Brisbane Water Estuary Management Study
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Brisbane Water Estuary Management Study Prepared for Gosford City Council* October 2010 LJ2717/R2471/V3 Brisbane Water Estuary Management Study Prepared for Gosford City Council Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd ABN 95 001 145 035 Level 3, 910 Pacific Highway Gordon NSW 2072 Australia Telephone: 02 9496 7700 Facsimile: 02 9499 3902 International: +61 2 9496 7700 [email protected] www.cardno.com.au Report No:_____ Document Control Version Status Date Author Reviewer 1 Preliminary Draft October 2009 Tanja Mackenzie & TJM Louise Collier LCC Shani Archer SCA 2 Draft for Public November 2009 Tanja Mackenzie TJM Louise Collier LCC Exhibition 3 Final October 2010 Tanja Mackenzie TJM Louise Collier LCC *Gosford City Council has prepared this document with financial assistance from the NSW Government through the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. This document does not necessarily represent the opinions of the NSW Government or the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. "© 2010 Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved. Copyright in the whole and every part of this document belongs to Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd and may not be used, sold, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or form or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd.” October 2010 Page i FINAL H:\Doc\2010\Reports.2010\Rep2471v3.doc Brisbane Water Estuary Management Study Prepared for Gosford City Council Executive Summary This study has been prepared by Cardno in association with the University of Newcastle for Gosford City Council (GCC). The study area comprises the tidal waterway, foreshore and adjacent land of Brisbane Water, including the entrance area and tidal tributaries covering the whole region of Brisbane Water from the channel connecting the estuary to Broken Bay at the eastern end of Ocean Beach in the south to Gosford in the north, and associated tributaries and catchments. A locality map of the study area is shown in Figure 1.1 . For the purposes of the Estuary Management Study and the following Estuary Management Plan, the estuary was broken down into a total of six management zones ( Figure 2.1 ). Study Context One of the NSW Coastal Policy’s strategic directions is the preparation and implementation by local Councils of detailed management plans for estuaries in accordance with the NSW Estuary Management Policy. The Estuary Management Policy is defined in the Estuary Management Manual (NSW Government, 1992). The policy outlines a structured management process (through various stages as outlined in Section 1.2 ) leading to the implementation of an Estuary Management Plan. In developing the plan all values and uses of the estuary are considered. The plan aims to be a balanced long-term management framework for the ecologically sustainable use of the estuary and its catchment. The Estuary Processes Study, which is the third stage of the Estuary Management Process, was completed by Cardno on behalf of Council and DECCW in 2007. A summary of the key findings of that study are presented in Section 4 . This document represents the fourth stage of the Estuary Management planning process for Brisbane Water, the Estuary Management Study. This Study has sought to establish a management context for and provide guidance on the development of the Estuary Management Plan, which forms the next stage of the Estuary Management Process. Stakeholder and Community Consultation In accordance with the Estuary Management Manual (NSW Government, 1992), extensive community consultation was undertaken in order to ensure the community had opportunity to provide input on key aspects of the Study, including: The values and significance of the estuary ( Section 5 ); Management issues they have observed ( Section 6 ); and Options for addressing these issues ( Section 8 ). As well as seeking to involve the community in the development of the Management Study and Plan, a secondary objective of the community consultation program has been to provide opportunity for the community to gain a greater appreciation of the management context and an enhanced understanding of estuarine processes. Further detail on the consultation program is provided in Section 2 . October 2010 Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd Page ii FINAL H:\Doc\2010\Reports.2010\Rep2471v3.doc Brisbane Water Estuary Management Study Prepared for Gosford City Council The development of the Brisbane Water Estuary Management Study (and the following Plan) has been overseen by Council’s Coastal and Estuary Management Committee (CEMC). The Committee is chaired by Council and has a membership that includes a range of State government agencies, non-government organisations, special interest groups and community representatives. The Committee provided technical direction and feedback at key stages of the project. Additional agency stakeholder consultation was also undertaken outside of the formal Committee framework to ensure all relevant stakeholders were involved. Council’s technical personnel from a range of departments had involvement in the development of this Study, primarily through review of outputs from various stages of the study. Key contributions included the identification of additional management issues, developing new options, and identifying opportunities for efficiencies in the full options list. Council also assisted in outlining key concerns and challenges relating to the potential impacts of climate change on the Brisbane Water Estuary ( Section 5.10 ). This Study has sought to provide Council with some additional tools to assist in managing and adapting to these impacts. Management Objectives and Goals A series of overarching management objectives and more specific management goals were developed in consultation with the Committee and the community to guide the future management of the Brisbane Water estuary ( Section 7 ). The management goals and objectives constitute the framework of the Management Plan and any options considered in this study or activities proposed as part of the Plan should address these goals and objectives. Management Options A total of 185 management options were developed during the course of the Estuary Management Study ( Appendix F ). In the first instance, an initial list of management options was developed by a team of environmental specialists from Cardno. This list was then presented to Council and the Committee for review (Section 2.1 ). The next step in the options development phase was to hold a series of workshops with the community to obtain their suggestions for management options (described in Section 2.3.4 ). In many cases, management options were developed to address a specific management issue observed by the study team, Council or the community (presented in Table 5.2 ). In other cases, management options may have been developed to assist in the future implementation of the Brisbane Water Estuary Management Plan, or to address remaining gaps in the dataset for the estuary. The consultation involved in developing the initial list of management options, and subsequent revision of the list following the public exhibition period, is outlined in Section 2 . The options aim to fulfil the management goals and objectives ( Section 7 ) identified for the Brisbane Water estuary. Management options range from specific works to more overarching and long-term options. Management options have been categorised according to the following five management categories, which correlate generally with Council’s organisational structure and are consistent with other estuary management plans to which Council is a stakeholder: October 2010 Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd Page iii FINAL H:\Doc\2010\Reports.2010\Rep2471v3.doc Brisbane Water Estuary Management Study Prepared for Gosford City Council Planning, Compliance, Works, Education, and Research/Monitoring. The full list of management options was then subjected to an assessment in order to identify a list of 70 ‘high priority’ options for implementation in the Plan. The options assessment framework adopted in this Study has been developed in order to make sound comparisons between each option and to rank options in a transparent and unbiased manner so as to identify those having the greatest overall benefit for the management of the estuary. Recommendations & Conclusions It is recommended that the Brisbane Water Estuary Management Plan (the next stage in the Estuary Management Process) adopt for consideration the full list of management options identified in Appendices J and K . Once adopted in the Plan, the management ‘options’ will become management ‘actions’ to be considered on a priority basis for implementation. Implementation of the Plan will involve considerable expenditure (an estimated $20 million in capital costs alone) and therefore implementation must have regard to resource availability and the priorities of Council and other agencies identified as being responsible for implementing identified tasks. Additionally, it is noted that all options identified in this Study may be subject to further detailed investigation prior to implementation and may therefore become subject to modification or further consideration. In recognition of the fact that resources are limited, and that some options are dependent upon the implementation of other options, it is recommended that in the first instance the management strategy examine the highest ranking management options as identified in Sections 8.3.1 and 8.3.2 . However, in developing the management