Curdies Estuary Management Plan September 2008 in association with Curdies Estuary Management Plan Moyne Shire Contract No: WQ 00299 Report No. J624/R02 September 2008 Prepared by 15 Business Park Drive Notting Hill VIC 3168 Telephone (03) 9558 9366 Fax (03) 9558 9365 ISO 9001:2000 QEC22878 ACN No. 093 377 283 ABN No. 60 093 377 283 Curdies River Estuary Management Plan DOCUMENT STATUS Issued Prepared Reviewed Approved Issue Rev Date To By By By Brett Anderson, Andrew Moyne Shire, Helen Arundel, McCowan Andrew Draft 1 12 Dec 2007 Project Steering McCowan Committee Adam Pope John Sherwood Neville Rosengren Brett Anderson, Helen Arundel, Final 2 15 Sep 2008 Moyne Shire James Rennie Adam Pope Neville Rosengren QFORM-AD-18 REV 5 It is the responsibility of the reader to verify the currency of revision of this report. Copyright Water Technology Pty Ltd has produced this document in response to a study brief issued by Moyne Shire for their use only. The concepts and information contained in this document are the copyright of Water Technology. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without written permission of Water Technology constitutes an infringement of copyright. Water Technology Pty Ltd does not warrant this document is definitive nor free from error and does not accept liability for any loss caused, or arising from, reliance upon the information provided herein. Curdies River Estuary Management Plan Table of Contents 1 BACKGROUND TO THE MANAGEMENT PLAN ..............................................................................4 1.1 SCOPE OF THE PLAN ...................................................................................................................................4 1.2 SIGNIFICANCE .............................................................................................................................................4 1.3 PURPOSE ......................................................................................................................................................5 1.4 DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLAN .....................................................................................................................6 1.4.1 Estuary Overview Report ..................................................................................................................7 1.4.2 Community consultation ...................................................................................................................7 1.4.3 Workshop structure ...........................................................................................................................8 1.4.4 Method for prioritising actions ..........................................................................................................8 1.4.5 Input from the Steering Committee ...................................................................................................8 1.5 IMPLEMENTATION ....................................................................................................................................10 2 RECOMMENDED OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS .............................................................................11 2.1 HIGHEST PRIORITY ACTIONS ...................................................................................................................12 2.2 HIGH PRIORITY ACTIONS .........................................................................................................................15 2.3 ALL MANAGEMENT ACTIONS - GROUPED BY OBJECTIVE ........................................................................19 3 MANAGEMENT OF CURDIES RIVER ESTUARY .............................................................................30 3.1 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK AND POLICY SETTING ..................................................................................30 3.2 LAND TENURE ..........................................................................................................................................33 3.2.1 Roles and responsibilities .................................................................................................................33 3.2.2 Planning framework ........................................................................................................................35 4 NATURAL HERITAGE .............................................................................................................................39 4.1 GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY ..........................................................................................................39 4.1.1 Geology ............................................................................................................................................40 4.1.2 Geomorphology ................................................................................................................................42 4.2 EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION ...............................................................................................................44 4.3 HYDROLOGY AND CLIMATE .....................................................................................................................44 4.3.1 Tides and other factors causing sea level variations ........................................................................45 4.3.2 Objectives and Recommended Management Actions for Hydrology ..............................................46 4.3.3 Flooding and Estuary Entrance Dynamics .....................................................................................46 4.3.4 Objectives and Recommended Management Actions for Entrance Management ...........................48 4.4 CLIMATE CHANGE ....................................................................................................................................49 4.4.1 Global Data: The IPCC ....................................................................................................................49 4.4.2 Local Data: DSE and CSIRO ..........................................................................................................50 4.4.3 Impacts on the Curdies River Estuary ............................................................................................51 J624/R02 September 2008 Page 1 Curdies River Estuary Management Plan 4.4.4 Adaptation and Mitigation ..............................................................................................................52 4.4.5 Objectives and Recommended Management Actions for Climate Change ......................................53 4.5 WATER QUALITY AND ESTUARY PROCESSES ...........................................................................................53 4.5.1 Salinity Structure ............................................................................................................................54 4.5.2 Dissolved Oxygen ............................................................................................................................57 4.5.3 Nutrients and Algal Blooms ............................................................................................................59 4.5.4 Objectives and Recommended Management Actions for Water Quality ........................................60 4.6 VEGETATION .............................................................................................................................................61 4.6.1 Threatened plant species ..................................................................................................................63 4.6.2 Objectives and Recommended Management Actions for Vegetation ..............................................65 4.7 FAUNA ......................................................................................................................................................66 4.7.1 Fish ..................................................................................................................................................66 4.7.2 Birds ................................................................................................................................................68 4.7.3 Mammals .........................................................................................................................................74 4.7.4 Reptiles ............................................................................................................................................76 4.7.5 Objectives and Recommended Management Actions for Fauna .....................................................77 4.7.6 Objectives and Recommended Management Actions for Pest Plants and Animals ........................78 5 ECONOMIC VALUE .................................................................................................................................79 5.1 LAND VALUE .............................................................................................................................................79 5.2 TOURISM ...................................................................................................................................................79 5.3 COMMERCIAL FISHING .............................................................................................................................81 6 SOCIAL VALUES .......................................................................................................................................82 6.1 RECREATION .............................................................................................................................................82