Anglesea River Revival: Alcoa Licence Denied

Residents of Anglesea are celebrating a significant victory after Southern Rural Water rejected Alcoa's application for a groundwater pumping licence. The licence would have allowed Alcoa to extract 1500 megalitres of water over 10 years to fill the pit left by its now-defunct power station. This decision comes after years of campaigning by local groups like Friends of Anglesea River, who raised concerns about the waterway's deteriorating condition, including fish kills and high acidity.

Experts and residents have linked the river's woes to Alcoa's historical groundwater extraction for its power station, which operated for nearly 50 years until 2015. Environmental geochemistry professor Ralf Haese noted that pumping lowered groundwater levels and increased acidity, drying out wetlands. While Alcoa argues its past operations had no significant environmental impact and that natural filling of the pit would take decades, Southern Rural Water projects a natural fill time of about 26 years, requiring 18 gigalitres of water.

The rejection offers a glimmer of hope for the Anglesea River's ecosystem, which has shown signs of recovery during periods of heavy rain. However, the river has largely been in poor health for over a decade, with some local advocates describing it as 'dead.' Alcoa has 28 days to appeal the decision at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.