Leschenault Estuary Water Quality Improvement Plan
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Government of Western Australia Department of Water Leschenault Estuary water quality improvement plan Looking after all our water needs October 2012 Leschenault Estuary water quality improvement plan Department of Water October 2012 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 October 2012 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. ISBN 978-1-921907-22-7 (print) ISBN 978-1-921907-23-4 (online) Reference details The recommended reference for this publication is: Hugues-dit-Ciles, J, Kelsey, P, Marillier, B, Robb, M, Forbes, V & McKenna, M 2012, Leschenault estuary water quality improvement plan, Department of Water, Western Australia. Disclaimer This document has been published by the Department of Water. Any representation, statement, opinion or advice expressed or implied in this publication is made in good faith and 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 or advice referred to herein. Professional advice should be obtained before applying the information contained in this document to particular circumstances. For more information about this report, contact: Water Science Branch Department of Water Cover photograph: Leschenault Estuary (source: South West Catchments Council; photo: Jeff Henderson, 2005) 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. Leschenault Estuary water quality improvement plan Acknowledgements The Department of Water would like to thank the following people and organisations for their contribution: the State of Western Australia for funding the plan’s development the Leschenault Catchment Council for its partnership in developing the plan Joanna Hugues-Dit-Ciles from the Leschenault Catchment Council and Ben Marillier, Peta Kelsey, Malcolm Robb, Vanessa Forbes, and Mike McKenna from the Department of Water for writing the plan. The project management team who supported the plan’s development was: Joanna Hugues-dit-Ciles Leschenault Catchment Council Malcolm Robb Department of Water Ben Marillier Department of Water Mike McKenna Department of Water Peta Kelsey Department of Water The technical advisory committee and community organisations who guided the plan’s development included: Leschenault Catchment Council Mike Whitehead Department of Agriculture and Food Don Bennett Water Corporation Peter Buckley Department of Planning David Stapleton Department of Environment and Conservation Neville Welsh South West Catchments Council Damien Postma Harvey Water Steve Cook City of Bunbury Ben Deeley Shire of Harvey Jake Davidson Shire of Dardanup Robert Quinn Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup Jared Morskate Shire of Capel Rae McPherson Thanks also to the following people for their contribution and input to the plan: Rob Summers, Bill Russel, Dave Rodgers, Dave Weaver, Mark Rivers (Department of Agriculture and Food); Jenny Boyle, Michelle Rempel, Dean Puzey, David Van Wyck (Water Corporation); Krish Seewraj, Felicity Bunny, Sarah Grigo, Richard Pickett, Christine Webb (Department of Water); and Bernhard Bischoff. Roger Bunny for providing access to a plane that enabled aerial pictures to be taken for this report. Department of Water iii Leschenault Estuary water quality improvement plan Contents Leschenault Estuary water quality improvement plan ............................................................... i Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Contents ................................................................................................................................... v Appendices ............................................................................................................................... vii Figures ...................................................................................................................................... vii Tables ........................................................................................................................................ x Summary ................................................................................................................................ xiii 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Setting the scene ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Why are nutrients and other contaminants a matter of concern? ..................................... 2 1.2 Approach and supporting projects.................................................................................... 3 1.3 Objectives and aims of the water quality improvement plan ............................................ 7 2 Environmental values ........................................................................................................ 10 2.1 Estuary characteristics and setting ................................................................................. 10 2.2 Environmental values of the estuary and waterways ..................................................... 12 2.2.1 Ecological values of the aquatic ecosystems ........................................................................ 12 2.2.2 Social and economic values ................................................................................................. 20 2.2.3 Summary of key values of the estuary and its associated waterways .................................. 25 3 Leschenault Estuary and waterways condition .................................................................. 26 3.1 A history of water quality decline .................................................................................... 26 3.2 Current water quality condition ....................................................................................... 34 3.2.1 Estuarine water quality ......................................................................................................... 34 3.2.2 Catchment water quality ....................................................................................................... 47 3.2.3 Seasonality of nutrient concentrations .................................................................................. 50 3.2.4 Acid sulfate soil risk .............................................................................................................. 51 3.2.5 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 53 4 Water quality objectives ..................................................................................................... 55 4.1 Environmental values, issues and objectives ................................................................. 55 4.1 Specification of water quality objectives ......................................................................... 55 4.2 Selection of concentration targets .................................................................................. 59 4.3 Water quality objective process and framework ............................................................. 61 5 WaterCAST modelling ....................................................................................................... 65 5.1 Background to the modelling .......................................................................................... 65 5.2 Modelling results ............................................................................................................ 69 5.2.1 Sources of nitrogen and phosphorus with respect to land uses ............................................ 69 5.2.2 Current nutrient loads in waterways .............................................................................................. 75 5.3 Additional future loads from proposed GBRS urban expansion ..................................... 81 5.4 Load reduction targets ................................................................................................... 82 5.5 How does the Leschenault Estuary compare with other estuaries? ............................... 86 6 Implementation of management measures to address nutrient pollution .......................... 90 6.1 Management directions arising from water quality modelling ......................................... 90 6.2 Best-management practices .......................................................................................... 91 Department of Water v Leschenault Estuary water quality improvement plan 6.2.1 The treatment train approach ................................................................................................ 91 6.3 BMP selection and implementation ...............................................................................