Socioeconomic report for the protection of environmental values in the Queensland Murray- Darling and Bulloo Basins Report prepared for the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection DECEMBER 2017 Marsden Jacob Associates Financial & Economic Consultants ABN 66 663 324 657 ACN 072 233 204 Internet: http://www.marsdenjacob.com.au E-mail: [email protected] Melbourne office: Postal address: Level 4, 683 Burke Road, Camberwell Victoria 3124 AUSTRALIA Telephone: +61 3 9882 1600 Facsimile: +61 3 9882 1300 Perth office: Level 1, 220 St Georges Terrace, Perth Western Australia, 6000 AUSTRALIA Telephone: +61 8 9324 1785 Facsimile: +61 8 9322 7936 Sydney office: 119 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest New South Wales, 2065 AUSTRALIA Telephone: +61 418 765 393 Author: Alex Marsden, Philippa Short, Elizabeth O’Brien, Dr Jeremy Cheesman [email protected] This report has been prepared in accordance with the scope of services described in the contract or agreement between Marsden Jacob Associates Pty Ltd ACN 072 233 204 (Marsden Jacob) and the Client. Any findings, conclusions or recommendations only apply to the aforementioned circumstances and no greater reliance should be assumed or drawn by the Client. Furthermore, the report has been prepared solely for use by the Client and Marsden Jacob Associates accepts no responsibility for its use by other parties. Copyright © Marsden Jacob Associates Pty Ltd 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Key Messages ........................................................................................................................ i 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 Terms of reference ...................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Approach..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Structure of this report ................................................................................................................ 7 2. Upper Condamine region ............................................................................................... 9 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 9 2.2 Socio economic profile .............................................................................................................. 10 2.3 Water quality and identified management actions in the region ................................................. 14 3. Border Rivers region .................................................................................................... 17 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Socio economic profile ............................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Water quality and identified management actions in the region ................................................. 22 4. Maranoa-Upper Balonne region .................................................................................... 25 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 25 4.2 Socio economic profile .............................................................................................................. 25 4.3 Water quality and identified management actions in the region ................................................. 29 5. Lower Balonne region .................................................................................................. 31 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 31 5.2 Socio economic profile ............................................................................................................... 31 5.3 Water quality and identified management actions in the region .................................................. 35 6. South West region ....................................................................................................... 37 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 37 6.2 Socio economic profile .............................................................................................................. 38 6.3 Water quality and identified management actions in the region ................................................. 41 7. Economic Contributions ............................................................................................... 43 7.1 Summary of Queensland Murray Darling Basin Region .............................................................. 43 8. Description of management actions ............................................................................. 51 8.2 Benefits of maintaining environmental values ............................................................................ 62 8.3 Costs of improving or maintaining water quality .........................................................................67 Appendix 1: Risk assessment process ................................................................................... 74 Appendix 2: Environmental valuation using Total Economic Value framework ....................... 77 Glossary ............................................................................................................................. 82 References .......................................................................................................................... 83 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Summary of the economic contribution of key industry sectors within the Queensland Murray Darling Basin and the Bulloo Basin..................................................................................................................................... iii Table 2: Employment by sector, Upper Condamine region.................................................................................... 12 Table 3: Surface and groundwater sub-catchments within the Upper Condamine region ...................................... 15 Table 4: Assessment of identified risk factors for surface water sub-catchments, Upper Condamine region .......... 15 Table 5: Assessment of identified risk factors for groundwater sub-catchments, Upper Condamine region ........... 16 Table 6: Employment by sector, Border Rivers region ........................................................................................... 19 Table 7: Surface water and groundwater sub catchments, Boarder Rivers region .................................................. 22 Table 8: Assessment of identified risk factors for surface water sub-catchments, Border Rivers region .................. 23 Table 9: Assessment of identified risk factors for groundwater sub-catchments, Border Rivers region .................. 24 Table 10: Employment by sector, Maranoa Balonne and QMDB............................................................................ 26 Table 11: Surface groundwater sub catchments, Maranoa-Balonne region ............................................................ 29 Table 12: Assessment of identified risk factors for surface water sub-catchments, Maranoa-Balonne .................... 30 Table 13: Employment by sector, Lower Balonne and QMDB ................................................................................ 32 Table 14: Surface and groundwater sub-catchments, Lower Balonne region ......................................................... 35 Table 15: Assessment of identified risk factors for surface water sub-catchments, Lower Balonne region .............. 36 Table 16: Employment by sector, South West region ............................................................................................ 39 Table 17: Assessment of identified risk factors for surface water catchments, South West region .......................... 42 Table 18: Assessment of identified risk factors for the groundwater sub-catchments, South West region.............. 42 Table 19: Water use by source .............................................................................................................................. 44 Table 20: Areas under irrigation ............................................................................................................................ 44 Table 21: Estimated number of visitors and amounts spent in Local Government Authorities within the Basin ...... 46 Table 22: Estimate of turnover arising from recreational fishing............................................................................ 48 Table 23: Total area of wetlands that would benefit from water quality protection ................................................ 49 Table 24: Design objectives - minimum reductions in mean annual load from unmitigated development (%) ........ 52 Table 25: Dominant land use in each catchment ................................................................................................... 54 Table 26: Modelled Annual Loads as a Percent of Sediment Generation Process - Upper Condamine .................... 57 Table 27: Modelled Annual Loads as a Percent of Sediment