2.1 Land use and tenure
Catchment land use is shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 and is dominated by grazing on natural pastures ( 92 %). Designated conservation area ( national park ) and state forest exist in the southern ridges of the Bowen sub-catchment ( total 8 % of catchment area ). Significant open-cut mining ( coal ) operates in the area also , particularly around Collinsville .
Figure 2 . Land use in the Bowen Broken Bogie catchment .
There are about 71 properties in the BBB catchments . There are 63 grazing businesses , and of these , 5 are owned by mining companies ( 300,000 ha ) and 2 are owned by government ( 100,000 ha ). Tenure is dominated by leasehold land ( 73 %), with around 16 % freehold land ( Figure 4 ).
Most of the BBB catchment is within the Whitsunday Regional Council area ( Figure 5 ), with a small proportion of Little Bowen River sub catchment within the Isaac Regional Council , and parts of the Broken River sub catchment in the Mackay Regional Council area .
The BBB catchment includes parts of the Bowen Geological Basin . As at December 2015 , there were 4 operating coal mines in the Pelican Creek and Rosella Creek sub catchments , and 1 operating gold mine in the Bogie sub catchment . There are also 7 unidentified operating mines ( DNRM , ‘ Mines on line ’ accessed , 2015 ; www . business . qld . gov . au / industry / mining / mining-online-services / mines-online ) and 119 abandoned mines in the catchment ( Figure 6 ).
The major population centre in the BBB catchment is Collinsville , with an estimated population of 4,150 people ( Queensland Statisticians Office , 2014 ). A sewage treatment plant (< 5,000 equivalent persons ) services the centre , discharging ~ 0.33 ML per day of treated wastewater to Pelican Creek . The public water supply is from the Bowen River Weir .
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