HAWKESBURY wakeboarders are fighting moves by Hawkesbury Council to curb their sport on the river.
In August, Council resolved to campaign for a ban on wakeboarding on Hawkesbury River, at least above Wisemans Ferry, citing fears that wash from the high-speed recreational crafts was damaging riverbanks and causing severe erosion.
Chairman of a recently formed Hawkesbury wakeboarders committee, Brendan Watts of Pitt Town, said there was no scientific evidence to back Council’s position.
He said the committee had examined scientific studies from across Australia and found they concluded that wakeboarding was not the cause of riverbank erosion.
‘‘Any impact it does have pales in comparison to flooding, wind, bank clearing, vegetation reduction, cattle grazing and the obvious flow of the river,’’ Mr Watts said.
He said wakeboarding was a popular activity on Hawkesbury River and banning it would hurt the local economy.
‘‘Of those surveyed, 80 per cent indicated they would cease to use the river, or use it less frequently, if the ban was implemented,’’ Mr Watts said.
He said a better approach would be to educate boat-owners about responsible use of the river and educate riverfront landowners about how best to control erosion of riverbanks.
Hawkesbury councillors Bob Porter and Leigh Williams, who moved the resolution to ban wakeboarding, dismissed these arguments.
‘‘Just about every landowner on the river, including me, is sure erosion is caused by wakeboarding,’’ Councillor Williams said.
‘‘If you saw the wakes created by these boats hitting the banks, you can see the earth crumbling before your eyes.’’
He said flooding and loss of vegetation had also damaged the Hawkesbury River, but said a comparison of similar rivers showed what caused the most damage.
‘‘Over the last 24 years, the Colo River has experienced tides and rising waters the same as the Hawkesbury, but the Colo is not suffering the same loss of alluvial soil,’’ Councillor Williams said.
‘‘There is something vastly different going on: waterskiing is not permitted on the Colo.’’
He said wakeboarders did not want to accept their sport was damaging the Hawkesbury River.
‘‘They want to keep doing what they’re doing,’’ Councillor Williams said.
‘‘My interest is to protect the river for future generations and when someone’s personal enjoyment is detrimental to that, it has to stop.’’
Councillor Porter, who also lives on the river, said he too had seen the damage caused by washes from wakeboarding.
‘‘They’ve created washes more than a metre high that erodes the alluvial bank,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m not trying to stop waterskiing; what I’m concerned about are these boats designed to create massive washes.
‘‘They shouldn’t operate where there are alluvial river banks.’’
Mr Watts said councillors were overlooking the real reasons for the Hawkesbury’s deterioration.
‘‘They need to address the root cause of bank erosion: land clearance and reduction of vegetation,’’ he said.
He said the same could be said about personal observations of wakeboarding along the river.
‘‘A car or a truck driving over a pothole makes it deeper, but the council doesn’t ban vehicles; it fixes the bad foundation of the road,’’ Mr Watts said.
He also rejected comparisons with the Colo River, saying different conditions applied.
A Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) spokeswoman told the Gazette many factors, such as vessel wash, river flow and floods could damage rivers.
‘‘There is no firm evidence wakeboarding or other watercraft activities are solely causing riverbank erosion on the Hawkesbury River between Windsor and Wisemans Ferry,’’ she said.
‘‘RMS is working with Hawkesbury Council, the boating industry and wakeboarding associations to address concerns raised about wakeboarding.’’