What is GeoCatch doing to improve water quality in the Vasse - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sally Clifton Parks – GeoCatch Coordinator

What is GeoCatch doing to improve water quality in the Vasse Wonnerup Wetlands?

www.geocatch.asn.au

Who is GeoCatch? Why GeoCatch started? What have we done in the past to improve water quality? What are we doing now? Have we made any progress? What challenges do we face? What else can GeoCatch do?

www.geocatch.asn.au

Why GeoCatch started

Community concern about the health of Geographe Bay in 1997 prompted discussions between the Shire’s of Busselton and Capel. GeoCatch was formed as a response to these concerns. GeoCatch aim to improve the health of our wetlands, waterways and bay We do this through partnerships with management agencies, research

• rganisations, our regional group and working with the community.

www.geocatch.asn.au

Who are we?

Our Council:

• 8 community members
• 2 council reps (Busselton and Capel)
• 3 state government agency reps (DAFWA, DoW, DEC)
• Meet 8 times per year
• Oversee the activities of GeoCatch

www.geocatch.asn.au

Who are we?

Our staff: 6 project officers 1 finance officer 1 executive officer 1 coordinator

Department of Water Partnership

Partnership since 1997 (then Water and Rivers Commission) DoW GeoCatch GeoCatch council member sitting fees Core staff support including the employment of a GeoCatch Coordinator Office facilities, IT and technical support Work with the community to improve the condition of our waterways, wetlands and Geographe Bay Source funding to deliver on ground

• utcomes

Create and maintain partnerships with community, local, state and federal government.

www.geocatch.asn.au

www.geocatch.asn.au

 1997 – 2007  Insitu water quality improvement  Restoring river ecology

Lower Vasse River Clean-up program

www.geocatch.asn.au

www.geocatch.asn.au

Trials included:

• dredging sediments
• phoslockTM
• bank revegetation
• floating reed rafts
• Oxygenation
• macrophyte trial
• goldfish control

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The problem with the ‘clean up’ approach

• Varying levels of success in trials, but water quality could not be improved enough

to stop algal blooms

• Only treats the nutrients in situ. They are still entering from the sediment, from

groundwater (septics) and in-flow from the catchment

• Adressing only one of these sources of nutrients means algal blooms will continue

These actions treat the symptoms. Need to manage the source of the nutrients = inflow from the catchment

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A change in thinking was needed…..

Working at a whole of catchment scale

Nationally recognised Coastal Hotspot

• Part of the Australian Government’s

Coastal Catchments Initiative project

• Aimed to reduce pollution

(nutrients) in key coastal ‘hotspots’.

• 2010 Water Quality Improvement

Plans (WQIP) has been developed for the Vasse – Wonnerup wetlands and Geographe Bay.

www.geocatch.asn.au

www.geocatch.asn.au

Water Quality Improvement Plan

The development of the WQIP was a partnership between GeoCatch and the Department of Water The WQIP is our ‘action plan’ to improve water quality It brings together the best current science to give us a tool kit of management actions Focuses on all catchments of Geographe Bay, but prioritises ‘nutrient hotspots’ WQIP implementation needs everyone’s involvement to be successful - GeoCatch actively engages a broad range

• f partners and stakeholders, industry, government and

community

Phosphorus concentration summary (1998–2007)

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 Five Mile Creek Gynudup Brook Capel River Ludlow River Abba River Sabina River Lower Vasse River Vasse Diversion Drain Buayanyup River Carbunup River Annie Brook Toby Inlet Dunsborough Region Jingarmup Brook Winter median concentration (mg/L)

Winter median concentraion (95% confidence intervals) Winter median target concentration

What’s the problem?

5.1

WQIP Management Categories

• Protection – for waterways that meet the

N and P acceptable concentration levels.

• Intervention – for waterways that

currently meet the P target, but not N.

• Recovery – For waterways that do not

meet either N or P targets. Protection, Intervention, Recovery

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Where are the nutrients coming from in Vasse- Wonnerup Wetlands?

Cattle for beef and cattle for dairy (fertiliser) Point sources significant contrbutor of P (dairy sheds, feedlots) Urban contributions is currently small, but is predicted to increase greatly with urban expansion Cattle for beef and dairy Cattle for beef and dairy Point sources

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What is GeoCatch doing now?

Working with the community and partners to reduce nutrients from both urban and rural sources Ongoing monitoring of the catchment’s waterways Monitoring the health of the wetlands and Bay

Dairy Effluent Upgrades

Aim: to stop nutrients from dairy sheds entering Geographe waterways Experience from previous projects told us we needed a new approach:

• Upskill WA - Workshops to train local contractors and

consultants in dairy effluent system design

• Engage Industry - Western Dairy partnership
• Effluent Management Code of Practice developed
• Ten farmers have installed effluent system upgrades

Challenge – expense of set up and ongoing maintenance

Effluent Management Training workshops

www.geocatch.asn.au

Riparian Management

Aim: to prevent nutrients entering waterways through stock exclusion fencing and revegetation

• Approximately 270+km of rivers and streams have been

fenced through GeoCatch since 1997

• Partnership with South West Catchments Council
• Large in-kind contribution from farmers across the

catchment

• Challenge for future – working with the un-willing

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Riparian management

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$mart Soils

Aim: Reduce nutrients (Phosphorus) from agricultural fertiliser entering Geographe waterways by implementing best practice fertilise use

• Soil testing, nutrient interpretation and

production of fertiliser maps

• A close working partnership with DAFWA
• 100 farms tested over 2 years in the Geographe

catchment

• Currently doing follow up surveys to gauge

behaviour change

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Urban Drainage Management

Create ‘Wetlands’ and ‘streams’ that strip nutrients and pollutants from stormwater Demonstrate to local government what can be achieved and incorporated into their retrofitting and re-development programs.

• Strelly St and Barlee St bioretention gardens
• Queen Street roundabout rain gardens
• Bunbury Street Basin and Fairlawn Drain upgrades
• Coles carpark rain gardens
• College Avenue and Capel townsite living wetlands

Strong partnership with City of Busselton and Shire of Capel, both cash and in-kind support to projects Demonstrate what can be achieved Aim: To reduce nutrients and pollutants leaving urban areas and entering Geographe waterways

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Coles carpark College Avenue Queen St

Bay Friendly Businesses

Aim: To reduce nutrients and pollutants leaving high risk businesses

• Undertaking audits and developing management

plans for high risk businesses (44 completed)

• Following the audit, businesses can be recognised

as ‘In progress’ or ‘Approved’ as Bay Friendly

• 25 Bay Friendly Businesses to date
• Response from businesses has been very positive
• On going support and building relationships with

business owners has been key

• 20 new businesses in 2013

www.geocatch.asn.au

Urban Nutrient Management

Aim: To reduce nutrients leaving urban properties and entering Geographe waterways Urban areas are a significant contributor to nutrients entering the Lower Vasse The biggest predicted increases in nutrients in the future will be from new urban developments The average gardener applies more fertiliser than dairy

• r horticulture

Activities include low nutrient gardening workshops and demonstrations

Bay OK program

The branding and marketing behind GeoCatch’s WQIP implementation

• Encouraging behaviour change
• On-ground works
• Creating partnership
• Recognition program – Bay Friendly Schools,

businesses

Have we made any progress?

Monitoring

• Fortnightly monitoring of rivers in the Geographe

catchment

• Annual monitoring of Vasse Wonnerup wetlands for

aquatic plants and water quality (since 2006, Murdoch Uni)

• Annual seagrass health monitoring in Geographe

Bay (2012 and 2013, Edith Cowan Uni)

www.geocatch.asn.au

www.geocatch.asn.au

• Catchment monitoring shows that we have made improvements in sub-

catchments where we have been focusing our efforts in on ground works (Phosphorus reduction in Lower Sabina and Vasse Diversion Drain)

• Conversely, in sub catchments where we have not been working, nutrients

have increased beyond predictions

• Seagrass monitoring shows the bay appears to be in good health (from

nutrient perspective)

• Vasse Wonnerup wetland monitoring. The wetlands are on a tipping point

between a healthy macrophyte dominated system, and an unhealthy phytoplankton dominated system.

Monitoring results

?

x

What challenges do we face?

Working with the un-willing Awareness raising vs behaviour change Scale of the problem Meeting community expectations Funding!

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What else can GeoCatch do for the Wetlands?

Our role - “The community’s voice in the catchment” Can we help the community’s voice to be heard? Act as a link between the community and the management agencies Workshop community concerns, suggestions and ideas to feed back into decision making?

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Thank you

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The Catchment

Point Sources Septic Horticulture Perennial Horticulture Viticulture Cattle for Beef Cattle for Dairy Other Rural Horses Lifestyle Urban

Nutrient Source Separation - P

Cattle for beef and dairy (diffuse)

Nutrient Source Separation - N

Point Sources Septic Horticulture Perennial Horticulture Viticulture Cattle for Beef Cattle for Dairy Other Rural Horses Lifestyle Urban Fixation

Cattle for beef and dairy (diffuse)

Loads and targets Vasse Wonnerup wetlands Geographe Bay Current tonnes/year P P 15.6 P 53.4 Long term reduction targets P 6.4 (41 %)

Interim 10 yr 23%

20 (38 %)

Interim 10 yr 19%

Current tonnes/year N 133.7 409.2 Long term reduction targets N 73.8 (55%)

Interim 10 yr 36%

177.4 (43%)

Interim 10 yr 30%

Nutrient Reduction Targets

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Our Structure

GeoCatch Inc Geographe Catchment Council Department

• f Water

Advisory committee established under the Water Agencies Powers Act 1984 Incorporated group

Partnership Agreement Access and manage external funding

GeoCatch receives member fees, coordinator support, financial management support, technical support. GeoCatch engages the community and forms partnerships to manage the catchment and its waterways

Key outcomes and findings:

 Dredging material difficult to treat and dispose of cost

effectively

 PhoslockTM successful – $$  Most insitu water quality treatment ineffective  Restoration effective to improve ecology – not water

quality

 Nutrients within the sediment and water column

exceptionally high

LVR Clean-up program

 Add pie charts pg 41 WQIP  Lower Vasse and Sabina rivers both contribute a

disproportionately large amount of nutrients to the wetlands

Where are the nutrients coming from in the Vasse-Wonnerup Wetlands?