Estuary Management Manual Providing Technical and Providing Guidelines and Information I Financial Assistance I

I :/A%J., I: 1 Estuary I) [M]CIDmJCID~®M®mJU I: . [M] CID mJ (ill CID ~ I 'I I: I I I I I; I, I: I I October 1992 ISBN 0731009339 I: © Crown Copyright 1992 New South Wales I ~ New South Wales Government I I I Foreword I The Estuary Management Policy of the New South Wales Government has been developed in conjunction with other government policies that I address resource plarming and management on a catchment basis. The Estuary Management Policy focusses on tidal waterways and coastal lakes, waterbodies which are an essential component of coastal I catchments and which are characterised by the interplay of saline coastal waters and freshwater runoff from the land (see Appendix A for a statement of the Estuary Management Policy). I The objectives of the Policy will be implemented by the government's Estuary Management Program, which aims at the production and implementation of Management Plans for all estuaries in New South I Wales. The preparation of these plans will be supervised by Estuary Management Committees made up of representatives of the local council(s), relevant State Government authorities, Catchment Management Committees and interested community groups. In the course of formulating an Estuary Management Plan, community groups with commercial, ecological or other public interests in the estuary, together with government authorities, will be able to present I their preferences and requirements for the future nature conservation, rehabilitation, development and use of the waterbody. The Committee will then determine a list of management recommendations and I objectives to be implemented by Local Government, State Government and community groups. After its public exhibition and consequent amendment, the Estuary Management Plan should be formally adopted I by local council(s). It is recognised that estuaries vary widely in their natural attributes, degree of development and, to a lesser extent, in the legal and I administrative mechanisms whereby they are controlled. In this regard, the program provides appropriate flexibility in the formulation Total Catchment of Estuary Management Plans. Management I This Manual has been produced to assist the community to implement NSW Rivers and the government's Estuary Management Policy in accordance with Estuaries Policy existing legislation. I The Estuary Management Policy is a component policy of the State Rivers and Estuaries Policy of the New South Wales Government, which in turn comes under the umbrella of Total Catchment I Management. The objectives of the Estuary Management Policy are entirely consistent with the Catchment Management Act, 1989, under which Catchment Management Trusts and Catchment Management I Committees are formed. I I I I DRAFT to better manage our estuaries '. I Acknowledgements I I This Manual has been prepared under the direction of a Steering Committee comprising the I following people drawn from the indicated organisations. PaulAdam I Coast and Wetland Society Jennifer Burchmore NSW Fisheries I Jane Chrystal Environment Protection Authority I Colin Creighton Department of Conservation and Land Management I John Downey Association of Councils on Estuaries I Michael Geary Public Works Department Peter Hughes I Department of Planning Duncan Leadbitter I Ocean Watch Leighton Llewellyn National Parks and Wildlife I Service John Patten Department of Conservation I and Land Management I I I I I I ii to better manage our estuaries DRAFT I I I Contents I Foreword I Acknowledgements I Introduction 1 The Estuary I Management Process 9 Administration 17 Appendices 25 Study boundaries 9 Local Councils 18 Introduction 25 I step 1 Public Works Department 19 A New South Wales form Estuary Estuary Management Department of Conservation Management Committee 10 Policy 27 and Land Management 19 step 2 B Physical characteristics I Department of Planning 20 assemble existing data 10 and behaviour of Environment Protection NSW estuaries 31 step 3 Authority 20 I carry out Estuary C Estuarine water quality 63 Processes Study 11 NSW Fisheries 20 D Estuarine habitat 75 step 4 National Parks and Wildlife E Estuarine flora and fauna I carry out Estuary Service 21 of special concem 95 Management Study 12 Maritime Services Board 21 F Human impacts 101 step 5 I draft Estuary G Estuarine monitoring Management Plan 13 Government and process models 111 financial assistance 23 I step 6 H Total Catchment review Estuary Grant conditions 23 Management 117 Management Plan 13 Income from royalties 24 Administration of step 7 Crown land 125 I Income from Crown land 24 adopt and implement J Management of Estuary Management Plan 14 human activities 131 step 8 I K Management of monitor and review the water quality 145 management process 15 L Management of Technical and I extractive industries 151 research assistance 16 M Management of I threatened fauna 159 N Estuary rehabilitation 165 I Glossary of technical terms 183 I Glossary of I scientific names 195 ill I DRAFT to better manage our estuaries I I I To better manage To foster the better I our estuaries there management of our is a need to provide a estuaries, the coordinated planning Government has I approach ... formulated an Estuary Management Policy ... I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Iv to better manage our estuaries DRAFT I I I Introduction I New South Wales has some I 130 estuaries along its coastline. These estuaries form a rich and diverse tapestry of waterbodies that vary in nature and size, I including: - the long, mangrove-fringed river estuaries of the north I coast, where tidal effects are felt over 100 lan upriver (e.g. the Clarence River Estuary) I - the many lake estuaries distributed along the central and south coasts, that I vary in waterway size from 150 lan" (Lake Macquarie) to 2 lan" (Narrabeen Lagoon) I and smaller - the massive, rock-flanked, drowned river valleys of the central coast, such as the I Hawkesbury River, and - the large marine embayments such as Port Stephens and I Jervis Bay. I I I I I I I I 1 I DRAFT to better manage our estuaries Introduction I I I Collectively, the estuaries of Estuaries are an imponant focus New South Wales are of of tourism and recreational immense enviroJUnental, activities and are of significant I social and economic value. economic imponance to New South Wales: Estuary waters, shores and fringing wetlands fonn the the commercial catch of I foundation of the coastal food estuarine-dependent fish, chain and provide habitat for a crustacea and molluscs is diverse variety of aquatic and wonh some $80 million per I terrestrial animals. year recreational fishing, much of Estuaries are of significant which is based on estuarine imponancetonature I conservation: a number of animal waters or estuarine-dependent fish, is worth over $500 million species dependent on New South per year Wales estuaries are endangered I or threatened with extinction. - sand and gravel worth over $100 million per year is The catchment of an estuary is an removed from the bed and attractive place in which to work, banks of New South Wales I live and play, and it is not estuaries. surprising that 75% of the State's population live in the immediate proximity of estuaries and that I many major urban areas are sited adjacent to these waterbodies. I I I I I I I I I 2 to better manage our estuaries DRAFT I I Introduction I I Because oftheir Estuaries are the endpoints of The estuaries of New South attractiveness and value, many detrimental activities of Wales are a valuable State I estuaries are used for a wide many upstream catchment asset. Ecologically, ethically variety of purposes by activities. Over the past ZOO and economically, the people different groups of people. years, the inappropriate use, of New South Wales can ill I Often these uses are in conflicting use and over-use afford their estuaries to suffer conflict. of estuaries and catchments in further degradation. New South Wales have left Sand and gravel extraction may Many of the existing problems them in a degraded state. I degrade or eliminate seagrass have arisen from unwise beds that provide important Today, many estuaries are developments in the past, when nursery areas for young fish. characterised by: the complexity and inter relationships of the ecological, I Nutrient inputs from urban areas, - murky, silt-laden waters that physical and chemical processes rural areas or from sewage also contain high levels of of an estuary and its catchment treatment plants can reduce nutrients and other deleterious were poorly understood. I water quality. substances - silted and poorly flushed Today, such processes are better Poorly planned shoreside waterways appreciated: developments can destroy animal I habitat, be an eyesore, reduce - the loss of wildlife habitat surveys of tidal behaviour, public access to estuarine shores through shoreside sediment movement and water and cause pollution. developments and the infilling quality are undertaken on a I of wetlands more-or-less regular basis - restricted public access - wildlife surveys of the aquatic - reduced populations of aquatic and fringing terrestrial and terrestrial fauna, some of ecosystems are becoming I which are at risk of extinction. more cornmon. Estuaries and their inunediate While the interactions between I catchments are now subject to many estuarine processes are ever-increasing pressures for better understood today, additional development and the additional data and research are I expansion of existing uses. required. There is also great concern for nature conservation and The challenge is to better I environmental protection of manage our estuaries, estuarine habitats. not only to halt on-going degradation, but also to rectify past damage, with the overall I object of achieving an integrated, balanced, responsible and ecologically sustainable use of I these resources into the future. I I I 3 I DRAFT to better manage our estuaries Introduction I I To better manage our estuaries there is a need to provide a I coordinated planning The current management To better manage our approach ..

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