Independent Inquiry Into the Georges River - Botany Bay System
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Independent Inquiry into the Georges River - Botany Bay System FINAL REPORT September 2001 HY RIVERS ALT C E OM H M I S S I O N Healthy Rivers Commission of New South Wales © Healthy Rivers Commission 2001 Level 18, 15 Castlereagh Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Telephone: 02 9231 2977 1800 818 369 (freecall – outside Sydney) Facsimile: 02 9232 5973 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.hrc.nsw.gov.au ISBN 0 9577268 5 6 Printed on recycled paper Foreword In finalising this Georges River - Botany Bay Inquiry, the Commission has completed the picture of river and bay health for the three river systems (the Hawkesbury Nepean, Shoalhaven and Woronora), that provide water to the Sydney metropolitan area. The Commission has found that the health of each of these rivers is affected, to varying degrees, by water extraction, sewage and stormwater discharge, urban and rural development. It has become clear that if river health is to be optimised whilst preserving the many uses that the catchment communities expect of their watercourses, the three river systems cannot be managed in isolation from each other. Likewise, key elements of the water cycle must be managed across the metropolitan area in an integrated way. Stormwater and sewage effluent must no longer be thought of as ‘wastewater’ but as a valuable resource and part of the total water cycle available to improve river health and ameliorate demand on supply for the wider Sydney region. The Commission has devised strategies and recommendations to improve river health, taking into account the expectations and needs of the diverse and growing community. In that context, in the Georges River - Botany Bay Inquiry, the Commission has found that there are three critical issues which must be addressed as a matter of priority if we are to secure a healthy river and bay environment. The most significant of these is the future management of the water cycle across the three river systems. In all Inquiries to date, the Commission has advocated that rivers should be managed as ‘whole systems’: in this instance, the ‘system’ incorporates those three rivers, interconnected by the operation of the metropolitan water, sewage and stormwater systems. The Government’s commitment to providing environmental flows in these rivers, coupled with its recent decision to defer construction of Welcome Reef Dam, means that demand for water must be reduced and alternate sources of supply must be harnessed if the current security of the metropolitan water supply is not to be placed at risk. In that context, future decisions about the urban water cycle must be made in an integrated manner, considering water requirements of all users, provision of environmental flows, options to reduce demand, and options for the reuse of stormwater and sewage effluent. The Commission proposes a mechanism to allow such decision-making. Recommendations include better integration of stormwater management, not just in the Georges River - Botany Bay catchment, but across the metropolitan area, and with other water, wastewater and reuse strategies. To provide that better integration, using existing institutions, the Commission recommends that Sydney Water take on greater strategic responsibility for stormwater management, while local councils manage local systems, focussing on promotion of water sensitive urban design principles. Establishment of long- term sustainable funding and partnerships between Sydney Water and local government will ensure the most cost-effective outcomes for the metropolitan area are achieved. The management of Botany Bay is the second issue that requires urgent attention. The bay is a very complex system, in terms of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and also the political and administrative arrangements. There is a clear need for an integrated decision- making framework for the bay to deal with this complexity and devise strategies to sustain the competing interests of industry, commercial activity, national and international FINAL REPORT - Independent Inquiry into the Georges River – Botany Bay System i Healthy Rivers Commission of New South Wales transport, residents and the environment. The Commission recommends that the State establish an integrating framework with unambiguous support from the three levels of government and key stakeholders. That should facilitate the development of a strategic plan for Botany Bay which would identify agreed goals, strategies to achieve them, and the context against which new development is assessed. The third critical issue in the Georges River - Botany Bay system is the continued protection of remaining natural areas within the catchment that contribute to river health in terms of aquatic and terrestrial habitat, water quality and visual and recreational amenity at both the local and catchment scale. The Commission recommends mechanisms to protect these areas in future. I thank all of those citizens, council officers, agency staff, and independent experts who have participated in the Inquiry process, contributed to the Commission’s appreciation of the complexity of the issues, and assisted in devising strategies to harness the many opportunities to improve river and bay health. Peter J Crawford Commissioner ii FINAL REPORT - Independent Inquiry into the Georges River – Botany Bay System Healthy Rivers Commission of New South Wales The Georges River - Botany Bay catchment P ros pe ct Ck Co k oks a C Riv att er l am Marrickville a br Liverpool an Ca C a dr Bankstown an ex Al Botany G eorges River Sutherland Kurnell r e iv R es rg r o e e v G i R Campbelltown ra o n ro o W Dam N k C s 0 8km e r a Waterfall H ’ O FINAL REPORT - Independent Inquiry into the Georges River – Botany Bay System iii Healthy Rivers Commission of New South Wales Table of Contents PART A CONTEXT............................................................................................... 1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 3 Key outcomes...............................................................................................................................4 Implications of Government decisions on related Inquiries .................................................6 PART B RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................... 13 River flows and water supply................................................................................. 14 RF 1 Water management in the Sydney metropolitan area ..........................................14 RF 2 Environmental flow releases from Woronora Dam ..............................................17 RF 3 Provision of fish passage..........................................................................................20 Stormwater and sewage........................................................................................ 21 WM 1 Improved institutional arrangements for wastewater management..................21 WM 2 Integrated stormwater management at the local level .........................................24 WM 3 Stormwater management by public land owners .................................................26 Botany Bay ............................................................................................................. 28 BM 1 Integrated management framework for Botany Bay ............................................28 BM 2 Accountability for ‘resource management’ within Botany Bay...........................32 BM 3 Assessment procedures for activities within Botany Bay and surrounds .........33 BM 4 Protection of lands on the Kurnell Peninsula ........................................................35 BM 5 Protection and management of the southern shores.............................................37 BM 6 Preservation of wetlands, western shores ..............................................................38 BM 7 Management of Botany Aquifer, northern shores.................................................40 River corridors ......................................................................................................... 42 RC 1 Protection of urban streams......................................................................................42 Natural areas .......................................................................................................... 46 NA 1 Protection of remaining natural lands, including those currently under Commonwealth ownership and management ......................................................46 NA 2 Management of longwall coal mining ....................................................................50 NA 3 Clay mining in upland swamps...............................................................................53 NA 4 Management of Crown land on urban fringe, including that reverting to Aboriginal ownership that was degraded under prior Crown ownership .......55 NA 5 Provision of 'offsets' and 'trade-offs'........................................................................57 iv FINAL REPORT - Independent Inquiry into the Georges River – Botany Bay System Healthy Rivers Commission of New South Wales River and bay health objectives........................................................................... 60 RHO 1 Environmental values................................................................................................60 RHO 2 River corridor objectives ...........................................................................................66 RHO 3 River