59 BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
WATER
Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan- land and catchment management targets by 2018:
• 90 % of sugarcane, horticulture, cropping and grazing lands using best management practice systems in priority areas,
• minimum 70 % late dry season groundcover on grazing lands.
• riparian vegetation is increased, and
• no net loss of the extent, and an improvement in the ecological processes and environmental values, of natural wetlands.
Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan – water quality targets by 2018:
• at least a 50 % reduction in anthropogenic end-of-catchment dissolved inorganic nitrogen loads in priority areas, on the way to achieving up to an 80 % reduction in nitrogen by 2025,
• at least a 20 % reduction in anthropogenic end-of-catchment loads of sediment in priority areas, on the way to achieving up to a 50 % reduction by 2025,
• at least a 20 % reduction in anthropogenic end-of-catchment loads of particulate nutrients in priority areas, and
• at least a 60 % reduction in end-ofcatchment pesticide loads in priority areas.
The Reef 2050 Plan targets equate to the following end-of-catchment Ecologically Relevant Targets for the Burdekin Region by 2035:
• a 60 % reduction in the total nutrient load, including: o 80 %(~ 880 t) reduction in dissolved inorganic nitrogen from sugarcane in the Lower Burdekin, and o 52 %(~ 1,455 t) reduction in particulate nutrients in the Burdekin catchment,
• a 90 % reduction in pesticide( PSII herbicide) load for the Haughton catchment, and no net increase from other catchments, and
• a 1,600 kt per year reduction, or ~ 50 % of the current sediment( TSS) load. To meet the targets the following catchment specific load targets need to be achieved: o Bowen Broken Bogie reduction of 910 kt( 57 %), o Upper Burdekin reduction of 475 kt
( 53 %), o Suttor reduction of 20 kt( 31 %), o Upper parts of the Lower Burdekin( commonly referred to as‘ East Burdekin’) reduction of 250 kt( 57 %), and o Belyando and Cape Campaspe catchments no net increase.( NQ Dry Tropics, 2016)
Agricultural activities are the largest contributors to anthropogenic loads in our region with 78.2 per cent of sediments coming from grazing land and 86.4 per cent of nitrogen load coming from sugarcane lands, see charts 2a and 2b on page 58 and the Burdekin WQIP.
In addition to sediments and nutrients, marine debris is a threat to habitats and wildlife in our region. Please refer to Part B – Biodiversity for information on marine debris in the Burdekin.
The Australian and Queensland Governments have adopted a collaborative approach to managing water quality issues in the GBR with the establishment of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan( Reef Plan) in 2003, revised in 2009 and 2013, and more recently, the Reef 2050 Long- Term Sustainability Plan( Reef 2050 Plan). The timeframes associated with targets detailed in these plans will require focused effort and targeted investment over the next five to ten years from a wide range of stakeholders, including government, industry bodies, regional NRM groups and the wider community.
Water Quality Improvement Plans( WQIPs) have been developed for all GBR catchments to identify regional water quality issues, establish catchment-specific environmental values( EVs), water quality objectives( WQOs) and targets, and a suite of recommended management actions to achieve those targets, including:
• systems repair;
• treatment options;
• best management practices;
• education, engagement and extension; and
• research for knowledge gaps and science synthesis.
Water quality objectives, known are Environmental Values( EVs) are set and managed to protect specific ecologically-relevant qualities of waterways from adverse impacts, to ensure ecosystems are healthy and the water is safe for community use. The EVs for our region have been identified for freshwater, estuarine and marine areas in collaboration with community stakeholders, Local Government, State Government and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority( GBRMPA)( Department of Environment & Heritage Protection, 2013b).
Two WQIPs cover the Burdekin Dry Tropics region – the Burdekin WQIP and the Black Ross( Townsville) WQIP. These plans synthesize the best available water quality science and guide future investment for water quality improvement in the region.
1. Black Ross( Townsville) WQIP
The Black Ross( Townsville) WQIP area covers most waterways within the Townsville City Local Government area. The WQIP identified urban diffuse pollutant sources as the greatest overall contributors to water quality issues, as well as significant impacts from point source pollutants in the Black River, Bohle River and Stuart Creek catchments. Overall for the Black Ross region, 50 per cent of the waterways have achieved the total nitrogen and total phosphorus WQOs, and only 33 per cent have achieved the total suspended solids WQOs( Gunn & Manning, 2010).
Principal pollutants of urban areas include sediments, nutrients( principally nitrogen and phosphorus), oxygendemanding materials( biodegradable organic material), metals, toxic organic wastes( garden and household chemicals), pathogenic micro-organisms( bacteria, viruses etc.), hydrocarbons and litter( Gunn & Manning, 2010). Wastewater treatment plants are significant point source pollutant emitters in the urban area. Most of the existing treatment plants discharge into freshwater, estuarine or marine receiving water, with the Cleveland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant being the largest emitter( Gunn & Manning, 2010). An upgrade of the plant is proposed to accommodate a greater future population, and reduce nutrient discharge to waterways in the short-term,