Minutes/Actions Environment & Waterways Alliance Reference Group Meeting Tuesday 17 February, 2016 – Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo Present Murray Wood – Dubbo City Council Joel Little – Bathurst Regional Council Tim Hosking – Office of Environment & Deborah Taylor – Bathurst Regional Council Heritage Catriona Jennings – Dubbo City Council James Hitchock – DPI Water Cassie Liney – Mid-Western Regional Council Matthew Barwick – DPI Fisheries Michael Chambers – Parkes Shire Council Terry Steele – Inland Conservation & Aquatic Heather Nicholls – Cabonne Council Ecosystem Group – DPI Fisheries Warwick Doulman – Cabonne Council David Ward – Inland Conservation & Aquatic Ashley Wielinga – Warren Shire Council Ecosystem Group – DPI Fisheries James Cleasby – Warren Shire Council Cherie Hughes – Central West Local Land Kristy Presnell – Coonamble Shire Council Services Craig Flemming – Contamination Central Reg Kidd – Central Tablelands Local Land Stephen Loane – Warrumbungle Shire Council Services Andrew Cosier – Wellington Shire Council Chris McCulloch – Central Tablelands Local Maryanne Smith – Orange City Council Land Services Donna Sims – Orange City Council Diana Kureen – Central Tablelands Local Land Lynton Auld – Dubbo City Council Services Darryll Quigley – Dubbo City Council Mick Callan – Environment & Waterways Belinda Barlow – OROC Alliance Cameron Nelson – DPI Fisheries Melissa Ward – Narromine Shire Council Scott Mathieson – DPI Fisheries Apologie Jon Francis – Orange Shire Council Daryl Colwell – Mid-Western Regional Council Wayne Gailey – Orange Shire Council Matthew Cock – Coonamble Shire Council Wayne Beatty – Orange Shire Council Roy Jennison – Upper Macquarie County Damon Cupitt – Lithgow City Council Council Paul Cashell – Lithgow City Council Chris Cannard – Cowra Shire Council Andrew Francis – Parkes Shire Council Kate Alberry – Cowra Shire Council David Waddell – Orange City Council Leon Ross – Forbes Shire Council Brian Parker – Blayney Shire Council Kent Boyd – Parkes Shire Council Kayla Volka – Bogan Shire Council Roger Smith – Orange City Council Liz Densley – Mid-Western Regional Council Mark Riley – Dubbo City Council Chris Schumacher – Oberon Council Paul Mann – Gilgandra Shire Council Grant Baker – Blayney Shire Council Rolly Lawford – Gilgandra Shire Council 66 Corporation Ave | Bathurst NSW 2795 T: 02 6333 2323 | www.cwcewa.com.au Presenters Tim Hosking – Environmental Watering Management Plan for Castlereagh - Macquarie James Hitchock – Water Quality Management Plan Matthew Barwick – Feral Fish Control Terry Steele – Fisheries Conservation Compliance David Ward – When to refer to Fisheries Chair Facilitator Murray Wood Diana Kureen Agenda Item 1 Welcome Meeting was opened at 10am Acknowledgement was made of the Traditional Owners of the Land and their Elders past and present Introduction of participants Introduction to the meeting and outline of the content WHS considerations for the meeting Actions and Agreements from last meeting discussed Motion: Minutes from the previous meeting be accepted Moved: Murray Wood Seconded: Mick Callan Agenda Item 2 Alliance Update Mick Callan Report prepared for all member Councils to put to their next Council meeting. Additional project information to be added by Council staff, where Councils have received project grant funding from Central Tablelands or Central West Local Land Services and/or if staff have attended Alliance evnts such as the Stormwater Conference, Erosion and Sediment Training the upcoming Project Management Training. This report and the Alliance 5 Year Plan (which can also be presented to Council) is on the website. ACTION Alliance training events for this financial year were updated. The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia “Manage a Local Government Project”, being provided at a significantly reduced rate, will be held on 21-22 March in Dubbo. Hollows for Habitat workshop to be held in Orange on 28 April. Despite the Alliance 5 Year Plan outlining training options, other suggestions for training are still encouraged. The Alliance 5 Year Plan has now been reviewed and finalised and is on the website for distribution across each of the Councils. A motion was passed that the Alliance 5 Year Plan be formally adopted by the Councils. Moved: Murray Wood; Seconded by Deborah Taylor and Approved by All. Diana outlined the fact that Alliance Terms of Reference and Membership Agreements fall due in July 2016. Due to the uncertainties surrounding Fit for the Future and proposed amalgamations, it was agreed to extend the current membership for one year to June 2017, as opposed to creating new three year memberships at this time. Moved: Murray Wood; Seconded: Lynton Auld; Approved by All. A letter from the Chairman will be written to the General Managers outlining this. ACTION 66 Corporation Ave | Bathurst NSW 2795 T: 02 6333 2323 | www.cwcewa.com.au Diana explained that the idea floated at the last meeting, to start working towards Drinking Water Catchment Plans with the Department of Health and the Water Utilities Alliances, will not now proceed as the Centroc Water Utilities Alliance and Department of Health are still to prioritise their activities. Diana also outlined recent discussions with the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities which are currently looking at their second tranche of projects, and are engaging on this with the State Regional Advisory Panel (RAP). Both Diana and Mick are members of this Panel and Diana was asked to/has submitted a regional project proposal for review. This proposal is based around using Floodplain and Stormwater Management Plans to better understand the role and increase the use of green infrastructure. Should this project be supported by the CRC, it could potentially have great benefits for the Councils across the region. A summary of the results of Tranche 1 projects, which is a great resource, will be put on the Alliance website otherwise it can be accessed at: http://watersensitivecities.org.au/tranche-1-summary/ ACTION A question was raised in regard to recent reports of glyphosate being a potential carcinogen. More research will be done on this and brought back to the next meeting. ACTION Additionally a demonstration of steam weed control will also be arranged for the next meeting. ACTION Agenda Item 3 Central West Local land Cherie Hughes Services Update Central West Local Land Services Strategic Plan along with all other Local Land Services Strategic Plans are with the Minister for sign off. The next action will be to prepare Business Plans. Central West Local Land Services Incentive Funding has now been awarded to five Councils. There is still some paperwork to be finalised. ACTION The Central West Local Land Services has determined that their Local Government Community Advisory Group will actually be their Regional Weeds Committee, and that it will continue to support the Alliance Local Government Reference Group meetings. Central West Local Land Services will be focussing on peri-urban biosecurity issues. Cherie talked about the Rural Living Handbook being a useful tool but asked if Councils were doing anything else in this sphere. Landcare NSW will have 60 half-time positions across NSW. These positions are currently being filled. Agenda Item 4 Contamination Central Craig Flemming Update Update on the Contamination Central project, with Craig informing the group that the policy template is now complete – including a legal review of it – and has been distributed. Training and support will now follow - it is anticipated that there will be 5-6 months of in- house and regional training on such topics as how to run the record keeping system, how the policy works, wording for 149Certificates etc. Craig will be presenting at the recent EDAP conference. 66 Corporation Ave | Bathurst NSW 2795 T: 02 6333 2323 | www.cwcewa.com.au Contamination Central/ALGA State Conference to be held in Dubbo on 31 May. All participating Councils have free entry to Conference. Craig has sent out email with details on how to join ALGA (already paid for) and register for conference. Lead contamination set to become a larger issue, with lead blood level recommendations being halved. The Contamination Central section of the Environment & Waterways Alliance website was viewed. There are now many resources in the members’ area. Craig’s presentation will be on the website – due to technical difficulties it was unable to be shown on the day. Agenda Item 5 Water Resources Plan for Tim Hosking & Dr James the Macquarie – Hitchcock Castlereagh Systems Water Resource Plan – Tim Hosking OEH Office of Environment & Heritage is tasked with preparing a Water Resource Plan for this and other systems by 2019. These plans will bring together NSW and Federal water planning for the Murray Darling Basin, the aim of which is to maximise the health of the river systems. The Ramsar-listed Macquarie Marshes is a big focus for this region. Most of the Marshes remain in private ownership, with only 10% in the public domain Monitoring is very important with various tools being used such as LiDAR, remote sensing inundation mapping, DPI Flow Gauge Network, ground surveys of vegetation, birds and frogs and DPI Fisheries monitoring fish from Burrendong to the Barwon. If Local Government has any data to share, Tim and James would be interested in hearing about it. There are some resources that have been prepared including a Glove Box Guide to the Wetland Plants of the Marshes and a Frog Identification pamphlet which