Assessing development impacts on aquatic ecological assets
| Objective: | Assessing the likely impacts of development on aquatic ecological assets in Northern Australia |
| Funding: | $1.2million plus applicable GST |
| Jurisdiction: | Northern Australia |
| Commencing: | March 2010 |
| Completion: | March 2012 |
About the project
The Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment (NAWFA) is a multidisciplinary program being delivered jointly by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and the National Water Commission. The objective is to provide an enduring knowledge base to inform decisions about development and protection of northern Australia's water resources, so that any development proceeds in an ecologically, culturally and economically sustainable manner.
Development schemes must also be consistent with the principles of the National Water Initiative (NWI).
This project will contribute to the NAWFA program by improving our understanding of water-dependent ecological assets across northern Australia and the risks to those assets arising from hydrologic changes due to water resource development or climate change. The project also contributes to the recommendation made by the Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce in its final report by increasing investment in climate, water, land and environment data collection and analysis to support land and water use planning, catchment level water planning and local decision making.
The project will undertake a detailed analysis of a range of likely high-priority, at-risk ecological assets and asset types. This will involve:
- describing and characterising the surface- and ground-water regimes, geomorphology and ecological processes of these assets/asset types, including groundwater/surface water interactions and system-wide issues
- identifying the major human-related factors impacting upon aquatic ecological assets and their relationship to climate change, where possible separating the climate change impacts from the development impacts on these ecological assets
- modelling and assessing the likely impacts (including cumulative) of possible development and climate change scenarios on the key ecological assets
- identifying ecological thresholds of concern for these assets (encompassing ecological water requirements, ecosystem processes, critical thresholds of habitat use and modelling hydrological regimes and the relationship of flow changes as ecological triggers)
- considering the relationship between these ecological assets and their associated cultural and social values
- identifying a framework for monitoring and reporting change against ecological thresholds
- making recommendations for management options to minimise development and climate change impacts on these assets
- identifying specific knowledge/information needs and making recommendations for future investment priorities
- producing multiple reporting products and maps for a range of target audiences.
Project benefits
This project builds on the Northern Australian Water Futures Assessment Ecological Program project. For those aquatic ecological assets identified most at risk, the project will: describe the surface and groundwater regimes and ecological processes, assess the likely impacts (including cumulative) of possible development and climate change, and identify thresholds of ecological concern and a framework for monitoring and reporting change against these thresholds.
By improving environmental data analysis, project outcomes will support land and water use planning, catchment level water planning and local decision making.