Restrictions on the use of groundwater by Blue Mountains residents will continue until March 2010, the Department of Water and Energy has announced.

“Since June 2007, Blue Mountains homeowners have not been able to use groundwater to hose hard surfaces or run sprinkler systems,” the Deputy Director General of Water Management, Mr David Harriss said.

“These restrictions are necessary to ensure that precious groundwater is not wasted.”

The restrictions apply to stock and domestic bores on properties within the Blue Mountains City Council Local Government Area that are connected to town water supply.

They stipulate that groundwater cannot be used for hosing hard surfaces, such as paths or driveways, or to run watering systems, such as sprinklers.

“The Blue Mountains is a heritage listed area with many environmentally significant groundwater-dependent ecosystems, such as the hanging swamps,” Mr Harriss said.

“Groundwater from the region’s aquifers must be used wisely and not wasted.

“The restrictions will help ensure there is enough groundwater to meet the needs of the environment and the community long into the future.”

Mr Harriss said the Blue Mountains council and community should be congratulated for adhering to the restrictions over the past year and a half.

“The people of the Blue Mountains are conservationists who deeply value their environment and their continuing support in following the restrictions is appreciated,” he said.

Thousands of homes lost power overnight as powerful storms lashed the outer West and Blue Mountains.

At one point approximately 14,500 homes were without power in the lower Blue Mountains and Penrith areas. Some 500 remaining properties are still without power.

The State Emergency Service responded to scores of call-outs regarding fallen trees and roof damage.

Report dangerous electrical situations to Integral Energy on 131 003

For emergency help in floods and storms, ring the SES [NSW] on telephone number 132 500.

Two missing bushwalkers have been found in the Kanangra Boyd National Park after activating an emergency tracking beacon.

About 3:30pm, Sunday, March 22, a 38-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman from Faulconbridge were bushwalking in the area when they got into difficulty and activated the emergency beacon.

As a result the Australian Search and Rescue organisation detected the beacon signal and police rescue were notified. 

A short time later a medical retrieval helicopter was dispatched and the pair were found at 5:15pm with one of them suffering from leg injuries. They were winched to safety and taken to Nepean Hospital for treatment.

Police are reinforcing the message to bushwalkers to plan their trips and be prepared in case of any emergency. 

The “Think before you TREK” program was launched late last year where bushwalkers can log the details of their trip with police from the Blue Mountains Local Area Command. The beacons are available from Katoomba and Springwood police stations. 

Inspector Steve Oswald from Blue Mountains police has encouraged people to take responsibility for their personal safety.

“We urge people to log their trip with us so we know their proposed route and duration”, Inspector Oswald said.

As part of this program bushwalkers can also obtain an emergency distress beacon for the duration of their trip and details of the program can be found at www.police.nsw.gov/trek.

Thanks to the Community Bulk Buy Discounts on solar panels that we’ve co-ordinated with Aussie Solar, the Blue Mountains is well on the way to becoming a Solar Neighbourhood.

Due to an unprecedented run on the Federal Government’s Solar Panel rebate scheme, around 1000 households a week are applying for solar panel rebates - 30 times more than the Government budgetted for. According to Lis Bastian, who is co-ordinating the Bulk Buy Programme, Aussie Solar has guaranteed that, despite huge price increases on imported solar panels, the price of the current offer will remain the same for this project.

It means you can get a 1kW system with a 2 kW inverter (which allows you to add another kW at a later date) for under $2000 after receiving the rebate. A 1kW system has an output of about 5kWh per day, which is about one third to one quarter of your energy needs, depending on your energy usage. This could reduce your annual energy bill by around $300 per year. This means that it would only take about 3 years to earn back your investment. If feed-in tarrifs are introduced you might even start earning money from the grid.”

Supporters of renewable energy have been lobbying hard for feed-in schemes like those in Germany and other countries. According to Lis this would make solar energy more viable for all Australian households. “The principle of feed-in schemes in Germany,” said Lis, “is that you get paid more for the energy that your solar panel produces than you would pay if you bought that energy yourself from the grid. If, for example, you went away on holidays over summer, your solar panel would continue to convert the sun’s energy and feed it into the grid. If the feed-in tarrif was at least $0.60 per kWh your solar panel would be earning you around $3 a day while you were away. If you had a 2 kW system this would be about $6 a day, and so on. Add this to your other savings for having the panels, and this would make your investment in solar extremely viable.

Several Australian states already have feed-in tariff schemes in place - South Australia, Queensland and Victoria have introduced net feed-in tariffs which means they pay homeowners for the electricity exported to the grid minus what is consumed in the home at the time it is produced. 
According to Lis, however, there should be a National Feed-in Tariff and it should be a Gross feed in rate. This means that you are paid for all the energy made by your system and any extra power you use from the grid you buy at the current rate. 

For example, a home that uses on average 20kW per day and has a solar system that produces on average 10kW per day will be paid for that at say 60c per kW ($6.00) and will pay say 15c per kW to the energy company for the power it uses to supplement the solar system. Net daily gain would be $4.50. 

On July 2nd, the ACT Parliament passed the Electricity Feed-In Tariff Bill which approved Australia’s first gross feed-in tariff. The bill comes into effect no later than July 2009 but there is every expectation that this bill will be effective before the end of this year. 

Key features of the Bill are payment will be 3.88 times the tariff - approx 60c/kWh. Both business and the residential sector can benefit. This is also the first time there are incentives in place to encourage the commercial sector to invest in solar power. 

“Buying solar panels now, with the Community Bulk Buy discount and the current rebate while it still exists, and before import prices go up even further, is an extremely smart move,” said Lis. “Then we just have to lobby NSW to follow the ACT’s lead! It’s estimated that with a 2kW system, the per annum net gain in the ACT will be in the realm of $1629.”

If you’d like to be part of this Discounted Community Bulk Buy of solar panels contact Lis on 4787 7533.

Blue Mountains City Council has signed up for Earth Hour 2009.

At 8:30pm this Saturday, March 28, Council will ensure that all non-essential lights in the main Council administration building in Katoomba are switched off for one hour, in support of Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is a global climate change initiative organised by the global conservation organisation WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature).

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 when approximately 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses took part. The Australian initiative is now a truly global effort to focus attention on the threat of climate change, with people in 62 countries already signing up to switch off their lights for one hour from 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March 2009.

Mayor Cr Adam Searle said, “Earth Hour is a worldwide campaign that aims to educate the community about the threats of climate change, informing individuals and businesses about the difference they can make by reducing their emissions at home and in the workplace.

Council is committed to reducing our corporate energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and is working hard towards the goals that have been set in our Energy and Water Strategy 2007 - 2010.

I am proud to say that Council has exceeded its GHG reduction targets ahead of time. We have reduced our GHG emissions by 15% of 2004 levels and yet the target is to reduce our GHG emissions by 10% of 2004 levels by 2012.”

If all Australian households simply turned off unused lights and appliances on standby at the power point, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by at least 5 million tonnes per annum - the equivalent to taking 1.5 million cars off the road for a year.

“I encourage Blue Mountains residents to join with Council in undertaking this small but significant action and switch off their lights for Earth Hour on 28 March 2009 from 8:30pm - 9:30pm.

Earth Hour is a great way to take action in reducing the impacts of climate change but it is important to continue to be energy efficient beyond Earth Hour, by undertaking small actions everyday to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Simple things like turning off appliances while not in use, turning out lights when you’re not in a room and switching your light globes to energy efficient bulbs, will all help. Switching to cleaner sources of electricity like accredited ‘green power’ can also make a big difference”, Cr Searle concluded.

To find out more or to sign-up to Earth Hour 2009 go to www.earthhour.org.

There are a number of prescribed burns taking place each day this week and also on the weekend.

The following prescribed burns are planned for this week:

Tuesday: Sublime Point, Leura. 25ha.

Wednesday: Winbourne Ave, Hazelbrook. 52ha

Thursday: Chester Road, Wentworth Falls. 47ha.

Friday: Terpeian Rock, Katoomba. 6ha.

These activities are taking place on National Parks and Wildlife Service managed land, with some small areas of private property included, and are approved activities under the Blue Mountains Bush Fire Management Committee’s Hazard Reduction Programme.

For more information and maps, visit http://www.bluemountains.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_more_info.cfm?CON_ID=6773&CAT_ID=76

An old shot of 'The Jungle', near Mount Tomah.

Today Governor General Marie Bashir will officially open Mount Tomah’s latest acquisition - a parcel of land described as one of the last surviving remnants of Gondwanaland.

The 33 hectare piece of land adjacent to Mount Tomah Botanic Garden, ‘The Jungle’ was purchased courtesy of the Environmental Trust, and supplemented by John B. Fairfax and his family.

The land is a microcosm of the 120-million-year-old ’supercontinent’ Gondwanaland, of which Australia was once a part.

The acquisition provides a secure base for the development of Mount Tomah Botanic Garden into the future and secures a block of temperate New South Wales rainforest for future generations.

http://www.mounttomahbotanicgarden.com.au/

Famous photographer Frank Hurley tackles the Blue Mountains the hard way in 1950.

Are you ready for a big challenge? May 2009 will see WildEndurance get underway, pitting teams of 4-6 against each other over a 48-hour period and 100 kilometres through the Blue Mountains National Park.?Registration is $120 per person, and each competitor, working with their team, will also raise an additional $400 in tax deductible sponsorship payable to The Wilderness Fund.?For more information, visit http://www.wildendurance.org.au

Public opposition is growing to proposed changes to National Parks laws that will allow new commercial accommodation in national parks. This follows a public meeting of leading environmental activists in Sydney last month and similar public meetings across the state in the last three months.
The changes to the National Parks and Wildlife Act were agreed by Government when they adopted a report by a task force on tourism and national parks in December last year.
Legislation is expected in the next session of Parliament to weaken both the National Parks and Wildlife Act and the Wilderness Act.
Public meetings have been held so far in Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Wentworth Falls, Bermagui and Canberra and six other locations in Sydney.
All of the meetings unanimously supported resolutions calling for no new private accommodation in national parks and instead supported public investment in national parks with accommodation provided in nearby towns and nearby private lands.
At the most recent meeting in Sydney, the speakers debunked the argument that new commercial development in national parks is needed to fund park management or to significantly increase visitor numbers.
“We are determined to stop the weakening of the national park laws”, said Keith Muir.
“There is a growing band of activists who have pledged to organise further action against the changes to the laws.”
“What we want instead is public investment in good walking tracks near major vehicle and public transport access points, rangers on the ground to assist with enhancing the nature experience and basic visitor infrastructure . , said Andrew Cox, executive officer of the National Parks Association ”
“If our national parks offer good experiences and you provide access and promotion to key sights then the people will follow, whether they are local visitors or international tourists.”
“This way the surrounding towns and their businesses with their ready-to-go infrastructure can also share the benefits, without development of national parks.
“There is a growing band of activists who have pledged to organise further action against the changes to the laws.”
The resolution passed unanimously in Sydney last night is below.