Regional State of the Regional 2017–2018 E nvironment Report for the Councils of the Greater Central West Region of West Central Report the Councils of Greater for nvironment STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT BOURKE Bourke r Riv e g l in Dar C a s Macqaurie t le r Marshes e a g COONAMBLE h Coonamble R i v e r Coonabarabran WARREN M a c q GILGANDRA u N a r Nyngan ie SW 2017-2018 SW 2017-2018 R BOGAN iv WARRUMBUNGLE Warren er Gilgandra For the Councils of the Boga n Greater Central West Region of NSW: Ri ver Narromine Dubbo ver g Ri DUBBO on NARROMINE g e MID-WESTERN REGIONAL g d Bathurst Regional, Blayney, Bogan, Bourke, u C REGIONAL Wellington Lake Mudgee Burrendong Cabonne, Coonamble, Cowra, Dubbo Condobolin Molong BATHURST Regional, Gilgandra, Lachlan, Mid-Western LACHLAN ORANGE CABONNE REGIONAL Orange Bathurst Blayney Regional, Narromine, Oberon, Orange, Warren, Printed on recycled paper BLAYNEY COWRA Oberon Cowra OBERON Warrumbungle Acknowledgements The preparation of the Regional State of the Environment Report 2017-18 was funded by the 16 participating local Councils with admin- istrative support from Central Tablelands Local Land Services and Central West Local Land Services. It shows trends, where possible, in relation to reports produced for the region in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. Prepared by: Molino Stewart Pty Ltd Phone: (02) 9354 0300 www.molinostewart.com.au Design: Wild Red Frog Design Phone: 0413 338 809 © The Councils of Bathurst Regional, Blayney, Bogan, Bourke, Cabonne, Coonamble, Cowra, Dubbo Regional, Gilgandra, Lachlan, Mid-Western Regional, Narromine, Oberon, Orange, Warren, War- rumbungle and Central Tablelands Local Land Services and Central West Local Land Services All intellectual property and copyright reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this report may be reproduced, transmitted, stored in a retrieval system or adapted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to one of the Councils listed above or the Central Tablelands Local Land Services. Contents Broadacre farming, Acknowledgements 1 Bourke LGA (Scott Gregory Abbreviations 3 Willoughby Imagery) Introduction 4 Why a Regional SoE Report? 4 Who is involved? 4 Reporting for 2017-18 5 This report 6 Council Snapshot Reports 6 Weather Events in the Region 2017-18 8 Land 10 Biodiversity 18 Water and Waterways 30 People and Communities 42 Towards Sustainability 50 References 66 Appendix 68 2 2017–2018 Regional Report—State of the Environment Abbreviations AHIMS Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System BCT Biodiversity Conservation Trust BOM Bureau of Meteorology BPEM Best Practice Environmental Management CBD Central Business District CMA Catchment Management Authority CRS Community Recycling Station DA Development Application DCP Development Control Plan EC Electrical Conductivity EECs Endangered Ecological Communities EPA Environmental Protection Authority GJ Gigajoule GL Gigalitre GPT Gross Pollutant Trap ha Hectare IP&R Integrated Planning and Reporting kL Kilolitre km² Square kilometres LBL Load Based Licensing LEP Local Environmental Plan LGA Local Government Area LLS Local Land Services mg milligram MGB Mobile Garbage Bins ML Megalitre MRF Materials Recycling Facility NSW New South Wales NTU Nephelometric Turbidity Units PM10 Particulate Matter (10 microns or less) RID Report Illegal Dumping RSoE Regional State of the Environment SLM Sustainable Land Management SoE State of the Environment WTP Water Treatment 3 Introduction A State of the Environment (SoE) Why a Regional SoE Report? • Bourke Shire Council • Cabonne Council Report is an important management Environmental issues are not restricted to • Coonamble Shire Council Council boundaries. Regional State of the • Cowra Shire Council tool which aims to provide the Environment (RSoE) Reports are • Dubbo Regional Council recommended by the NSW Government and • Gilgandra Shire Council community and Council with used by some groups of Councils in NSW to • Lachlan Shire Council enable a better understanding of the state of • Mid-Western Regional Council information on the condition of the the environment in a regional context and to • Narromine Shire Council identify future collaborative pathways. More • Oberon Council environment in the local area to assist specifically, a regional approach to reporting: • Orange City Council • facilitates a better understanding of the • Warren Shire Council in decision-making. state of the environment across the region • Warrumbungle Shire Council • encourages collaboration in regards to partnering on projects and sharing ideas Regional SoE reporting has been supported and resources and coordinated by Central Tablelands Local • assists in the management of shared Land Services (LLS) and formerly the Central environmental resources West Catchment Management Authority • forges stronger regional links across (CMA) since the first regional report was participating Councils. prepared in 2008. As shown in Figure 1, the participating Councils are located across three LLS regions – Western, Central West and Who is involved? Central Tablelands. All participating Councils have provided The participating Councils in the region are: data to be included in this report, with • Bathurst Regional Council additional regional information sourced by • Blayney Shire Council Central Tablelands LLS and Central West • Bogan Shire Council LLS and other government agencies (see the Appendix for details of data sources). 4 2017–2018 Regional Report—State of the Environment Reporting for 2017-18 Prior to 2009, as a requirement of the Local Moree Government Act 1993, all local Councils in BOURKE r OTHER e v NSW produced an annual SoE Report on i R o R ver Walgett g i ing e Dar l r major environmental impacts, related r Bourke a LLS AREAS W activities and management plans. In 2007-08 Narrabri and 2008-09, Councils in the region, along iver R C g a with the Central West CMA, collaborated to in s l t r l a COONAMBLE e D r e Macqaurie a g h produce a regional SoE Report based on the Marshes Coonamble requirements of the Act. Tamworth R i v e In 2009, the r Local Government Act 1993 WARREN Coonabarabran M a c was amended. The amendments required q u GILGANDRA a Nyngan r ie WARRUMBUNGLE the use of an Integrated Planning and BOGAN Warren R Gilgandra iv Reporting (IP&R) Framework to guide a er Bo gan Council’s future strategic planning and Muswellbrook Riv reporting. As part of the IP&R Framework, WESTERN er er iv NARROMINE g R Dubbo on DUBBO g e Councils were required to develop environ- g REGIONAL d u MID-WESTERN LLS CENTRAL C REGIONAL mental goals and objectives with their Mudgee Lake communities in relation to identified WEST Burrendong priority local environmental issues. These LACHLAN CABONNE Parkes Molong LLSLa ch Condoblin lan Ri environmental goals and objectives form r ve BATHURST ve r ORANGE N Ri CENTRALREGIONAL lan Forbes ch Orange part of each Council’s overarching La Bathurst BLAYNEY Community Strategic Plan. 0 50 100 150 TABLELANDS Blayney COWRA Whilst Community Strategic Plans were Kilometres Oberon OTHER Cowra LLS OBERON being developed by the participating West Wyalong Councils, RSoE Reports were produced LLS AREAS under the requirements of the 1993 Act for the 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 years. The IP&R Framework requires that In 2012, the participating Councils and the The participating Councils decided to FIGURE 1 Map showing Councils prepare annual reports which Central West CMA decided to continue continue the regional reporting for 2016-17 participating Council include reporting on environmental objectives collecting data and reporting on an annual and 2017-18 awaiting a decision regarding a areas and Local Land in their Community Strategic Plans. In the basis so that they could produce a compre- possible amendment to the Act that will Services regional year in which a Council election is held, the hensive RSoE Report in 2016 (the year of the remove the requirement for a separate SoE boundaries annual report must also include a SoE Council elections) that covered the Report in the year of a Council election. Report. intervening years. Introduction 5 This report The trend arrows in the summary tables Touring, Dubbo LGA The themes covered in this report were guided are based on comparing the average of by those in the then Central West Catchment data from the past three years with the Action Plan. The themes are: data for 2017–18, where direct • Land comparison can be made. • Biodiversity The trend arrows used in the • Water and Waterways summary table are: • People and Communities • Towards Sustainability improvement no or little change Use of Indicators worsening trend Indicators are important management tools used in environmental reporting. They Council Snapshot Reports summarise and communicate information about the condition of key aspects of complex In 2012, the participating Councils decided to environments so that our decision making can produce additional brief snapshot reports for be better informed. each of their Local Government Areas In this report, a suite of indicators has (LGAs). These Council Snapshot Reports been identified that help report on the envi- were produced annually from 2013 to 2018. ronmental themes listed above. They report on the indicator trends for each Where indicator data for previous years is LGA. available, it is provided along with data for It should be noted that two Councils were 2017-18 in a summary table at the commence- amalgamated prior to the end of June 2016. ment of each theme chapter. Dubbo City Council and Wellington Council There is a description for each indicator were amalgamated to form Dubbo Regional trend within the chapter and an explanation Council. In this report, the data of the former of possible reasons for it occurring. There are Dubbo City and Wellington LGAs has been also case studies highlighting responses to amalgamated and compared with Dubbo environmental issues across the region.