Drinking Water Quality Management Plan Lakes Wivenhoe and Somerset, Mid-Brisbane River and Catchments April 2010 Peter Schneider, Mike Taylor, Marcus Mulholland and James Howey Acknowledgements Development of this plan benefited from guidance by the Queensland Water Commission Expert Advisory Panel (for issues associated with purified recycled water), Heather Uwins, Peter Artemieff, Anne Woolley and Lynne Dixon (Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management), Nicole Davis and Rose Crossin (SEQ Water Grid Manager) and Annalie Roux (WaterSecure). The authors thank the following Seqwater staff for their contributions to this plan: Michael Bartkow, Jonathon Burcher, Daniel Healy, Arran Canning and Peter McKinnon. The authors also thank Seqwater staff who contributed to the supporting documentation to this plan. April 2010 Q-Pulse Database Reference: PLN-00021 DRiNkiNg WateR QuALiTy MANAgeMeNT PLAN Executive Summary Obligations and Objectives 8. Contribute to safe recreational opportunities for SEQ communities; The Wivenhoe Drinking Water Quality Management Plan (WDWQMP) provides a framework to 9. Develop effective communication, sustainably manage the water quality of Lakes documentation and reporting mechanisms; Wivenhoe and Somerset, Mid-Brisbane River and and catchments (the Wivenhoe system). Seqwater has 10. Remain abreast of relevant national and an obligation to manage water quality under the international trends in public health and Queensland Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) water management policies, and be actively Act 2008. All bulk water supply and treatment involved in their development. services have been amalgamated under Seqwater as part of the recent institutional reforms for water To ensure continual improvement and compliance supply infrastructure and management in South with the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) East Queensland (SEQ). Reliability Act 2008, a program for improvement including actions, accountabilities and dates for The plan is based on the priorities of the completion (or review) is provided in the WDWQMP Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2004 (ADWG, Improvement Plan (Appendix H). The WDWQMP 2004) including the risk-based Framework for and improvement plan will be reviewed annually the Management of Drinking Water Quality and and resubmitted to the Office of the Water Supply associated guidelines. The WDWQMP emphasises Regulator at that time. Seqwater’s corporate commitment to water quality and sustainability. It outlines the regulatory key WDWQMP programs and formal requirements, and management plans and procedures that are required for managing Æ Seqwater corporate strategies state the goals the water quality of the Wivenhoe system. All and priorities for water quality management, supporting documentation is provided on the CD- and set the framework for stakeholder ROM that accompanies this document. engagement. Seqwater’s Stakeholder Support initiative seeks to: The objectives of the WDWQMP are to: • Understand the needs of our regulators. 1. Provide raw water to water treatment plants (WTPs) that supports delivery of ADWG • Work with our partner Water Grid (2004) standards or better; entities and agencies. 2. Meet local Environmental Values and Water • Clarify our customer and partner Quality Objectives; expectations. 3. Identify and manage risks to water quality • Establish appropriate financial and in the catchments and storage including governance systems. implementing effective preventive measures; Æ environmental Values and Water Quality 4. Implement effective monitoring programs, Objectives (WQOs) are being developed and operational and emergency response for Queensland waterways pursuant to the procedures; provisions of the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 1997. Hence, Seqwater is 5. Improve understanding (through research currently reviewing its HACCP-based water and development) and management of quality monitoring program and aligning it the relationships between catchment with draft Water Quality Objectives (WQOs), sustainability, water quality and public health; as derived from the Environmental Values for 6. Develop partnerships with key stakeholders Drinking Water Supply and Aquatic Ecosystem and community representatives in the delivery protection. Water quality reporting includes of the WDWQMP; fortnightly reporting for review at the monthly Managers Meeting as well as six monthly and 7. Engage Seqwater employees including annual trending. commitment, training and building awareness; DRiNkiNg WateR QuALiTy MANAgeMeNT PLAN 1 Æ The WDWQMP includes a series of recent risk Æ Preventive measures use a multiple assessments for the Wivenhoe system and barriers approach to prevent contaminants options for managing those risks. There is a entering the potable water supply. These high risk of adverse impacts to water quality, include planning controls and catchment particularly in the Upper Brisbane Catchment. management plans through to dam offtake Management options will be based on outputs management and control of flow releases. from the new monitoring program as well as Seqwater proactively reviews operational those from research and development. monitoring data to ensure the preventive measures are performing. Æ A Report Card for Seqwater Catchments and Storages has been developed to Æ When operational monitoring reveals an encourage stakeholder engagement and exceedance of a water quality trigger value, facilitate internal management needs; e.g. then various procedures enable rapid prioritisation of resources for catchment reporting to and communication with management. customers and stakeholders. Æ The Western Corridor Recycled Water Project Æ Research and development provides new (WCRWP) includes release of purified knowledge, innovative technologies and cost recycled water (PRW) into Lake Wivenhoe. effective approaches to managing water quality The project has the capacity to supply up to in the lakes and surrounding catchments. A 232 megalitres (ML) of PRW, however return Research Plan provides direction for research volumes into the lake are likely to be ~40–100 in four main areas: Water Quality (Human ML/day in the first 12 months or more of Health), Sustainable Ecosystems, Business operation. The Queensland Government’s Efficiencies and Opportunities, and Synthesis policy decision is that commissioning of PRW and Knowledge Transfer. returns into Lake Wivenhoe will commence Æ Management of the Wivenhoe system and when the total volume of Lakes Wivenhoe, operation of Wivenhoe Dam are given the Somerset and Samsonvale fall below 40%, upmost priority within Seqwater, and all subject to regulatory approval. PRW returns employees are appropriately trained to will be a significant change to the sources of fulfil their duties. Operational controls inflow to Lake Wivenhoe; a primary concern include a Recreation Management is elevated nutrient levels, which may cause Framework, Emergency Action Plans and changes to the ecological characteristics various Dam Operations and Maintenance of the lake. Other potential contaminants Manuals and Procedures. include organochlorine compounds, industrial chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, PAHs, metals, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and selected bacteria and viruses. However, these may also be derived from existing inflow sources, and management will be set within the context of managing all sources of inflow and their interrelated impacts. 2 QUEENSLAND BULK WATER SUPPLY AUTHORITY (QBWSA) TRADING AS SEQWATER DRiNkiNg WateR QuALiTy MANAgeMeNT PLAN Contents 1. Introduction 7 1.1 Purpose 7 1.2 Multiple Barriers 9 1.3 Institutional Reforms for Water Supply in South East Queensland 10 1.3.1 Council Amalgamations 12 1.3.2 Water Supply Infrastructure and Planning 12 1.4 Organisational Responsibilities 13 2. Commitment to Water Quality Management 14 2.1 Corporate Strategy 14 2.2 Drinking Water Quality Policy 16 3. Regulatory and Formal Requirements 17 3.1 Legislative and policy framework 17 3.2 National Water Quality Management Strategy 19 3.2.1 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 19 3.2.2 ANZECC 2000 Guidelines 21 3.2.3 Australian Guidelines for Water Quality Monitoring and Reporting 21 3.2.4 National Recreational Guidelines 21 3.2.5 Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling 21 3.3 Queensland Water Quality Guidelines 22 3.4 Local Environmental Values and Water Quality Objectives 22 3.5 Queensland Water Recycling Guidelines 23 3.6 Engaging Stakeholders 24 3.6.1 Seqwater Catchments and Storages Report Card 24 4. Assessment of the Water Supply System 26 4.1 Context 26 4.2 Catchment Extent 26 4.2.1 Catchment Land Use 28 4.2.2 Ecosystem Services 30 4.2.3 Storage Characteristics and Waterways 31 4.2.4 Purified Recycled Water 33 4.2.5 QWC Expert Advisory Panel 35 4.3 Catchment and Storage Condition 38 4.3.1 Healthy Waterways Report Card 38 4.3.2 Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Data 39 QUEENSLAND BULK WATER SUPPLY AUTHORITY (QBWSA) TRADING AS SEQWATER DRiNkiNg WateR QuALiTy MANAgeMeNT PLAN 3 Contents (continued) 5. Risk Assessment 40 5.1 Context 40 5.2 Hazard Identification 40 5.2.1 Risks from Purified Recycled Water 41 6. Multiple Barriers and Preventive Measures 49 6.1 Multiple Barriers 49 6.2 Preventive Measures 49 6.2.1 Catchment Management Options 50 6.2.2 Storage Management Options 51 6.2.3 Planning 52 7. Operational Procedures 54 7.1 Operational Monitoring 54 7.1.1 Monitoring Program 54 7.1.2 Critical Control Points 56 7.1.3 Monitoring Program Review 57 7.1.4 Monitoring of Purified Recycled Water 57 7.2 Corrective