Monitoring Program to Support the Pilbara Groundwater Allocation Plan
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Monitoring program to support the Pilbara groundwater allocation plan October 2013 Looking after all our water needs SCT_Online Print_Final_A4.indd 1 31/05/10 11:08 AM Monitoring program to support the Pilbara groundwater allocation plan Looking after all our water needs Department of Water Water resource allocation and planning report series October 2013 Department of Water 168 St Georges Terrace Perth Western Australia 6000 Telephone +61 8 6364 7600 Facsimile +61 8 6364 7601 www.water.wa.gov.au © Government of Western Australia 2013 October 2013 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Department of Water. ISSN 126547450 (online) ISBN 126645888(online) Acknowledgements This report was prepared by Michelle Antao from the Department of Water. The authors acknowledge the input and comments provided by Mike Braimbridge, Ben Drew, Gary Humphries, Rochelle Irwin, Hazli Koomberi, Robyn Loomes, Duncan Palmer and Emily Said. For more information about this report, contact Michelle Antao, Environmental Officer, Water Resource Use: Telephone +61 8 6364 7600 Fascimile +61 8 6364 7601 Disclaimer This document has been published by the Department of Water. Any representation, statement, opinion or advice expressed or implied in the publication is made in good faith on the basis that the Department of Water and its employees are not liable for any damage or loss whatsoever which may occur as a result of action taken or not taken, as the case may be in respect of any representation, statement, opinion of advice referred to herein. Professional advice should be obtained before applying the information contained in this document to particular circumstances. The recommended reference for this publication is: Antao, M. 2013, Pilbara monitoring program to support the Pilbara groundwater allocation plan, Department of Water, Government of Western Australia. This publication is available at our website <www.water.wa.gov.au> or for those with special needs it can be made available in alternative formats such as audio, large print, or Braille. Monitoring program to support the Pilbara groundwater allocation plan Contents Summary .................................................................................................................... vi 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose of the monitoring program ............................................................................... 1 1.2 Determining monitoring effort ........................................................................................ 1 1.3 Existing monitoring in the plan area ............................................................................... 2 2 Monitoring program for the Pilbara ........................................................................ 4 2.1 Monitoring to evaluate against the resource objectives ................................................. 4 Performance indicators ......................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Monitoring to trigger management response ................................................................. 6 2.3 Ecological monitoring ..................................................................................................... 6 2.4 Monitoring for future planning needs ............................................................................. 6 2.5 Licensee compliance monitoring ................................................................................... 7 3 Lower Yule River ................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Site description .............................................................................................................. 8 3.2 Resource objectives ...................................................................................................... 8 3.3 Recommended monitoring program .............................................................................. 8 4 Lower De Grey River ........................................................................................... 16 4.1 Site description ............................................................................................................ 16 4.2 Resource objectives .................................................................................................... 16 4.3 Recommended monitoring program ............................................................................ 16 5 Millstream aquifer ................................................................................................ 25 5.1 Site description ............................................................................................................ 25 5.2 Resource objective ...................................................................................................... 25 5.3 Recommended monitoring program ............................................................................ 26 6 Lower Fortescue River ........................................................................................ 36 6.1 Site description ............................................................................................................ 36 6.2 Resource objectives .................................................................................................... 36 6.3 Recommended monitoring program ............................................................................ 36 7 Lower Robe River................................................................................................ 42 7.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 42 7.2 Resource objective ...................................................................................................... 42 7.3 Recommended monitoring program ............................................................................ 42 8 West Canning Basin ............................................................................................ 47 8.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 47 Department of Water iii Monitoring program to support the Pilbara groundwater allocation plan 8.2 Resource objective ...................................................................................................... 47 8.3 Recommended monitoring program ............................................................................ 48 9 Lower Cane River................................................................................................ 51 9.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 51 9.2 Resource objectives .................................................................................................... 51 9.3 Proposed monitoring program ..................................................................................... 51 10 Lower Turner River .............................................................................................. 56 10.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 56 10.2 Resource objectives .................................................................................................... 56 10.3 Recommended monitoring program ............................................................................ 56 11 Implementation .................................................................................................... 59 11.1 Monitoring program implementation ............................................................................ 59 12 Data collection and review .................................................................................. 61 12.1 Data collection and storage ......................................................................................... 61 12.2 Data reporting and review ............................................................................................ 61 12.3 Performance indicator review ...................................................................................... 63 Appendices ................................................................................................................ 65 Shortened forms ........................................................................................................ 82 Glossary .................................................................................................................... 83 References ................................................................................................................ 84 Figures Figure 1: Yule River alluvial aquifer monitoring program ..................................... 15 Figure 2: Lower De Grey River alluvial aquifer monitoring program .................... 24 Figure 3: Millstream aquifer monitoring program ................................................. 35 Figure 4: Lower Fortescue River monitoring program