A Report on the Gascoyne River Catchment Following the 2010/11 Flood Events
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Research Library Resource management technical reports Natural resources research 5-2012 A report on the Gascoyne River catchment following the 2010/11 flood ve ents P A. Waddell P W.E Thomas Paul A. Findlater Follow this and additional works at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/rmtr Part of the Agriculture Commons, Hydrology Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Soil Science Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons Recommended Citation Waddell, P A, Thomas, P W, and Findlater, P A. (2012), A report on the Gascoyne River catchment following the 2010/11 flood events. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia, Perth. Report 382. This report is brought to you for free and open access by the Natural resources research at Research Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Resource management technical reports by an authorized administrator of Research Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A report on the Gascoyne River catchment following the 2010/11 flood events RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL REPORT 382 ISSN 1039-7205 Resource Management Technical Report 382 A report on the Gascoyne River catchment following the 2010/11 flood events PA Waddell, PWE Thomas and PA Findlater May 2012 Cover picture: Gascoyne River mouth sediment plume – 10.00 am, 22 December 2010. Image processed and enhanced by Landgate, Satellite Remote Sensing Services; Erosion cell. Photo: P Waddell; Flooding through Carnarvon horticultural district. Source: Unknown. Disclaimer While all reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of the information in this document, the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Agriculture and Food and its officers and the State of Western Australia accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions it may contain, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, or for any loss, however caused, arising from reliance on, or the use or release of, this information or any part of it. Copyright © Western Australian Agriculture Authority, 2012 Copies of this document are available in alternative formats upon request. 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth WA 6151 Tel: (08) 9368 3333 Email: [email protected] www.agric.wa.gov.au Gascoyne River catchment report – 2011 Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................ iii Executive summary .............................................................................................................. v 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Objectives ...................................................................................................................1 1.3 Background ................................................................................................................. 1 2 Impact of catchment condition on flooding and erosion ............................................. 5 2.1 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 5 2.1.1 Rainfall, flooding and erosion ............................................................................ 5 2.1.2 Catchment condition......................................................................................... 6 2.1.2.1 Condition (Traverse data) .................................................................... 6 2.1.2.2 Trends and condition over time (WARMS) .......................................... 6 2.1.2.3 Vegetation cover (Remote sensed data) ............................................. 8 2.1.3 Soil infiltration measurements .......................................................................... 8 2.2 Results and analysis................................................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Rainfall, flooding and erosion .......................................................................... 10 2.2.1.1 Summer 2010-2011 weather events.................................................. 10 2.2.1.2 Rainfall and flooding ........................................................................... 14 2.2.1.3 Erosion............................................................................................... 16 2.2.2 Catchment condition....................................................................................... 19 2.2.2.1 Condition (Traverse data) .................................................................. 19 2.2.2.2 Trends and condition over time (WARMS data)................................. 20 2.2.2.2.1 Perennial plants ................................................................ 21 2.2.2.2.2 Resource capture ............................................................. 22 2.2.2.2.3 Soil surface assessment .................................................. 23 2.2.2.3 Vegetation cover ................................................................................ 25 2.2.2.3.1 Cover change analysis using Landsat .............................. 25 2.2.2.3.2 Seasonal analysis using NOAA NDVI – The 2010 season 27 2.2.3 Soil infiltration measurements ........................................................................ 29 2.2.3.1 Soil and site data ............................................................................... 29 2.2.3.2 Analysis of Infiltration measurements ................................................ 29 3 Effect of soil and vegetation condition on landscape stability ................................ 33 3.1 Physiographic regions of the Gascoyne River catchment ........................................ 33 3.1.1 Spatial organisation ......................................................................................... 35 3.1.2 Upland source areas ...................................................................................... 36 3.1.3 Transfer zones (Sheet wash plains) ............................................................... 37 3.1.4 Bottomland deposition areas .......................................................................... 40 i Gascoyne River catchment report – 2011 3.2 Landscape organisation and function ....................................................................... 41 3.2.1 Rangeland ecosystem function and soil moisture balance ............................ 41 3.2.2 Landscape incision and the desiccation process ........................................... 44 3.2.2.1 Headward erosion.............................................................................. 44 3.2.2.2 Lateral erosion ................................................................................... 46 3.2.2.3 Erosion exacerbated by infrastructure............................................... 47 3.3 Gascoyne River catchment condition summary ....................................................... 49 3.3.1 Upland source areas ...................................................................................... 49 3.3.2 Transfer zones (Sheet wash plains) ............................................................... 50 3.3.3 Bottomland deposition areas .......................................................................... 56 3.3.4 Summation ..................................................................................................... 66 4 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 70 5 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 73 References .......................................................................................................................... 74 Appendices .......................................................................................................................... 77 Appendix 1 — Acronyms ..................................................................................................... 78 Appendix 2 — Data sets and sources of data ................................................................. 79 Appendix 3 — Vegetation condition assessment and summary (2002–2009)............... 80 Appendix 4 — Soil infiltration and profile data ............................................................... 82 Appendix 5 — Peak river heights at Nine Mile Bridge 1960 to 2011 ............................ 83 Appendix 6 — Average soil surface attributes for capture and shedding zones in 2011 ............................................................................................. 86 Appendix 7 — Physiographic regions of the Gascoyne River catchment ................... 87 ii Gascoyne River catchment report – 2011 Acknowledgments The authors, PA Waddell, PWE Thomas and PA Findlater from Land and Water Assessment, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, wish to thank our department colleagues, particularly the soil surveyors and rangeland advisers, who assisted with field work: Dan Carter, Wayne Fletcher, Peter Russell, John Stretch, Peter Tille, Buddy Wheaton and Santino Vitale. Also special thanks to: • Wayne Fletcher for his efforts to alter his work schedules in an effort to visit all Gascoyne Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS) sites scheduled for 2011 assessment so as to work in with