Waterways around Brisbane are still recovering from last year?s floods.?Photo: Jenny Ellis
Several stretches of the local waterway are severely unhealthy ? including a catchment which provides much of Brisbane?s drinking water, an annual report card has revealed.
Though southeast Queensland?s Ecosystem Health Report Card was a good news story overall, the project?s chief scientist says glaring ?fail? grades meant Brisbane couldn?t afford complacency.
Professor John Olley, who today presented the report card to the Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection, Andrew Powell, said government and residents should be ?really worried? about the mid-Brisbane region catchment which plummeted from a D- in 2011 to an F in this year?s results.
The F marks the worst grade ever for the area, which sits west of the CBD, from the Wivenhoe dam wall to Mount Crosby weir, and spans Brisbane City Council, Somerset Regional Council, Ipswich City Council and Moreton Bay Regional Council.
Professor Olley attributed the decline to increases in nutrients and riverbed slumping, even though the catchment features some of the more intact regional riparian corridors in SEQ.
?The mid-Brisbane dropped from a D minus to an F ? that?s a fail,? he said. ?That?s the one all of us should be concerned about because it?s a conduit for the water we drink here out of a tap.?
He said the Lower Brisbane Catchment, which includes the stretch of the river that passes through the Brisbane CBD, was also a serious concern.
Despite the slight improvement, from an F to a D+ this year, poor results for some of the freshwater indicators that were used to compile the report ? including the measure of physical chemicals ? led to the ?poor? grading.
?The reality is that over half the channel network is in poor condition,? Professor Olley said.
?We need to fix up 6000 kilometres of that network to protect the bay in the long term. People are drawn here for the opportunities, and particularly the lifestyle and environment. We need to remember that we don?t inherit the earth from our grandparents, we borrow it from our grandchildren.?
During the reporting period, the northern and southern catchments of SEQ received above-average rainfall and this led to an increase in nutrients entering waterways, which in turn affected the results, Professor Olley said.
?One of the other major issues affecting waterway health in South East Queensland is the increased amount of sediment [or mud] entering our waterways,? he added.
?Mud increases the turbidity [or murkiness] of waterways and contains pollutants that have a negative impact on water quality. In order to reduce the amount of mud entering our waterways, we must plant more vegetation along the riverbanks, improve stormwater runoff, protect wetlands and restore floodplains.?
The minister acknowledged there was work to be done, and outlined the new government?s approach to improving the essential environmental resource.
?As the Environment Minister, you?ve got to be honest and admit these some trepidation when you know the report card is coming out,? Mr Powell said.
?The results in today?s report card provide us with the information we need to improve.?
Mr Powell said the government valued the environmental, social and economic worth of the SEQ waterways at around $5 billion and would contribute $4.6 million in cash and in-kind investment to protect the area, including Moreton Bay.
Meanwhile Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said his city council was also committed to improving the network, with $6.75 million allocated this financial year for creek mediation.
The work would focus on multiple locations in specific Brisbane waterways damaged by the floods Cr Quirk said, with a further $20.4 million over the next four years budgeted to rejuvenate the Norman Creek catchment in Brisbane?s inner south.
He said for the first time since 2002, streams in highly urbanised catchments improved in grade, including the Lower Brisbane, and Oxley (F to D-) and Redlands (F to D+).
?We are delighted to see that there have been improvements in Lower Brisbane and Oxley,? he said.
?Brisbane City Council has planted more than 80,000 trees in the Oxley Creek catchment as part of the Lord Mayor?s Oxley Creek Taskforce.?
A total of 389 sites are monitors across the SEQ and Moreton Bay to create the report card. The 135 freshwater sites are monitored biannually, and the 254 esturine and marine sites are monitored monthly.
The 2012 report card grades (A to F) are based on analysis of data collected from July 2011 to June 2012.
The results shows the healthiest local waterway were the Eastern Banks off North Stradbroke Island (A from A-), and the Waterloo, Central, and Eastern Bays (all A-).
Importantly, the overall health grade for Moreton Bay had improved from C to B- which Professor Olley said reflected the region?s resilience, especially in the wake of the 2011 floods.
Healthy Waterways, which is a non-government, not for profit, organisation, has released a free Report Card iPHone App. The Report is also available via the?website
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Source: http://www.brisbanepersonaltrainer.com.au/2012/10/brisbanes-water-scores-an-f/
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