ACT and Region Catchment Strategy in Brief
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ACT and Region Catchment Strategy In Brief YASS BUNGENDORE CANBERRA QUEANBEYAN COOMA ISBN: 978-1-921117-60-2 © Australian Capital Territory, Canberra 2016 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from: Director-General, Environment and Planning Directorate, ACT Government, GPO Box 158, Canberra ACT 2601. Telephone: 02 6207 1923 Website: www.environment.act.gov.au Printed on recycled paper Accessibility The ACT Government is committed to making its information, services, events and venues as accessible as possible. 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For more information on these services visit http://www.relayservice.com.au Contents The Vision 2 At a glance 3 About the ACT and Region 4 Development of the strategy 6 The Purpose 8 The strategy 9 Challenges 9 Our response 9 Governance,policies and planning 10 Communities 11 Regional development 12 Water 13 Land and biodiversity 14 Next steps 16 Implementing the strategy 16 First actions 16 Monitoring, evaluation and review 16 ACT and Region Catchment Management Coordination Group 18 environment.act.gov.au 1 The Vision At a glance Government, community and industry working together to produce a healthy, productive, resilient and liveable catchment region. At a glance Challenges Development The major challenges over the next 30 years are The Catchment Strategy has been developed by the multi-jurisdictional nature of the catchment, the ACT and Region Catchment Management a growing population and a changing climate. Coordination Group with strong involvement from catchment stakeholders. The strategy The group The ACT and Region Catchment Strategy aims to improve coordination, cooperation and The Group was established to address the collaboration in addressing the catchment challenges in catchment management management challenges across the multi- across jurisdictions, and includes executive jurisdictional catchment. representatives from the Australian Government, ACT Government, NSW Government, local It presents 19 actions in 5 key themes: governance, councils, Icon Water and the community. policies and planning; communities; regional development; water; and land and biodiversity. Timeframe The goals The Catchment Strategy sets the strategic direction for the next 30 years. The governance theme establishes a framework for decision making taking into account the values of stakeholders, the evidence base, and the Area benefits of cross-jurisdictional collaboration, for The Catchment Strategy covers the area within the collective, long-term good of the catchment the Upper Murrumbidgee River catchment, and its residents. upstream of Burrinjuck Dam and extending to The community theme values and remains Lake Eucumbene in the south. strongly connected to the catchment, and provides the capacity to adapt to environmental, economic and policy changes. Implementation The ACT and Region Catchment Strategy: The regional development theme seeks to Catchment Action Implementation Plan 2016–21 support human settlement and regional growth describes the major features of the strategy’s across the ACT and Region by providing sound implementation. The initial focus is on establishing catchment management planning principles that governance frameworks, aligning policy, and are resilient and sustainable. establishing collaborative processes and networks. The water theme ensures that the resource is More detailed 5-year implementation plans will be managed in a total water cycle management regime. developed following the release of the strategy. The land and biodiversity theme provides the ACT and Region with a healthy ecological system that Review is resilient to stress and adaptive to change. Catchment targets will be developed, and implementation plans will be continually monitored and reviewed to measure progress and identify future priorities and milestones. The Catchment Strategy will be reviewed at approximately 5-year intervals. environment.act.gov.au 3 About the ACT and Region NEW SOUTH ighway WALES Hume H BOWNING YASS Y y ASS RIV a The catchment ER igh w al H der Fe The Catchment Strategy covers approximately 16,000 km2 of the Australian Capital Territory and the New South Wales local government areas of Queanbeyan–Palerang Regional Council, Snowy–Monaro Lake Regional Council and Yass Valley. Burrinjuck MURRUMBATEMAN GUNDAROO Lake B a George M r t U o R n R H I i Land Water M g B h I w WEE JASPER D G G a O y E O E D R The main land uses in the region are nature The Murrumbidgee River runs through the YASS VALLEY R I SUTTON D I I V G E B R E conservation in national parks and reserves, and region, and tributaries include the Molonglo, E R I V E grazing. There are 14 urban settlements, of which Numeralla, Bredbo, Gudgenby, Cotter, R y Canberra is the largest. Goodradigbee and Yass rivers. There are also Kings H ighwa CANBERRA groundwater aquifers that store and discharge COTTER BUNGENDORE DAM water into water bodies throughout the ACT and TUMUT Lake Burley R E R People E V I V Griffin Region. There are numerous constructed lakes R I R M Upper R S O E ’ LO Murrumbidgee T Y N T G D O QUEANBEYAN L and wetlands in urban areas, as well as natural D O Catchment C There are almost 435,000 people living in the R A I Boundary P V E BENDORA GOOGONG R region, including 85,000 living outside the ACT. wetlands, including wetlands in conservation DAM DAM areas. Water for human use is supplied by the AUSTRALIAN QUEANBEYAN—PALERANG Captains Flat, Cotter, Bendora, Corin, Googong CAPITAL Q U E TERRITORY M A N History o and Yass dams. The region has an environmental B n EYA a N r R o E R flows management regime to protect aquatic V I I H VER R Aboriginal people occupied the region from at i g CORIN S h A w CAPTAINS communities. DAM A a N least 21,000 years ago, and the Canberra region y FLAT was a centre for ceremony and social interaction. Europeans established grazing properties in the Environment R E V I R 1820s, and gold mining was prevalent across MICHELAGO Y B N The region includes alpine uplands, tablelands, E the region in the 1870s. Following Federation G D U in 1901, Canberra was chosen as the site of the ranges and lowland slopes. Following European TANTANGARA G Australian capital. settlement, much native vegetation was modified DAM M through clearing of trees and shrubs, ploughing U R R I M for crops or introduced animal grazing; 24% of B I D G E Economy remaining native vegetation is in reserves and E R I V E Canberra has a strong public service and national parks. The region is rich in biodiversity, R and is home to a number of nationally threatened BREDBO BREDB commercial sectors, with the majority of O RIVER R species and ecosystems. E ADAMINABY V employment in public administration, health, I S R n o E w E retail, education and training. The surrounding y M G SNOWY MONARO o D u I n B t a i M NSW region has a strong agricultural industry and I n s R N H R U i U M Lake g ER many niche producers. h M A Eucumbene w L L a A y RI VER RIVER BADJA NUMERALLA COOMA N U M NEW SOUTH E R A L L WALES K A Y B R I E V Y A M ER o N n a R IV r E o R H i g h w a y 4 ACT and Region Catchment Strategy NEW SOUTH ighway WALES Hume H BOWNING YASS Y y ASS RIV a ER igh w al H der Fe Lake Burrinjuck MURRUMBATEMAN GUNDAROO Lake B a George M r t U o R n R H I i Water M g B h I w WEE JASPER D G G a O y E O E D R The Murrumbidgee River runs through the YASS VALLEY R I SUTTON D I I V G E B R E region, and tributaries include the Molonglo, E R I V E Numeralla, Bredbo, Gudgenby, Cotter, R y Goodradigbee and Yass rivers. There are also Kings H ighwa CANBERRA groundwater aquifers that store and discharge COTTER BUNGENDORE DAM water into water bodies throughout the ACT and TUMUT Lake Burley R E R V E I V Griffin Region. There are numerous constructed lakes R I R M Upper R S O E ’ LO Murrumbidgee T Y N T G D O QUEANBEYAN L and wetlands in urban areas, as well as natural D O Catchment C R A I Boundary P V E BENDORA GOOGONG R wetlands, including wetlands in conservation DAM DAM areas. Water for human use is supplied by the AUSTRALIAN QUEANBEYAN—PALERANG Captains Flat, Cotter, Bendora, Corin, Googong CAPITAL Q U E TERRITORY M A N and Yass dams. The region has an environmental o B n EYA a N r R o E R flows management regime to protect aquatic V I I H VER R i g CORIN S h A w CAPTAINS communities.