olympic Swimming pools.

No more swimming here
- not for a while, anyway.
Sue found a lost Flipper out in the mud.

FINA has set the standard size for Olympic Swimming Pools. At 50 metres long, 25 metres wide and 2 metres deep (the official configuration) such a pool holds 2.5 Megalitres (2,500,000 L).

1. So, the Tahmoor Colliery pumps take 15 Hours to pump an Olympic pool dry.
2. They pump out the equivalent of 1.6 official-sized Olympic swimming pools per day .
3. In the course of a year, they pump out the equivalent of 584 official-sized Olympic swimming pools.

No wonder the Thirlmere Lakes are drying out.

The irony is that these Lakes are part of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area.That means the Federal Government is answerable to UNESCO for the safe management of these unique Lakes.