What will be the impact of rechannelling the McArthur River?
McArthur River flows for 300 kilometres. The 5.5 kilometre section being rechannelled accounts for about 1.6 per cent of the river. The river is actually an intermittently running or dry creek much of the year, with several permanent waterholes near the mine. During the Wet season, the river sometimes floods (three times in the past 10 years) and can be as wide as 15 kilometres. The realigned channel will be designed to have similar hydraulic characteristics to the existing river channel so it is stable during floods. The lower channel bank will be stabilised against erosion and the banks and berms will be revegetated. This will minimise the risk of erosion and allow the riverine fauna corridor to re-establish. Construction will be over two years, to help vegetation re-establish. There may be some extra silt in the first year’s wet season but modelling suggests no long-term impact on water quality, flora or fauna. Part of the rechannelling follows an old watercourse. After about 20 yea
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