Prestigious engineering award a win for the Hunter, environment and 1700 sandpipers

Media release: 26 September 2014

A major wetland rehabilitation project in the lower Hunter estuary has won the Engineers Australia, Sydney Division, Engineering Excellence Awards for Environment and Heritage last weekend (19/09).

The award to the Water Research Laboratory of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW Australia recognises excellence in engineering design with the project applying engineering solutions to an ecological problem.

The award recognised co-collaborators including the UNSW Australia’s Water Research Laboratory, led by Dr Will Glamore, the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Other collaborators recognised during the awards ceremony include the Hunter Bird Observers Club and NSW Local Land Services.

Receiving the award at a gala dinner last Friday, Dr Glamore said the Tomago Wetlands project has become a world-leading example for how eco-engineering can provide adaptive management outcomes for sensitive environments with complex hydrologic issues.

“It is fantastic to see an environmental project of this scale being recognised by the broader community”, Dr Glamore said.

NPWS Project Leader, Doug Beckers said the award is a leading example of what can be achieved through collaboration between Government agencies, universities and volunteers groups.

“The wetland is being converted from abandoned grazing paddocks back to a salt water ecosystem to create estuarine habitat suitable for fish, prawns and aquatic organisms that attract migratory birds that fly across the world just to come to this area,” Mr Beckers said.

“The works have resulted in significant improvements in water quality entering the lower Hunter Estuary.

“Tomago Wetland is a key site in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and is listed as a RAMSAR site, being of international significance and providing important habitat for migratory and non-migratory water birds.

“Last week more than 1700 sandpipers arrived in the Tomago wetlands after a massive migratory flight from Siberia

“In fact, last year we had more than 5% of the world’s population of sandpipers stopping over in the Hunter estuary to fatten themselves up prior to breading,” he said.

Engineering structures in place at Tomago Wetland in Hunter Wetlands National Park allow management of salt water levels to sustain the wetland.

NPWS, DPI, and NSW Local Land Services, provided infrastructure funding and also provided invaluable planning input into the project which has been running since 2009.

Water Research Laboratory engineers analysed the amount of water required to encourage saltmarsh and bird habitat following extensive on-ground studies of the water movements across the site. This information was then used to design water control infrastructure and innovative monitoring techniques.

The results are being monitored by the Hunter Bird Observers Club and NPWS staff.

As the State winner, the Tomago Rehabilitation Project is now in the running for the National Engineering Australia Excellence Awards to be held at the Engineers Australia Convention in November this year.

A video on the Tomago Wetlands Project can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/BH5SpFVnhOU 

Contact: Lawrence Orel