Cootamundra resident Elizabeth Bennett has spent decades studying the town's main waterway, Muttama Creek, and now wants to see the local council lobby higher tiers of government for funding to build bridges over causeways in town stopping pollution from vehicles being washed into the creek each time it rains.
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"I am worried about what we are putting into the water supply through our car wheels; petrol, oil, seeds, soils from other locations, because every time someone drives across a causeway and then it rains, all of this ends up in the creek, which flows into the Murrumbidgee River," Mrs Bennett said.
"We need to be conscious of the health of the water supply that we are putting into the river," she continued.
With no alternative but to cross causeways to get around town, and these causeways having water run over them even with relatively small downpours, Mrs Bennett said it is time for action.
"We have the heavy vehicle route in town on Hovell Street and major interstate trucks use that," Mrs Bennett said.
This causeway is often one of the first to go under when it does rain and Mrs Bennett is concerned about what damage these trucks may cause to the waterway.
Should funding for bridges become available at state or federal level in the future, it would also mean council time would be saved as roads would not have to be closed and danger mitigated from people potentially driving through floodwaters.
Council mayor Abb McAlister saw the flooding of causeways as a bigger issue than the potential for pollution run-off, however said any time there is an opportunity for funding for infrastructure of any type, including bridges, council would look closely at whether it met the requirements to apply.
At present, he said the bridge focus in the Local Government Area must be on replacing wooden bridges in rural areas, rather than building new bridges in town.
"We are heavily focused in that area as when a bridge in the bush becomes unable to be used, the surrounding landholders are faced with long detours affecting productivity of their farms," Mr McAlister said.
He suggested anyone with concerns about the causeways in Cootamundra bring these concerns up during the community consultation period of a brand new flood study being done for the town.
The study follows a similar study done in Gundagai and uses the same consultants.
