The TEER Program
Established in 2008, the Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers (TEER) Program is a partnership between agencies responsible for the management of the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary and Esk rivers waterways. The TEER Program aims to improve our scientific understanding of the issues impacting local waterways to coordinate management and guide investment to protect, maintain and enhance the estuary and its river systems from 'catchment to coast'.
Our focus
The TEER Program Strategic Plan was developed by program partners and describes the program’s key strategies:
work together with program partners and the Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce (TEMT) to provide integrated governance, planning and management;
understand and advise on waterway health; and
build community knowledge and awareness of the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary and Esk river systems.
Quick Q&A
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Water quality in the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary is influenced by diffuse and point sources of pollutants from Launceston’s combined sewerage and stormwater system, agricultural practices in the catchment, historical industrial practices, outflows from sewage treatment plants throughout the estuary, river floods and man-made changes to the tidal prism of the estuary.
For more information about water quality, visit the water quality monitoring page.
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The kanamaluka / Tamar is an estuary, not a river. An estuary is the place where freshwater from rivers meets marine water from the sea. We usually think of an estuary as being at the coast, at the mouth of a river, however the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary is a drowned river valley, the result of rising sea levels about 6,500 years ago, so it is much longer than a normal estuary and it behaves differently. At 70 km in length, the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary is the longest navigable estuary in Australia. The strong tides from Bass Strait push salt water upstream all the way to Launceston. The North Esk continues to be tidal all the way to St Leonards, and in summer, the water in Launceston can get become quite saline.
For more information, visit the natural history page.