WET TROPICS REGION Daintree catchment

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n Reef a st n Under the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan, water quality E a Norm n a A Endeavour nby R Reef i targets have been set for each catchment that drains to the Great v e Barrier Reef. These targets (given over the page) consider land use and r pollutant loads from each catchment. E n d e a v o u r C a t c h m e n t r 2 Rive The Daintree catchment covers 2107 km (10% of the Wet Tropics y b an m region). Rainfall averages 2521 mm a year, which results in r o N Pickersgill discharges to the coast of about 2887 GL each year. st e Reef Escape W Reef Weary Evening The Daintree catchment is the northernmost catchment in the Wet N o r m a n b y C a t c h m e n t Bay Reef Tropics region. The catchment is divided by two major waterways, the Daintree River in the south and the in the north, and a number of smaller waterways that flow from the mountain ranges to the coast. The majority of the catchment is covered by mountain Morning Reef ranges with a narrow lowland coastal plain. The highland section is mostly reserved for conservation and is included in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Agriculture and urban areas are primarily located in the lowland coastal section.

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Land uses in the Daintree catchment D a i n t r e e C a t c h m e n t

The main land uses are nature conservation (56%), forestry (32%), and Rudder Reef grazing (7%).

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Cape Kimberley Tongue Reef Nature conservation Forestry razing Legend Dryland cropping Sugarcane Seagrass Sugarcane Water Catchment Horticulture Urban Highways Banana Other Secondary roads Dairy Landuse Urban and other intensive uses Batt Reef Horticulture T r i n i t y B a y Nature conservation Mining Irrigated cropping ! Forestry Stream/water inc. dams M oss ma Newell Bananas n R Grazing Other iv er 0 4 8 12 16 20 Irrigated cropping Mossman ! Kilometres Mos sm an C atc hment Morey Reef S:\OGBR\d170612 GBR catchments map\GBR catchments map_A4P_v03.mxd Page 8 of 35 31 July 2017 2025 water quality targets and priorities Modelled water quality pollutant loads

End-of-catchment anthropogenic load reductions Pesticides required from 2013 baseline

Dissolved inorganic Fine sediment Particulate Particulate nitrogen (DIN) phosphorus (PP) nitrogen (PN)

To protect at least maintain maintain maintain maintain 99% current load current load current load current load of aquatic species at the end of catchment

The Daintree catchment has minimal anthropogenic pollutant loads. Water quality The aim is to maintain current water quality so that there are no relative priority increases in sediment or nutrient loads. Very high The 2025 targets aim to reduce the amounts of fine sediments, nutrients High (nitrogen and phosphorus) and pesticides flowing to the reef. Each target for sediment and nutrients is expressed as: (a) the percentage Moderate load reduction required compared with the 2013 estimated load of each pollutant from the catchment; and (b) the load reductions Low required in tonnes. Progress made since 2013 will count towards these Minimal targets. Previously reported progress between 2009 and 2013 has already been accounted for when setting the targets. The pesticide Not assessed target aims to ensure that concentrations of pesticides at the end of each catchment are low enough that 99% of aquatic species are protected. The targets are ecologically relevant for the , and are necessary to ensure that broadscale land uses have no detrimental effect on the reef’s health and resilience.

A high percentage reduction target may not necessarily mean it is the highest priority. The priorities (ranked by colour) reflect the relative risk assessment priorities for water quality improvement, based on an independent report, the 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement. The priorities reflect scientific assessment of the likely risks of pollutants damaging coastal and marine ecosystems.

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