v Government of Western Australia Department of the Premier and Cabinet Perth and Peel Green Growth Plan for 3.5 million Strategic Assessment of the Perth and Peel Regions Draft EPBC Act Strategic Impact Assessment Report Part D: MNES Assessment$IBQUFS December 2015 Acknowledgements This document has been prepared by Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd and © Government of Western Australia Open Lines Consulting. Department of the Premier and Cabinet Disclaimer Dumas House This document may only be used for the purpose for which it was 2 Havelock Street commissioned and in accordance with the contract between Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd and the Department of the Premier and West Perth WA 6005 Cabinet. The scope of services was defined in consultation with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, by time and budgetary Website: www.dpc.wa.gov.au/greengrowthplan constraints imposed by the client, and the availability of reports Email: [email protected] and other data on the subject area. 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Strategic Assessment for the Perth and Peel Regions Contents List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... iii 19 Wetlands of international importance (Ramsar) ................................................................ 19-1 19.1 Summary .................................................................................................................... 19-1 19.2 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 19-4 19.3 Conservation outcome ................................................................................................ 19-6 19.4 Baseline information for Ramsar ................................................................................ 19-6 19.5 Impact assessment approach for Ramsar .................................................................. 19-7 19.6 Monitoring ................................................................................................................. 19-22 19.7 Becher Point Wetlands ............................................................................................. 19-23 19.8 Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes ............................................................................ 19-37 19.9 The Peel-Yalgorup System ....................................................................................... 19-58 List of Figures Figure 19-1: Location of Becher Point, Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes, and Peel- Yalgorup Ramsar sites .......................................................................................................................... 19-5 Figure 19-2: Becher Point Ramsar site ............................................................................................... 19-25 Figure 19-3: Forrestdale and Thomsons Lake Ramsar site ................................................................ 19-39 Figure 19-4: Phosphorus Risk for Urban, Industrial and Rural Residential Expansion areas within 5km of Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes ................................................................................. 19-50 Figure 19-5: Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar site ................................................................................ 19-60 Figure 19-6: Relative land use areas and nitrogen and phosphorus loads flowing to the Peel-Harvey Estuary from the coastal plain portion of the catchment ................................................ 19-74 Figure 19-7: Phosphorus Risk for Urban, Industrial and Rural Residential Expansion areas within the Peel-Harvey and Yalgorup Catchments .............................................................................. 19-79 Figure 19-8: Framework for State and MNES commitments for the Peel-Yalgorup Ramsar site ....................................................................................................................................................... 19-84 II Strategic Assessment for the Perth and Peel Regions List of Tables Table 19-1: Condition and trend ratings for LACs ................................................................................. 19-7 Table 19-2: Projected population estimates ........................................................................................ 19-15 Table 19-3: Risk rating table ............................................................................................................... 19-17 Table 19-4: Consequence table for Ramsar risk assessment ............................................................ 19-20 Table 19-5: Need for Ramsar monitoring ............................................................................................ 19-22 Table 19-6: Ramsar listing criteria and justification for Becher Point Wetlands ................................. 19-24 Table 19-7: Summary of the condition against each of the LACs for Becher Point Wetlands ............ 19-27 Table 19-8: Existing and proposed development around Becher Point Ramsar site ......................... 19-29 Table 19-9: Summary of groundwater risk assessment for Becher Point Ramsar site ...................... 19-30 Table 19-10: Summary of people pressure risk assessment for Becher Point Ramsar site .............. 19-33 Table 19-11: Ramsar listing criteria and justification for Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes .............. 19-38 Table 19-12: Summary of the condition against each of the LACs for Forrestdale and Thomson Lakes Wetlands ................................................................................................................... 19-41 Table 19-13: Existing and proposed development around Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar site ............................................................................................................................... 19-44 Table 19-14: Summary of groundwater risk assessment for the Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar site ............................................................................................................................... 19-46 Table 19-15: Summary of people pressure risk assessment for Forrestdale Lake ............................ 19-51 Table 19-16: Summary of people pressure risk assessment for Thomsons Lake .............................. 19-52 Table 19-17: Summary of existing management arrangements for the Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar site ............................................................................................................................ 19-62 Table 19-18: Ramsar listing criteria and justification for the Peel-Yalgorup System .......................... 19-64 Table 19-19: Summary of the condition against each of the LACs for the Peel Yalgorup System Ramsar site ............................................................................................................................ 19-67 Table 19-20: Existing and proposed development areas in the Peel-Harvey and Yalgorup catchments .......................................................................................................................................... 19-72 Table 19-21: Summary of groundwater risk assessment for the Peel-Harvey subarea of the Peel-Yalgorup Ramsar site ................................................................................................................. 19-75 Table 19-22: Summary of groundwater risk assessment for the Yalgorup Lakes subarea of the Peel-Yalgorup Ramsar site ........................................................................................................... 19-76 Table 19-23: Summary of people pressure risk assessment for Peel-Yalgorup Ramsar site ............ 19-81 III Strategic Assessment for the Perth and Peel Regions Table 19-24: Package of commitments to address both the legacy issues and future risks from the classes of action .................................................................................................................... 19-95 IV Strategic Assessment for the Perth and Peel Regions 19 Wetlands of international importance (Ramsar) 19.1 SUMMARY There are three Ramsar sites within the Strategic Assessment Area. They are: the Peel-Yalgorup System of wetlands; Becher Point Wetlands; and Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes. The locations of these wetlands are shown in Figure 19-1. None of the sites will be directly impacted by the proposed classes of action. However, all three are currently affected by a range of pressures or 'legacy' issues, and may be subject to additional indirect impacts from the classes of action. The conservation outcomes for Ramsar are to maintain and where possible improve their ecological character in accordance with Australia’s obligations under the Ramsar Convention (see Section 19.3). This outcome is expected