White Rock Wind Farm Stage 1 Bird and Bat Adaptive Management Program
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WHITE ROCK WIND FARM STAGE 1 BIRD AND BAT ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM White Rock Wind Farm Pty Ltd Suite 5 61 - 63 Camberwell Road, Hawthorn, VIC 3123 P.O. Box 337, Camberwell, VIC 3124 Ph. (03) 9815 2111 Fax. (03) 9815 2685 April 2017 Report No. 15009 (2.7) White Rock Wind Farm – Stage 1 – Bird and Bat Adaptive Management Program Report 15009 (2.7) CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. BBAMP Objectives .................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Compliance Summary .............................................................................................. 6 1.3. Site Description ........................................................................................................ 7 1.4. Pre-construction investigations of birds and bats at White Rock wind farm ....... 7 1.5. Additional information ............................................................................................. 7 2. PRE-CONSTRUCTION BIRD AND BAT INFORMATION ..................................................... 8 2.1. Bird Utilisation Surveys (BUS) ................................................................................. 8 2.1.1. BUS methodology ............................................................................................. 8 2.1.3. Notable observations from the BUS ............................................................... 9 2.2. Bat Utilisation studies .............................................................................................. 9 2.2.1. Initial field survey – 2010 ............................................................................... 9 2.2.2. Intensive Pre-construction Bat survey - Spring 2015 .................................. 10 2.2.3. Conclusions from the pre-construction BUS and bat surveys ..................... 12 2.2.4. Establishing a baseline .................................................................................. 12 3. RISK ASSESSMENT FOR WHITE ROCK WIND FARM .................................................... 13 3.1. Introduction to the risk assessment ..................................................................... 13 3.2. Introduction to the Risk Assessment for White Rock Wind Farm ....................... 13 3.3. Species and groups of concern............................................................................. 14 3.4. Eastern Cave Bat (Vulnerable) Risk Assessment Process .................................. 15 3.5. Risk Assessment Results ...................................................................................... 17 3.6. Conclusions from the Risk Assessment for White Rock Wind Farm .................. 27 4. PLANNED PRE-CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATIONAL SURVEYS .................................. 28 4.1. Monitoring ‘at risk’ groups .................................................................................... 28 4.2. Bird Surveys ............................................................................................................ 29 4.2.1. Point Count Raptor and Needletail Utilisation Surveys ............................... 29 4.3. Bat Surveys ............................................................................................................. 30 4.3.1. Post-construction bat utilisation surveys ..................................................... 31 4.4. Carcass searches ................................................................................................... 33 4.4.1. Turbine Selection ........................................................................................... 35 4.4.2. Search protocol .............................................................................................. 35 4.4.3. Scavenger rates and trials ............................................................................ 37 4.4.4. Detectability (Observer) trials ........................................................................ 40 June 2016 Page | i White Rock Wind Farm – Stage 1 – Bird and Bat Adaptive Management Program Report 15009 (2.7) 4.4.5. Incidental Carcass Protocol ........................................................................... 41 4.4.6. Analysis of results and mortality estimation ................................................ 42 4.5. Personnel Involved ................................................................................................. 42 4.6. Injured Bird and Bat Protocol ................................................................................ 43 4.7. Reporting and Review Meetings ........................................................................... 44 4.7.1. Comparison of pre and post construction bat utilisation surveys .............. 45 4.7.2. Review of BBAMP and adjustment of monitoring regimes ......................... 45 5. MITIGATION MEASURES TO REDUCE RISK .................................................................. 46 5.1. Carrion removal program and stock forage control ............................................. 46 5.2. Lighting on turbines and buildings ....................................................................... 47 5.3. Marking of power lines .......................................................................................... 48 6. IMPACT TRIGGERS AND DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK ........................................ 49 6.1. Threatened Species ............................................................................................... 49 6.1.1. Definition of Impact Trigger and Unacceptable Impact ............................... 49 6.1.2. Decision Making Framework and Reporting ................................................ 49 6.2. Non-threatened Species ........................................................................................ 52 6.2.1. Definition of Impact Trigger and Unacceptable Impact ............................... 52 6.2.2. Decision Making Framework ......................................................................... 52 6.3. Supplementary Mitigation Measures ................................................................... 55 6.4. Specific management objectives, activities, timing and performance criteria .. 55 7. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 59 June 2016 Page | ii White Rock Wind Farm – Stage 1 – Bird and Bat Adaptive Management Program Report 15009 (2.7) TABLES Table 1: Sections within the BBAMP that respond to Condition of Approval C6 for White Rock Wind Farm. ................................................................................................... 6 Table 2: Likelihood criteria for a risk event to occur ........................................................... 16 Table 3: Consequence Criteria .............................................................................................. 16 Table 4: Risk matrix defining risk level based on likelihood and consequence ................ 16 Table 5: Bird and Bat Risk Assessment – White Rock Wind Farm ..................................... 18 Table 6: Timing for scavenger trials ...................................................................................... 38 Table 7: Number of replicates for each scavenger trial ...................................................... 38 Table 8: Scavenger trial search timetable ........................................................................... 39 Table 9: Number of replicates per season for detectability trials, given two factors of size and visibility .................................................................................................................... 41 Table 10: Supplementary mitigation measures in the event of an unacceptable impact trigger occurring ................................................................................................. 56 Table 11: Specific management objectives, activities, timing and performance criteria . 57 FIGURES Figure 1: Regional Location of White Rock Wind Farm ..................................................... 4 Figure 2: Layout of White Rock Wind Farm ........................................................................ 5 Figure 3: Pre-construction monitoring sites - bats Nov/Dec 2015 .................................... 32 Figure 4: Inner and outer carcass search zones underneath the turbines ....................... 36 Figure 5: Decision making framework for identifying and mitigating impact triggers for threatened species ........................................................................................................ 51 Figure 6: Decision making framework for identifying and mitigating impact triggers for non-threatened species ................................................................................................. 54 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Birds and Bats known to occur within or near the proposed WRWF ............. 63 Appendix 2: Carcass Search Data Sheet .............................................................................. 65 Appendix 3: Symbolix letter ................................................................................................... 66 June 2016 Page | iii White Rock Wind Farm – Stage 1 – Bird and Bat Adaptive Management Program Report 15009 (2.7) 1. INTRODUCTION White Rock Wind Farm is located in the New England Tablelands approximately 24km west of Glen Innes and 47 km east of Inverell (Figure 1). The wind farm straddles