Download Lake Eyre Basin State of the Basin 2016

Draft Lake Eyre Basin State of the Basin
Condition Assessment 2016 report
(Draft for public consultation. Comments provided on this draft
will be considered in finalising the report.)
Cooper Creek Cullyamurra Waterhole and Floodplain; Innamincka, South Australia, 2009. Photo: G Scholz
April 2017
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This publication (and any material sourced from it) should be attributed as: Lake Eyre Basin Ministerial Forum
2017, Draft Lake Eyre Basin: State of the Basin Condition Assessment 2016 Report (Public Consultation
document) Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, Canberra, November. CC BY 3.0.
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Email [email protected]
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Executive Summary
The Lake Eyre Basin represents around one sixth of the Australian continent and covers
significant portions of the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia. Amongst
the world’s largest internally draining river basins, the Basin supports ecological, socioeconomic and cultural values of very high national and international significance. In
2000, Ministers of the Australian, Queensland and South Australian governments signed
the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement to protect the Basin’s water resources
and river systems and to promote their sustainable management, especially with regard
to minimising cross-border downstream impacts. The Northern Territory government
also signed this Agreement in 2004. This report addresses the requirements of the Lake
Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement Act 2001 to review and report on the condition
of watercourses and catchments within the Lake Eyre Basin Agreement Area every 10
years. The first condition assessment was the State of the Basin 2008: Rivers Assessment.
This report is the second condition assessment. Available knowledge concerning
hydrology, water quality, riverine fish and waterbirds of the Basin is synthesised and
current and emerging threats to these features are identified.
Riverine ecosystems and biodiversity of the Lake Eyre Basin are in good condition
overall, especially when compared with neighbouring systems such as the MurrayDarling Basin where high levels of modification and resource use have resulted in
widespread environmental degradation over the last century. Comparatively little human
alteration of water regimes or landscapes has occurred in the Lake Eyre Basin and this is
reflected by rich and diverse riverine communities (e.g. fish and waterbirds).
Riverine ecosystems and biodiversity of the Basin are driven primarily by climatic and
hydrological patterns which are characterised by high levels of spatial and temporal
variability. Throughout the Basin, riverine habitat characteristics, including water
quantity and quality, largely reflect preceeding hydrological conditions and, to a lesser
extent, geological and geomorphological features. No long-term trends in hydrology or
water quality have been detected from existing records in the Basin although it is difficult
to determine whether this is mainly due to the high variability and relatively short
duration of available datasets rather than the definite absence of trends. For example,
contemporary water quality is characterised by high nutrient and turbidity compared to
other Australian river systems, but it is not known if this reflects natural processes or is
influenced by human activities such as grazing.
Assessment of data collected under the Lake Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment programme
indicates that riverine fish communities across the Basin are generally in good condition
with at least 19 native species present including numerous well-known (yellowbelly) and
endemic species (Welch’s grunter, desert goby, and the Finke goby). Exotic and
translocated fish species are more abundant and widespread in the Basin than previously
known, and present a threat to native fish species in both riverine and spring habitats.
The rapid expansion of the translocated sleepy cod in the Cooper Creek catchment is of
particular concern because of its potential to affect the condition of native fish
communities, including those of the Coongie Lakes Ramsar wetlands.
Waterbird communities across the Basin also demonstrate long-term stability in
abundance and diversity over the monitoring period (1983-2015), despite being highly
variable at basin and local scales in response to streamflow and water levels. Declines of
shorebirds have occurred during this period at three wetlands (Goyders Lagoon, Lower
Cooper and Lake Yamma Yamma), reflecting a continental decline in this migratory group
Draft Lake Eyre Basin State of the Basin Condition Assessment 2016 Report: for public consultation
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probably due to habitat changes in their flyways beyond the Basin. Herbivorous
waterbirds and brolgas also exhibited declines in Lake Katherine and the GeorginaDiamantina catchments respectively, although the reasons for this remain unclear.
The Coongie Lakes in the South Australian portion of the Cooper Creek comprise a
wetland of global and national significance listed under the international Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands. Limits of acceptable change have previously been defined under
the Convention for the Coongie Lakes for hydrology, fish and waterbirds. Limits of
acceptable change are threshold values designed to alert managers to potential changes
in ecological character of the site. None of these limits of acceptable change were
breached for hydrology between 2011 and 2016, although one was approached during a
recent period of low flows in the lower Cooper. The limit of acceptable change associated
with fish could be interpreted as exceeded on four occasions in the recent sampling
period. As the sampling was only conducted in one or two sites at these times, the lack of
fish species observed may reflect sampling effort rather than a depleted fish community.
The recent appearance of sleepy cod represents a risk to the ecology of the Coongie
Lakes Ramsar site because this translocated predator may have adverse effects on native
fish populations and aquatic food webs. Waterbird surveys in the Coongie Lakes region
in November 2008 observed very high numbers of waterbirds (almost 60 000) and
waterbird species (~45) present, including around 2% of the total populations of both
red-necked avocet and pink-eared duck, providing further evidence to support the
continued recognition of this site as internationally significant according to Ramsar
criteria 5 and 6.
Risks associated with current threats and pressures to water resources and riverine
ecosystems in the Basin are considered to be relatively low and are mostly localised in
their effects, typically concentrated in the vicinity of waterholes. There is a risk, of
cumulative impacts should the intensity and distribution of these pressures increase in
the future. Invasive species, including aquatic pests and terrestrial animals and plants,
represent the greatest current risk to riverine ecosystems and biodiversity. Climate
change also presents a significant emerging threat with the potential for direct and
indirect effects on water resources and riverine ecosystems and biodiversity. Along with
warming, a drying trend revision of the fish can be expected over the coming century,
especially in the southern parts of the Basin, as well as a potential for more frequent
bushfire weather. Predicting climate change impacts entails high levels of uncertainty
due to the inherent variability of the system and the complexities and feedbacks
involved. Nevertheless, changes in the abundance and distribution of many native
species across the Basin can be expected.
Management priorities to conserve riverine ecosystems and biodiversity in the Basin
include on-ground actions to contain source populations of invasive species, including
capping artesian bores to prevent the sustenance of the exotic fish gambusia, fencing of
water storages infested by cane toads, and eradication of source populations of invasive
plants; education and enforcement to limit overfishing and illegal fish stocking in
waterholes; minimisation of current pressures and stressors, such as 4WD driving and
stock access, in the vicinity of persistent waterholes; and education to limit firewood
harvest and spread of invasive plants in high-use tourism and recreational areas in the
vicinity of persistent waterholes. Maintaining current low levels of water resources
development also remains a priority, along with careful planning of floodplain
development to maintain natural spatial patterns of inundation, especially during
smaller floods.
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3.4
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1
1. INTRODUCTION
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1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
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Background
Objectives
Approach and scope
Contributors
2. ABOUT THE BASIN
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4.7 Social concerns
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4.8 Climate change
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REFERENCES
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background
The Lake Eyre Basin (the Basin) represents around one sixth of the Australian continent
and covers significant portions of the Northern Territory, Queensland and South
Australia, as well as a corner of north-western New South Wales. Amongst the world’s
largest internally draining river basins, the Lake Eyre Basin supports ecological, socioeconomic and cultural values of very high national and international significance. The
Basin is widely recognised as being relatively undisturbed by human activities compared
with adjacent basins such as the Murray-Darling. Unless well managed, growing
pressures to develop and intensify agricultural and mining enterprises, along with a
burgeoning tourism industry and the overlying threat of climate change, pose risks to the
Basin‘s watercourses and catchments and the many diverse values that they support.
In 2000, Ministers of the Australian, Queensland and South Australian governments
signed the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement to protect the Basin’s water
resources and river systems and to promote their sustainable management, especially
with regard to minimising cross-border downstream impacts. The Northern Territory
government also signed this agreement in 2004 (Figure 1).
The Agreement encompasses the Cooper Creek catchment (excluding the north-western
corner of New South Wales), the Georgina and Diamantina catchments and the Finke,
Todd, Hay Macumba and Neales, catchments in the west and south (Figure 1). The
Agreement is governed by the Lake Eyre Basin Ministerial Forum. A Community Advisory
Committee and Scientific Advisory Panel provide advice to the Ministerial Forum in
relation to matters relevant to the Agreement. An initial State of the Basin report was
produced in 2008; the current report is the second condition assessment of the Basin.
1.2 Objectives
This report addresses the requirements of the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental
Agreement Act 2001 to review and report on the condition of watercourses and
catchments within the Lake Eyre Basin Agreement Area every 10 years. The major aims
of this report are to:
•
describe the current status of Basin’s watercourses and catchments, including
rivers, floodplains, and riverine lakes and wetlands, with a particular focus on
hydrology, water quality, fish and waterbirds
•
identify and evaluate current threats and pressures facing water resources and
riverine ecosystems of the Basin, especially those requiring a coordinated interjurisdictional approach.
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1.3 Approach and scope
This report synthesises knowledge of hydrology, water quality, riverine fish and
waterbirds of the Lake Eyre Basin as well as current and emerging threats to these
features. Results of monitoring and evaluation conducted under the recent Lake Eyre
Basin Rivers Assessment programme are presented in addition to assessment of other
relevant datasets where available. The Lake Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment
Implementation Plan was adopted by the Ministerial Forum in 2010, and hydrology,
water quality and fish have been monitored regularly in 53 waterholes under the Lake
Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment programme since 2011 (Appendix 1). Waterbirds in 10
major wetlands of the Basin have been monitored annually in October since 1983 as part
of the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey (Kingsford & Porter 2009).
This report does not consider the condition of the physical landscape, riverine
vegetation or other ecological components, such as terrestrial animals, that depend on
watercourses and catchments of the Basin. Where available, information regarding
catchment-wide risks to watercourses and riverine biodiversity has been considered
(Chapter 4).
The report comprises six chapters. Chapter 2 provides a brief overview of the Basin, its
riverine landscapes, climate, hydrology, riverine biodiversity and ecosystems, and
people. Chapter 3 presents findings regarding the status of hydrology, water quality, fish
and waterbirds in the Basin. Chapter 4 discusses current and emerging threats to water
resources and riverine ecosystems in the Basin. Chapter 5 identifies the risks and
strategic knowledge needs. Finally, Chapter 6 provides a synthesis of the report’s key
messages andconclusion.
1.4 Contributors
This report represents the contributions of many individuals and organisations.
Hydrological information was compiled by University of Melbourne (Dr Justin
Costelloe) and water quality information by the Environment Protection Authority
South Australia, University of Adelaide (John Tibby), Northern Territory Department
of Environment and Natural Resources, and Queensland Department of Natural
Resources and Mines. Fish information and condition assessments were provided by
South Australian Research and Development Institute in consultation with Griffith
University (Emeritus Professor Angela Arthington), Queensland Department of Natural
Resources and Mines, and Northern Territory Department of Environment and Natural
Resources. Waterbird information was supplied by University of New South Wales
(Professor Richard Kingsford and Dr Gilad Bino). Many of the maps in this report were
produced by South Australian Research and Development Institute and the Bureau of
Agricultural Resources, Economics and Sciences.
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The Lake Eyre Basin State of the Basin Steering Committee, along with the Community
Advisory Committee and Scientific Advisory Panel, have also made significant
contributions to the report.
The report was coordinated and produced by a team at the Australian Rivers Institute at
Griffith University comprising Drs Samantha Capon, Stephen Balcombe and Amy George
and Associate Professor Fran Sheldon.
Figure 1 Map of the Lake Eyre Basin showing major catchments, watercourses, lakes, towns and the Lake
Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement area. (source: Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource
Economics and Sciences, 2017)
Draft Lake Eyre Basin State of the Basin Condition Assessment 2016 Report: for public consultation
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