WYONG Shire Council says it is committed to keeping The Entrance channel open to the ocean through sand dredging, and denies claims by locals that widening the mouth of the channel would assist with flood relief.
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Council’s infrastructure and operations director Greg McDonald said the width of the channel mouth had little impact on the levels of flooding around the lake as the water level is primarily determined by tide levels.
“Council has ensured the Tuggerah Lakes have remained open to the ocean via The Entrance channel since the 1990s,” Mr McDonald said.
“The mouth of the channel acts as a dampener to the tidal influence – a wider opening will allow the high tide levels in the lake to be higher and the low tide levels to be lower exposing mud flats in low tide and endangering the delicate marine ecosystem close to the shore.”
Previous experience has shown that any widening of the channel mouth is usually quickly replaced by sand.
