Burdekin Reef Water Quality Report Card shows welcome progress
Burdekin graziers and sugarcane growers are making progress in improving the quality of water flowing to the Great Barrier Reef, according to the recent release of the Reef Water Quality Report Card 2021-22.
The Burdekin catchment recorded a 3 per cent reduction in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), one of the largest reductions across Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef catchments for the reporting period. This puts the region just under halfway towards the target of a 60 per cent reduction by 2025.
Data must be collated from regional monitoring programs and validated before report card analysis. The data then undergoes comprehensive analysis and review before it is ready to be released in the report card.
The region also recorded good overall ground cover with 88 per cent of grazing lands having adequate ground cover in the late dry season in 2022, compared to 71 per cent in 2021 and 56 per cent in 2020. This result was largely due to the higher than long-term average rainfall in the Burdekin region in 2021 and 2022.
The 2025 Burdekin catchment management target is 90 per cent of grazing lands with more than 70 per cent ground cover in the late dry season.
The report card also shows more grazing land being managed using best management practices. A 0.5 per cent reduction in sediment was recorded in the Burdekin region.
The report card shows overall inshore marine condition was moderate in 2021-2022. Coral condition remained moderate, continuing to recover from a low point following the impact of Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi in 2011.
Inshore seagrass meadow condition improved from poor to moderate. Seagrass meadows have shown high resilience particularly through their capacity to recover from disturbances such as the large flood event in the Burdekin region in 2019.
Mid and outer shelf reef conditions are less directly influenced by water quality from the catchments and aren’t included in the report card.
While the 2021 and 2022 results show progress being made towards water quality targets is slow, major water quality programs were in their infancy during the reporting period.
Greater progress is expected in meeting these targets as significant, multi-year projects funded through the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, as well as projects funded by the Queensland Government, are completed and reported.
Both governments have increased their funding commitments since the period covered in the report card, to improve reef water quality and accelerate progress towards the water quality targets. Outcomes from this increased funding are expected to be reflected in future report cards.
The Reef Water Quality Report Card looks at multiple areas to report its findings. This includes water quality monitoring data, ground cover, riparian and wetland extent, modelled pollutant run-off from the results of on-ground programs, and marine condition.
The report cards show progress towards the targets and objectives of the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan, which is nested within the Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan – Australia’s overarching framework for protecting the Great Barrier Reef.
The results presented are produced by the Paddock to Reef Integrated Monitoring, Modelling and Reporting Program (Paddock to Reef Program), which estimates reductions in terrestrial pollutant run-off discharging to the Reef and links on-ground practice changes with water quality outcomes.
Read the Burdekin Region water quality 2021-2022 results here.
Read about and the science behind the Paddock to Reef Program and the Reef Water Quality Report here.
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We’re hosting a September forum
NQ Dry Tropics will host the Burdekin Regional Water Quality Strategy and Science Forum in September.
The forum will bring together scientists, natural resource and catchment management organisations and industry groups to discuss how the Burdekin region can help meet Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan targets.
Presentations scheduled include:
- 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement.
- 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan.
- Paddock to Reef Program.
- Local management practice change and on-ground projects .
- Burdekin Region Water Quality Strategy (planning overview).
An update on this event will be included in the December edition of The Grit.
Working hard to keep the Great Barrier Reef healthy
For years, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has been at risk of being placed on a list of UNESCO World Heritage sites considered “in danger” of losing their status.
Last month the global World Heritage committee ratified a recommendation not to place the reef on that list, but UNESCO requires Australia to provide a progress report in February 2025 outlining the actions it has taken to improve the reef’s health.
NQ Dry Tropics hosted the United Nations monitoring mission when it toured North Queensland in March 2022. The delegates were shown on-ground projects aimed at improving the quality of water flowing into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
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UNESCO has recommended Australia set more ambitious climate targets to cut sediment and nutrient reaching the Great Barrier Reef, to preserve its status as a world heritage site.
The reef “remains under serious threat and urgent and sustained action is of utmost priority in order to improve the resilience of the property in a rapidly changing climate”, the report said.
This year Queensland set a 2035 target to cut emissions by 75 per cent below 2005 levels. The government also committed net zero emissions by 2050.
The Great Barrier Reef covers approximately 348,000 square kilometres, most of it within the 344,400 square kilometres of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The management of the world heritage site is made more complex due to overlapping State and Federal jurisdictions. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, an independent Australian Government agency, is responsible for protection and management of the GBR Marine Park.
Queensland is responsible for management of the Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park, established under the Marine Parks Act 2004 (Queensland).
This is contiguous with the GBR Marine Park and covers the area between low and high water marks and many of the waters within the jurisdictional limits of Queensland. Queensland is also responsible for management of most of the islands.
Cooperative partnerships and formal agreements exist between the Australian Government and the Queensland Government. In addition, relationships have been built between governments and commercial and recreational industries, research institutions, and universities. This provides a wide-ranging management influence.
The Queensland Government is responsible for natural resource management and land use planning for the islands, coast and hinterland adjacent to the GBR.
Other Queensland and Federal legislation also projects the heritage site’s Outstanding Universal Value addressing issues such as water quality, shipping management, sea dumping, fisheries management and environmental protection.
The Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) provides an overarching mechanism for protecting the World Heritage values from inappropriate development, including actions on or near the reef which could impact on its heritage values.
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples undertake traditional use of marine resource activities to provide traditional food, practise their living maritime culture, and to educate younger generations about traditional and cultural protocols.
In the GBR, these activities are managed under Federal and Queensland legislation and policies including Traditional Use of Marine Resource Agreements (TUMRAs) and Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs).
Other initiatives providing increased protection for the GBR include the Great Barrier Reef Outlook Reporting, the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, the GBR Climate Change Action Plan, and the Reef Guardians Stewardship programs.