Black Ross () Water Quality Improvement Plan

Bohle River Sub basin factsheet

The Sub Basin is dominated by the Bohle River Catchment with the relatively

small Shelly Beach Catchment located in the northeast corner of the sub basin. There

are also a number of smaller waterways in the sub basin however most of the waterways

are tributaries of the Bohle River system including the Little Bohle River, Middle Bohle Creek, Louisa Creek, Saunders Creek and Stoney Creek. 5

Middle Bohle Creek Bohle River Little Bohle River

Saunders Creek

Bruce Highway

Stoney Creek

Bushland Beach

Bohle River

Louisa Creek

Shelly Beach Localities Major roads lines rail Major boundary basin Sub & number boundary Catchment Utilities & communication Transport generation/transmission Electricity & disposal treatment Waste & industrial Manufacturing Services Mining Residential forestry Production forestry Plantation conservation Nature vegetation natural Grazing horticulture Perennial horticulture perennial Irrigated horticulture seasonal Irrigated production animal Intensive cropping Irrigated Cropping Channel/aqueduct Marsh/wetland Lake/dam/reservoir River use Other minimal 5-1 2005 Land Use Legend:

146°48'E 19°24'S 19°26'S 19°28'S 19°30'S 19°10'S 19°12'S 19°14'S 19°16'S 19°18'S 19°20'S 19°22'S Bay km Cleveland 6 pallarenda River River 146°46'E 4 Lower Ross Lower Lower Ross Lower

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5-3 a i s The Bohle River Sub Basin is approximately 322 square square 322 approximately is Basin Sub River The Bohle use land dominant The (~32,200 hectares). in size kilometres the land of 59% covering grazing is Basin Sub River in the Bohle (16%) areas) (natural use and minimal conservation Nature area. and residential while basin the sub of area a significant occupy Bohle the of a number dominate uses land urban associated the 18% of approximately for and account catchments sub River area. land basin sub total industrial by dominated are basin the sub of reaches The lower and the lands Defence including uses land commercial and base. Airport and RAAF Townsville and use Land Lou 1 146°44'E 0

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i M 146°38'E 146°36'E opulation Bohle River Sub Basin Sub River Bohle 2005 Land Use P the within resident people 62,026 counted Census The 2006 the from stretches basin The sub area. Basin Sub River Bohle the Bushland of the bulk includes and coast the to Pinnacles the Ross below areas residential established suburb, Beach including suburbs north-western Townsville’s Dam, and River and Kirwan. Heatley Louisa, Mount the at population Basin Sub River the Bohle of age The median the for the average below slightly years, 31 was 2006 Census throughout vary characteristics Family (33). region Townsville children with couples higher proportion a of with basin, sub the (below River Ross the upper including areas, in suburban living total 15% of Almost Beach. and Bushland suburbs the dam) usually one person report only basin the sub in households style retirement of the presence reflect may This resident. areas. in particular development, and unit housing 3.1 at Basin, Sub River the Bohle of size household average The for rate occupancy the average above is per household, people people). (2.8 area government local Townsville the 146°34'E Black Black River Black

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bohle river Sub Basin 5

78.0 3.3 12.2 59.0 2.3 4.2 16.3 qip w 29.7 1.7 37.9 ville) iver River Bohle ub Basin Land Use ub Basin S 3.6 (towns (Gunn and Manning 2009) ] 2009) and Manning (Gunn 100 18.1 100 100 [ More information about the the about information [ More and catchments basins sub basins, be can WQIP Ross the Black of and Catchments in; Basins, found Ross the Black of Waters Receiving Plan Improvement Quality Water Area % 3.7 3.1 1.2 25.6 k ross ck 100.0 bla % 1.2 3.7 1.7 100 18.1 59.0 16.3 0 0 0 0 0 Ha 357 357 helly Beach (5-3) Beach Shelly atchment atchment Ha 402 532 5,837 1,190 5,250 78.0 19,018 32,229 78.0 78.0 % 2.3 4.2 3.3 12.2 78.0 3.3 3.3 3.3 12.2 12.2 59.0 12.2 59.0 2.3 0 59.0 Ha 2.3 396 734 565 4.2 2.3 2,105 4.2 13,489 17,289 4.2 iver (5-2) River Bohle Upper 16.3 16.3 Principal Land Use Principal 16.3 onservation and natural natural onservation and Intensive agriculture Intensive Rural residential Rural Grazing Urban areas C Water and wetlands Water 29.7 % 1.7 3.6 0.0 3.1 29.7 25.6 37.9 29.7 1.7 37.9 29.7 1.7 37.9 37.9 % 59 6.4 3.1 0.9 1.7 1.5 9.9 0.3 0.3 0.3 1.6 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 100 14.8 3.6 3.6 3.6 18.1 18.1 18.1 6 Ha 532 455 3 10 88 21 17 16 3,733 5,529 4,328 Ha 4.3 3.7 299 532 485 110 101 514 3.1 14,583 iver (5-1) River Bohle ower 1.2 25.6 3.7 4,755 2,053 1,007 3,197 3.1 19,019 L 1.2 3.7 25.6 32,229 3.1 1.2 25.6 atchment being under intense development pressure. This can be seen to be seen to can This pressure. development intense under being atchment iver catchments (26%). catchments River Bohle ower Cropping Residential Other minimal use Other minimal vegetation natural Grazing Manufacturing and industrial Manufacturing Perennial horticulture Perennial and communication Transport Irrigated perennial horticulture perennial Irrigated Services Totals Utilities Mining Intensive animal production animal Intensive cropping Irrigated Nature conservation Nature Land Use Waste treatment and disposal treatment Waste Reservoir/dam River Marsh/wetland Urban and wetlands Water Intensive agriculture Intensive Grazing residential Rural Totals Conservation and natural areas natural and Conservation Land Use (12%) and the L While the sub basin as a whole is still dominated by grazing this sub basin is the hub of urban urban the hub of is basin sub this grazing by dominated still is a whole as basin the sub While of reaches lower and central and side eastern the with region Townsville the in development C River the Bohle C River Bohle the Upper of ratios use land the urban when comparing some extent 2005 Land Use Bohle River Sub Basin Sub River Bohle Land Use 2005 Land Use by Catchment by Land Use Note: Totals may not tally due to rounding of sub totals sub of rounding due to tally not may Totals Note: Water Resource Condition

The Black Ross WQIP area water quality condition assessment (Connell Wagner 2008) indicated that the water quality of the Bohle River Sub Basin was heavily impacted. bushland beach 5-3

Data indicates that nutrients, in particular Legend: filterable reactive (dissolved inorganic)

L o u i s Drainage - Ecological Impact a C phosphorus (FRP) is at very high levels. This re ek

B trend is consistent across all of the lowland No data RU CE

HIG HW AY k Insufficient data e stream reaches where monitoring occurred re C s r Healthy/Slightly impacted e d while phosphorus levels were much lower in un Sa Slightly/Moderately impacted 5-1 the mid-estuarine reaches. Moderately/Heavily impacted

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o B this assessment however there is no recent No data ek Cre le oh data for nutrients in this sub basin. B Insufficient data tle Lit Bohle River Sub Basin Healthy/Slightly impacted ek Cre ohle le B dd Ecological Impact Slightly/Moderately impacted Mi Bohle Moderately/Heavily impacted River

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Localities B against water quality objectives (WQOs) Major roads derived from the Water Quality Major rail lines Guidelines (EPA 2006) for the Central Coast Region for lowland streams Sub basin boundary

5-1 Catchment boundary & number

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Water Quality and Water Quality Objectives (WQOs)

When we compare water quality condition data with the WQOs for the Bohle River Sub Basin we are confronted with the most degraded waterways in the Black Ross WQIP area. The only WQO that is met in the Bohle River is dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) (below the ).

Soluble forms of nutrients are particularly high in the middle and lower freshwater reaches of the Bohle River suggesting a significant impact from the discharge from the wastewater treatment plants in the sub basin.

Comparing WQOs with Water Quality bohle river S ub B

Bohle River Sub Basin DIN Org N TN FRP TP TSS

Bohle R (below Highway) 5-1 4*14% 816% 824% 8330% 8160% 8110%

Bohle R (above Highway) 5-2 81,064% 8138% 8264% 819,900% 84,900% 8140%

Notes: Tick/cross denotes if the WQO is met (4) or not (8) for the waterway based on the median value for the

asin water quality indicator. The percentage indicates the amount by which the WQO is met or not met (the difference between the WQO and water quality condition median as a percentage of the WQO). No % is listed if the water quality condition is the same as the WQO. ND is no data. 5 DIN is dissolved inorganic nitrogen, Org N is organic nitrogen, TN is total nitrogen, FRP is filterable reactive phosphorus, TP is total phosphorus and TSS is total suspended solids (sediment).

* indicates inconsistency or a wide variation in the data, or insufficient data to calculate percentiles.

Disclaimer: Townsville City Council ¹ indicates data is dated and may not reflect current condition. advises that the information in this document is derived from a number of different sources. The information [ More information about water quality conditions and WQOs can be found in; Environmental Values, Water Quality may not be accurate or up to date and Objectives and Targets for the Black Ross Water Quality Improvement Plan (Gunn, Manning, and McHarg 2009), and should not be solely relied upon for Water Quality Condition of the Black and Basins (Connell Wagner 2008) ] decision-making purposes.