The Bugle - 24 July 05
In news this week
Regional body stories
- Regional body benefits from January floods in the Burdekin
- Hands-on groundwater session for basin land managers
- Big water issues vex small towns
- Landcare chairs in the south-west chart the future
Government updates
- JSC invades the Gulf
- NR&M budget hits new high
- Queensland's national parks to benefit from State budget
- Forum puts Mackay-Whitsunday issues under the spotlight
- Blueprint for the bush on forum agenda
Natural resources news
- Say hooroo to Migaloo: from a repectable distance
- Coral reef fin fish surveys expanded
- Last call to nominate Landcare heroes
- Database highlights extension projects
- Hunt on for Siam weed
Regional body benefits from January floods in the Burdekin
The January floods in the Burdekin helped to prove a sediment modelling program is working and provided the Burdekin Dry Tropics Board with useful information on water quality.
Several agencies planned to take water samples from the Burdekin during the flood using a network of water collection sites. The two main road bridges on the Burdekin River, Macrossan and Home Hill, were targeted as key collection sites.
On 22 January, the rains fell and Community Water Quality Monitoring Coordinator for the Burdekin Dry Tropics Board, David Reid, collected samples from the rapidly rising Burdekin River at Macrossan bridge near Charters Towers.
At 2:00am (the flood's peak time) Macrossan bridge flooded, stranding travellers on either side of the crossing, but David was able to get his water sample. According to David, the experience was well worthwhile as a good water sample for sediments requires water to be collected several times as a stream rises, peaks and falls.
A network of graziers collected samples over several days as their waterways started to rise and the Department of Natural Resources and Mines collected several weeks of samples at Home Hill.
David said the results of this combined effort were still being analysed and it was expected the data would refine the computer sediment modelling program with initial results suggesting close correlation between the model and expected movement of sediments in the Burdekin catchment.
For more information please email David Reid or phone him on 4721 4077.
Hands-on groundwater session for Basin land managers
Farmers, irrigators and local government staff attended a presentation about groundwater trends by the principal author of the Murray Darling Basin Groundwater Status Report 1990-2000 (GSR).
David Ife, from the environmental and engineering consulting firm URS, and Marie Waschka from the Murray-Darling Basin Commission visited Roma, Goondiwindi, Bollon and Charleville from 21-24 June for four demonstration forums organised by the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC).
They were joined by groundwater experts from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, QMDC and South West NRM group.
The groundwater status report is a key information resource for natural resource managers dealing with threats like salinity in the Basin. The GST will be updated every five years, and the next report will analyse trends in groundwater extent and condition from 2000-2005.
A CD with the shape files generated for this project has been developed as a geographical information system product and it contains software necessary to read and display the maps and hydrographs.
To obtain a copy of the report, call Ben at QMDC on 4637 6279.
Big water issues vex small towns
Some smaller western Queensland towns face more hardship if they continue to extract underground water faster than it is being replenished, warns Metryl Eddie, Local Government NRM Officer for the Maranoa-Balonne Catchment.
For this reason, the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QLD) is working with local councils in the Maranoa-Balonne and Border Rivers catchments to address urban water use efficiency sooner rather than later.
At the cornerstone of this work is the Urban Water Use Efficiency Plan. The Plan will set targets for local councils' water usage and reaching these targets will be a responsibility of every individual within the towns. To complement this work, nine councils in the Maranoa-Balonne Catchment participated in printing more than 9000 copies of a water usage brochure which has been distributed to households throughout the region.
The Urban Water Use Efficiency Plan (including educational promotional material) will be partly funded by the QLD, local councils and the Department of Natural Resources and Mines.
Contact Metryl Eddie to find out more on 4622 1144
Landcare chairs in the south-west chart the future
Maintaining the ties between Landcare and the regional NRM group was the focus of a meeting last week in Moonie between the Landcare chairs and the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC).
Trevor Martin, Chair of the Wag gamba Landcare Group said: "Landcare groups across this region were unanimous in their support for the current regional partnership arrangements with the QMDC, but there is always room to improve.
"Landcare and QMDC have been major partners in the establishment and support of 60 sub-catchment groups covering 2.2 million hectares of the region over the past two years."
The seven currently approved sub-catchment plans have enabled QMDC to allocate $2 million of Queensland and Australian Government funding to the associated on-ground work.
In the Border Rivers and Maranoa-Balonne catchments, nine Landcare coordinators and a Regional Landcare Facilitator continue to be supported in the region and play a vital role in linking landholders to funding, information and expertise.
For more information please contact QMDC on 4637 6270.
JSC invades the Gulf
Last week's visit by the Joint Queensland and Australian Government NRM Steering Committee (JSC) gave the Northern and Southern Gulf regional bodies an opportunity to highlight their regions' assets and the types of NRM problems they are targeting.
This trip was a great success, from the meeting held at Karumba on the border of the two Gulf regions, to the wetland area field trip and the update given on the Ghost Net project which both the Northern and Southern Gulf groups are contributing. The JSC was very pleased with progress being made on the Ghost Net project.
Ghost nets are lost fishing nets that drift with the currents into the Gulf, posing a deadly hazard to marine life like dolphins, turtles and fish. The project aims to remove these nets from the Gulf and develop a long-term solution to this problem.
The JSC was formed to oversee the implementation of Queensland and Australian Government activities for the National Action Plan Salinity and Water Quality (NAPSWQ) and was extended to include activities for the National Heritage Trust (the Trust).
The JSC supports Ministers and regional NRM groups, makes decisions regarding the groups' proposals and forwards recommendations to the Australian and Queensland Government Ministers for approval.
The JSC has three more meetings planned for this year:
- 24-26 August - Brisbane
- 19-21 October - Mackay
- 30 Nov/1 Dec - Canberra
NR&M budget hits new high
The Department of Natural Resources and Mines was allocated a record $576 million in the 2005-06 State Budget to manage Queensland's natural resources.
Key NR&M budget initiatives include:
- $66.4 million over four years to continue water reform, progress water infrastructure options, investigate supply alternatives such as desalination, stormwater harvesting and re-using wastewater; finalise regional water supply strategies, improve water use efficiency and secure Queensland's future water supplies
- $90 million over 10 years for dam spillway upgrades and associated regulatory arrangements to reduce the risks in extreme floods and meet new national safety standards
- $9 million over two years to employ 40 additional staff to accelerate assessment of tree clearing ballot applications, roll out property maps of assessable vegetation, and implement the new vegetation management framework under which broadscale clearing will end by December 2006
- $10 million over four years to employ 21 additional staff to strengthen compliance capacity and respond to breaches of legislation protecting Queensland's land, water, vegetation and mineral resources plus indigenous cultural heritage
- $20 million over four years to stimulate further mineral exploration in high-potential areas and encourage overseas investment in the mining industry.
- $10 million over four years to manage fire risk on more than 2.1 million hectares of unallocated state land
- $4.4 million over four years to meet new national security requirements relating to the use, transport and storage of ammonium nitrate
- $4 million over four years in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency to manage and treat acid sulphate soils at East Trinity near Cairns
- $1 million over three years for the Invasive Animal Cooperative Research Centre to develop a cane-toad-specific toxin bait to limit the spread of cane toads and reduce their environmental and social impacts across Queensland.
For more information, visit the NR&M website.
Queensland's national parks to benefit from State budget
Queensland's environment will benefit from the recent State budget with increased spending on maintenance and infrastructure as well as the employment of at least 55 new rangers.
An extra $58 million will be spent on managing Queensland's national parks in 2005-2006.
New funds for the environment included:
- $8.1m over two years for Cape York - additional visitor infrastructure, park management base facilities, new park staff, regional and tourism development initiatives
- $2.3m over two years for the Wet Tropics - improved visitor access and tourism infrastructure such as signs, fencing, roads and firebreaks
- $545,000 for managing the impacts of acid sulfate soil at East Trinity
- $288,000 for capital works at East Trinity.
- Fifty of the new rangers will be ex-forestry workers who will join the QPWS as the draft western hardwoods agreement is finalised and state forests of high conservation value are progressively transferred to protected areas.
For more information, visit the EPA website.
Forum puts Mackay-Whitsunday issues under the spotlight
Planning for growth in the Mackay-Whitsunday region was high on the agenda at the Ministerial Regional Community Forum at Cannonvale.
These interactive forums provide a chance to share information, discuss grassroots issues impacting on regional communities and develop strategies for working together for the benefit of the Mackay-Whitsunday region.
The Ministerial Regional Community Forums are a state government initiative to provide regional Queenslanders with the opportunity to get involved in the government decision-making process.
The forums give Queensland communities the opportunity to have their say on issues that directly affect them and ensure their voices are heard.
The key issues discussed included:- growth management in the Whitsunday Shire
- community safety and crime prevention with a presentation delivered by a representative from the Whitsunday Building Safer Communities Action Team
- housing availability and affordability in the region
- the Queensland Government's Strengthening Non-Government Organisations project.
Government departments will review the proposals presented at the forum and will report back at the next Mackay-Whitsunday forum in a few months. Forums are held four times a year with simultaneous events run in 10 different regional areas. Ministerial Regional Community Forums were held at nine other locations around the State: Charters Towers; Brookwater; Weipa, Bundaberg; Gympie; South Brisbane; Coomera; Mitchell and Yeppoon.
For more information, visit the Getting involved website.
Blueprint for the Bush on forum agenda
The Blueprint for the Bush initiative was high on the agenda at the Darling Downs and South West Queensland Ministerial Regional Community Forum at Mitchell.
The Blueprint for the Bush is a unique partnership between the Queensland Government and AgForce, working with rural communities to plan for greater sustainability in rural and regional communities.
Community representatives, known as forum members, facilitated discussions on a range of issues of regional importance.
The Queensland Government is listening to the concerns of regional Queenslanders and progressing issues in collaboration with their forum members.
For more information, visit the Getting involved website.
Say hooroo to Migaloo: from a respectable distance
While Migaloo the white humpback whale is in Queensland waters he will be "a whale of special interest", a designation that protects the unusual creature from harassment during his annual migration.
QPWS is reminding boaties, pilots and even swimmers to keep a safe distance from whales and abide by whale-watching regulations around these large, unpredictable creatures.
For Migaloo, the approach limit is 500m for boats and 2000 feet for all aircraft.
For other humpback whales, the approach limit is generally 100m for boats and 1000 feet for fixed-wing aircraft and 2000 feet for helicopters. Boats cannot go any closer than 300 metres to a whale if three or more boats are already closer than 300 metres to that whale.
In the Whitsundays, where many whales congregate to calve, boats are allowed no closer than 300m at any time.
The humpback population is recovering and increasing by about 10 per cent a year. This year about 7000 whales from Australia's east coast population are expected to visit on the annual migration. Whale watching is now a major Queensland tourism industry.
For information about whales, the regulations and whale-watching season, visit the EPA website.
Coral reef fin fish surveys expanded
The long-term monitoring program for coral reef fin fish populations undertaken by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) has been expanded, with surveys starting this month from Gladstone and the Swains Reefs north to Cooktown.
The expansion of the DPI&F long-term monitoring program will support the Coral Reef Fin Fish Management Plan, which came into effect last year.
These new surveys will collect information on catch rates, size, age and the species composition of all fish targeted by the fishery from reefs in the Swains region and will complement the surveys completed between Lizard Island and Bowen.
DPI&F is also developing enhanced monitoring strategies for the inshore and predominantly recreational coral reef fin fish fishery to be implemented in the future. This monitoring will complement the statewide recreational fishing telephone and diary surveys.
The information will be used to assess present management arrangements and ensure Queensland's popular commercial and recreational reef fish species are being maintained at ecologically sustainable levels.
A report on the first three years of reef fish information collected during the program is available through the DPI&F Call Centre on 13 25 23 or the DPI&F website
Last call to nominate Landcare heroes is today
Queenslanders are being urged to enter their inspiring projects in the 2005 Queensland Landcare Awards. Held once every two years, these awards celebrate the valuable contribution made by individuals and groups in regional communities.
You can nominate your own or someone else's project for one or more awards. There are 10 categories all up, covering everything from individual and primary producer awards to community group, local government and Indigenous community awards.
Winners will be announced at a special ceremony on 5 August in Barcaldine as part of the Queensland Landcare & Catchment Management Conference, and flown to Canberra for the National Landcare Awards ceremony next year.
This year's Queensland Landcare Awards are being coordinated by Queensland Water and Land Carers Inc. - a non government, non profit organisation which supports Queensland community volunteers striving for sustainable water and land use.
Entries close: Extended to COB 24 June.
Entry details: Entry forms and guidelines are available by calling 1800 151 105 or visiting the Landcare Australia website.
If you have any questions, contact QWaLC on 3211 4409.
Database highlights extension projects
The Cooperative Venture in Capacity Building for Innovations in Rural Industries has recently launched a database of extension projects around Australia.
It currently includes about 50 projects covering agricultural industries, NRM and information projects. It was produced as part of a major review of education/extension conducted by the cooperative venture.
The review sought to identify what works and why. The database can be accessed at the Cooperative Venture in Capacity Building website.
Hunt on for Siam weed
A national survey is commencing for one of the world's most invasive tropical weeds: Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata). The Department of Natural Resources and Mines (NR&M), with the support of a number of others states and the government agencies is coordinating a pest plant survey to establish the extent of Siam weed within Australia.
Siam weed infestations exist in several north Queensland locations, these infestations are being eradicated.
NR&M Principal Project Officer Frank Fox said Siam weed was toxic to stock and degraded agricultural lands in southeast Asia so badly they were abandoned.
May to July is an important time for people to be on the look out for Siam weed's white-pink flowers. Landholders, bushwalkers, and naturalists are asked to help search for Siam weed.
If you think you have seen Siam weed in any location, please report it by calling 1800 084 881 or report on the weeds website.
Identification material can be found on DPI&F's weeds website.
We welcome your input and feedback on this newsletter. If you have any contributions, comments or suggestions please contact Carl Glen or Shona Strachan.
The Bugle is a weekly newsletter published by Strategic Policy and Regional Arrangements, Natural Resources and Mines, highlighting regional natural resource management activities around Queensland.
Last updated 21 January 2009