TOWN AND COUNTRY WORKING TOGETHER TO KEEP OUR WATERWAYS CLEAN Improving water quality means healthier and more abundant fish, less weeds, and more opportunities to enjoy the creek or the beach. Factors such as nitrogen runoff can affect water quality, causing ideal conditions for algal blooms and weeds such as typha and water hyacinth to thrive, which can lower oxygen levels and cause fish kills. Cane farmers from across North Queensland are working hard to put in place irrigation and nutrient management practices that reduce nitrogen runoff – and urban communities are also making an effort to minimise their water quality impacts. Here’s an update on some of the work councils do to help keep our waterways clean.

Townsville City Council Some Council actions to improve water quality in the Townsville region include: • Upgrading the Cleveland Bay Purification Plant with the latest technology, to increase the capacity to treat Townsville’s increasing wastewater, and reduce total loads released into the bay. • Upgrading the Mt St John Sewage Treatment Plant and the Cleveland Bay Purification Plant. • The Creek to Coral Partnership, which maintains stormwater, water supply, sewage, ports, and groundwater infrastructure. The community is involved through groups such as Creekwatch, Landcare, Reef Check and Seagrass Watch.

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Developing the Black Ross (Townsville) Water Quality Improvement Plan, which focuses on managing urban and peri-urban stormwater issues.

Wastewater The Townsville area has six wastewater treatment facilities that treat approximately 17 billion litres of wastewater each year using state-of-the-art treatment processes that meet strict environmental and public health standards. It is collected and transported through a 1200 kilometre network of sewerage mains with 190 pumping stations. The biosolids produced in these processes are re-used in agriculture, providing a natural nutrient boost for graziers and farmers. Lawn advice Townsville City Council produces fact sheets and videos to educate residents about growing a stronger lawn while not using too much fertiliser or water. They cover mowing, species selection, watering, soils, and fertiliser. For example, the fertiliser fact sheet advises residents that excessive fertiliser runoff causes algal blooms that can lead to fish kills.

Burdekin Shire Council Council undertakes actions including: marine debris clean-ups, removing aquatic weeds, managing salvinia with weevils, and funding environmental projects such as bird nesting boxes, fish restocking, wetland management, feral pest control, coastal management and beach protection. Council also operates two wastewater treatment plants serving Ayr/Brandon and Home Hill.

Litter collected from the banks of the Ross River during a community clean up event.

Urban and rural runoff – facts and figures Sugarcane runoff The Burdekin Water Quality Improvement Plan (WQIP) estimates 1,046 tonnes of man-made dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) enters the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem from the Lower Burdekin sugarcane area every year (Table 1). This is 81 per cent of the total regional load, making sugar cane the highest contributor. Detailed analysis found that improving fertiliser management practices and adopting advanced irrigation practices are likely to be the most cost-effective options for nutrient runoff reduction.

Town runoff Urban areas in the region contribute an estimated 17 per cent of the total regional load of DIN, about 225 tonnes every year. The greatest source of DIN from urban areas are releases from sewage treatment plants and stormwater runoff. Concentrated nutrients occur on turfed areas such as golf courses, race tracks, parks and domestic gardens. Because towns are made up of lots of hard surfaces like roads, roofs and pavements, runoff rates increase and cause pollutants and rubbish to be carried into waterways and marine environments during rainfall events. This has been recognised and is being addressed through local council actions.

Table 1: DIN contribution by land use Sugarcane covers around four times more land than towns in the region and contributes approximately 81 per cent of the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). Other land uses that release DIN into the marine environment, such as dryland cropping and horticulture, have been estimated to contribute 2 per cent combined.

Land use

DIN (tonnes per year)

Land use area (hectares) 104,759

% of Region

1046

% of regional load 81

Sugarcane Urban

225

17

25,067

0.18

Horticulture 15

1.2

14,168

0.10

Dryland cropping

0.8

125, 965

0.90

11

Connecting Burdekin Cane Farmers To Their Local Wetlands project This project aims to improve the health of Horseshoe and Lilliesmere Lagoons, while improving cane farmers’ productivity and profit. NQ Dry Tropics and Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee Inc. (BBIFMAC) have partnered to run the project, which began in January 2017 and finishes in June 2019. For more information, please visit our website at: www.nqdrytropics.com.au

Messages next to stormwater inlets educate the public about land based pollutants reaching the Great Barrier Reef.

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Information sources: • •

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Burdekin Shire Council 2017, viewed 6 September 2017, www.burdekin.qld.gov.au. BDTNRM Plan 2016, NQ Dry Tropics 2016, Burdekin Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management Plan 2016-2026, NQ Dry Tropics, Townsville. Townsville City Council 2017, Water, Waste & Environment, viewed 18 August 2017, https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/waterwaste-and-environment. Burdekin Region Water Quality Improvement Plan 2016, NQ Dry Tropics, Townsville.

This project is delivered by NQ Dry Tropics through funding by the Queensland Government under the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection’s Reef Water Quality Science Program.

WHO ARE WE? NQ Dry Tropics is an independent, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that supports the Burdekin Dry Tropics community to sustainably manage its land and water. Established in 2000, we enjoy excellent relationships with community groups, landowners, local and national industry bodies, and all levels of government. HOW DOES NQ DRY TROPICS HELP PROTECT WETLANDS? NQ Dry Tropics works with the community to help improve understanding and awareness of water quality and land management issues. We encourage practice change, and promote the benefits of restoration and revegetation. We work with many stakeholders, including utilities, cane growers, and other landholders in the region to help identify and manage priority wetlands so that they function as they should. This work provides our community with more opportunities to enjoy these areas for fishing and boating, and helps to maintain and boost commercial seafood stocks. Ultimately, repairing and restoring waterways and wetlands contributes to a healthier and more resilient Great Barrier Reef, one of our nation’s most precious icons and the jewel in the crown of Queensland’s natural assets. FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information, please visit our website at: www.nqdrytropics.com.au; or contact a staff member from the NQ Dry Tropics’ Waterways, Wetlands and Coasts team on 07 4799 3500 or email [email protected].

TEL 07 4799 3500 I 12 WILLS STREET TOWNSVILLE CITY 4810 I WWW.NQDRYTROPICS.COM.AU