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Senex Energy Ltd Project Atlas EPBC Referral – Water Report Volume 4 Appendix II D10171A04 October 2018 Senex Energy Ltd Water Report Project Atlas – EPBC Referral Final APPENDIX II Terrestrial GDEs Report 181030R_EPBC Water Report.docx D10171A04 October 2018 Client name Project Month 2015 Senex Project Atlas Terrestrial GDE Assessment Report Wandoan, Queensland Report prepared for Hydrobiology July 2018 1807_AUSEC_Hydrobiology_SenexAtlas_GDEReport_Rev2.docx P a g e | i Hydrobiology Senex Project Atlas Terrestrial GDE Assessment July 2018 This document has been prepared and is certified by: AUSECOLOGY PTY LTD ABN 15 155 304 751 PO Box 594, Morningside, QLD 4170 w www.ausecology.com e [email protected] Document status Revision Reason for issue Author Reviewed Issued to Date A Internal Draft Rohan Etherington Ralf Regeer - 08/08/2018 Hydrobiology 0 Issued to client Rohan Etherington Ralf Regeer 09/08/2018 KCB Revised from 1 Rohan Etherington Ralf Regeer Senex 28/08/2018 KCB comments Revised from 2 Rohan Etherington Ralf Regeer Senex 04/10/2018 Senex comments 1807_AUSEC_Hydrobiology_SenexAtlas_GDEReport_Rev2.docx P a g e | i Hydrobiology Senex Project Atlas Terrestrial GDE Assessment July 2018 Table of contents Glossary of Terms and Acronyms ______________________________________________________________ iv Executive Summary __________________________________________________________________________ v 1 Introduction ___________________________________________________________________________ 1 Background ____________________________________________________________________________ 1 Scope _________________________________________________________________________________ 1 2 Methodology __________________________________________________________________________ 3 Desktop Analysis ________________________________________________________________________ 3 Field Survey ____________________________________________________________________________ 4 Groundwater Dependence Assessment and Ecological Value _____________________________________ 5 Limitations ____________________________________________________________________________ 12 3 Results ______________________________________________________________________________ 13 Desktop Analysis _______________________________________________________________________ 13 Field Survey ___________________________________________________________________________ 16 Assessment of Groundwater Dependence and Ecological Value __________________________________ 26 4 Discussion____________________________________________________________________________ 32 Potential GDE Identification and Verification _________________________________________________ 32 Groundwater Dependence ________________________________________________________________ 32 Condition and Ecological Value ____________________________________________________________ 32 5 Conclusion ___________________________________________________________________________ 33 6 References ___________________________________________________________________________ 34 Appendix A – Mapping ______________________________________________________________________ 35 Appendix B – Desktop Searches _______________________________________________________________ 42 Appendix C – Quaternary Assessment Data ______________________________________________________ 61 Appendix D – BioCondition Assessment _________________________________________________________ 68 Appendix E – Flora Species List ________________________________________________________________ 87 Appendix F – Fauna Species List _______________________________________________________________ 92 1807_AUSEC_Hydrobiology_SenexAtlas_GDEReport_Rev2.docx P a g e | ii Hydrobiology Senex Project Atlas Terrestrial GDE Assessment July 2018 Tables Table 2-1 General GDE and Terrestrial GDE specific groundwater dependence assessment questions (Serov, Kuginis and Williams (2012)) ......................................................................................................................... 6 Table 2-2 Parameters for determining the ecological value of individual GDEs within an aquifer (Serov, Kuginis and Williams (2012) .......................................................................................................................... 9 Table 3-1 Description of vegetation communities mapped within the potential Terrestrial GDE areas .......... 14 Table 3-2 Summary of Matter of National Environmental Significance (MNES) and other matters protected by the EPBC Act detected in the Protected Matters Search ....................................................................... 15 Table 3-3 Conservation significant species detected in Wildlife Online search as recorded within 10 km of the tenement..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Table 3-4 Flora species known to access groundwater (where available) detected in the Wildlife Online search .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Table 3-5 Summary of quaternary assessments conducted in potential Terrestrial GDE along Wandoan and Woleebee Creeks ........................................................................................................................................ 19 Table 3-6 Site-based and landscape-based BioCondition assessment attributes for three assessment sites in comparison to the benchmark for RE 11.3.25 ............................................................................................ 22 Table 3-7 BioCondition scoring of site-based and landscape-based attributes for three assessment sites in comparison to the benchmark for RE 11.3.25 ............................................................................................ 23 Table 3-8 Relative abundance of species known to access groundwater, where available, (listed in Appendix E of Doody et al. (2018); Kath et al. (2014)) recorded along Wandoan and Woleebee Creeks .................. 25 Table 3-9 Groundwater dependence assessment for potential Terrestrial GDEs associated with Wandoan and Woleebee Creeks. Cells shaded in green infer potential groundwater dependence................................. 27 Table 3-10 Assessment of the ecological value of potential Terrestrial GDEs associated with Wandoan and Woleebee Creeks. Cells highlighted in green suggest high ecological value. ............................................ 30 Figures Figure 2-1 Wildlife Online search area ................................................................................................................ 3 Figure 3-1 Representative photographs of Woleebee Creek and associated fringing vegetation .................... 16 Figure 3-2 Representative photographs of Woleebee Creek and associated fringing vegetation .................... 17 Figure 3-3 Examples of more substantial areas of remnant vegetation associated with Woleebee (left) and Wandoan (right) Creeks .............................................................................................................................. 17 Figure 3-4 Large patch of Vachellia farnesiana (mimosa bush) on upper bank of Woleebee Creek (left) and grazed green panic on Woleebee Creek (right) .......................................................................................... 18 Figure 3-5 Bank erosion on Woleebee Creek exposing the roots of a forest red gum (left) and gully erosion forming on upper bank of Woleebee Creek (right) ..................................................................................... 18 Figure 3-6 Koala scats and scratch/pock marks ................................................................................................ 26 1807_AUSEC_Hydrobiology_SenexAtlas_GDEReport_Rev2.docx P a g e | iii Hydrobiology Senex Project Atlas Terrestrial GDE Assessment July 2018 Glossary of Terms and Acronyms Acronym Description BS Act Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld) cm Centimetres DES Department of Environment and Science (Qld) DEE Department of Environmental and Energy (Commonwealth) DNRME Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (Qld) EPBC Act Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) GTRE Ground-truthed Regional Ecosystem Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining IESC Development km Kilometres m Metres MNES Matter of National Environmental Significance MSES Matter of State Environmental Significance NC Act Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) PMST Protected Matters Search Tool (Commonwealth) sp. Species (singular) spp. Species (plural) SPRAT Species Profile and Treats Database (Commonwealth) sub sp. Sub species TEC Threatened Ecological Community VM Act Vegetation Management Act 1999 (Qld) Water Act Water Act 2007 (Commonwealth) 1807_AUSEC_Hydrobiology_SenexAtlas_GDEReport_Rev2.docx P a g e | iv Hydrobiology Senex Project Atlas Terrestrial GDE Assessment July 2018 Executive Summary This report presents the investigation of potential Terrestrial Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) within Senex’s Project Atlas tenement near Wandoan, Queensland. The assessment was conducted in three stages. Firstly, a desktop analysis was performed to identify potential Terrestrial GDEs. A field survey was then performed to verify these potential Terrestrial GDEs and collect data to assess their condition and detect other ecological values.