BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
58 surface water and overland flow. A review of the WRP is due in 2017. The other river basins in our region are still under the broader responsibilities of the Water Act 2000 and are managed at the catchment scale.
Groundwater in our region is also managed where the Water Regulations 2002 have identified declared subartesian areas, some of which also have a groundwater management area( GMA) where water sharing rules apply( See Figure 15).
Water resource planning for the Burdekin Basin has identified reserves of unallocated water( see table below). Water is not available for allocation from the General reserve except when released for an open tender process. Water is only available from the Strategic reserve via an approved application from the Queensland Government. At the commencement of the WRP, these reserves totaled 543,000 megalitres per year( ML / yr) which are distributed across the WRP sub-catchment areas. The bulk of the General reserve occurs in the Belyando-Suttor sub-catchment( 130,000ML / yr) and Lower Burdekin sub-catchment( 50,000 ML / yr). While the majority of the Strategic reserve is spread across the Lower Burdekin and Haughton sub-catchments( 150,000 ML / yr), Bowen and Broken sub-catchments( 150,000 ML / yr) and the Belyando-Suttor sub-catchments( 20,000ML / yr)( Water Planning North, 2010).
Reserve Purpose Total Mean Annual Volume( ML)
General reserve 200 000 Strategic reserve for
35 000 state purposes SunWater reserve 8 744 Strategic reserve for
150 000 a future raising of Burdekin Falls Dam
Strategic reserve for
150 000 water infrastructure for the Bowen and Broken sub-catchments
Chart 2a
Chart 2b
Water quality
Water quality is central to the integrity of the environment and determines the suitability of water for a particular purpose e. g. community drinking water supply, recreational or agricultural purposes. Nutrient, sediment and other contaminants run-off from land, impacts on the receiving freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems( Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 2013).
The GBR fringes the coast of our region and its extraordinary biodiversity is recognised internationally through its status as a World Heritage Area( listed in 1981). The major threats to the health of the GBR are climate change, poor water quality and coastal development( Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2014). Increased sediment, nutrients and pesticides runoff from agricultural land uses are the greatest cause of declining water quality on the GBR( Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2014).
The Burdekin region is a priority area for nitrogen( focused on the Lower Burdekin and Haughton), pesticides and sediments entering the GBR World Heritage Area.
WATER