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goulburn broken regional catchment strategy november 2003

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imprint page ­ details to come ­ copyright disclaimer isbn etc 2 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy

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foreword the future economic social and environmental outlook for the goulburn broken catchment is strong we have a robust regional economy that continues to attract new investment we have accepted and met the challenge of `living within the limits of salt and nutrient disposal from the region and the murray darling basin cap on water diversions we have a greatly improved understanding of the region s biodiversity assets particularly its native vegetation many of these achievements relate to our success with implementing our regional catchment strategy rcs over the Þve years from 1996 to 2001 this document builds on the achievements of the rcs and sets the framework for natural resource management within the region for the period 2002 to 2007 it was developed by the goulburn broken catchment management authority in consultation with its partner agencies local government and the community while the short to medium-term outlook for the region is promising the purpose of the rcs is to take a longer-term view of the challenges for the region salinity nutrient and pest plant and animal management are pressing problems that require ongoing work ­ we cannot relax our intensive efforts in these areas water underpins the viability of our irrigation area that in turn is the foundation of the region s economy and community competition for water is increasing ­ and there will be pressure on how the region balances the demand for increased environmental ßows and a fully allocated water resource this will require some difÞcult decisions to maintain and improve river health and water quality we need a balance of measures including waterway management nutrient reductions Þsh passage and environmental ßows a balanced approach is imperative however there are new challenges on the horizon the strategy highlights the importance of global warming loss of soil health and the decline in biodiversity as issues that require priority attention it also looks at the opportunities presented by landscape change as the means by which we can address many of the challenges facing the region this strategy does not seek to provide the detail of programs to address these issues but rather describes the broad framework for how the issues will be addressed a key element of the framework is a `whole of catchment approach that promotes investments to generate `triple bottom line outcomes and pursue integrated solutions we have also emphasised the importance of capacity building including community engagement risk management and adaptive planning to the way we do our business we cannot claim to have the perfect solution for all of the region s challenges but we want to put in place the best possible framework for addressing them stephen mills stephen mills chair goulburn broken catchment management authority goulburn broken regional catchment strategy 3

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table of contents 1 executive summary 8 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 the goulburn broken catchment s assets 8 threats to the catchment s natural assets 8 what we achieved over the past five years 8 looking to the future 9 changing landscapes 10 what we will achieve 11 capacity building and catchment standards 13 1.8 supporting documents 13 2 why a strategy and what is it 14 2.1 2.2 2.3 policy and legislative framework 14 the scope of the strategy 15 process for developing the strategy 17 drivers for the region s natural resource management 19 implications for the future of the region 21 the vision 21 the region s goals and the `triple bottom line 22 achieving the vision ­ setting the strategic directions 22 asset-based approach to natural resource management 27 understanding ecosystem services 28 program logic 28 the monitoring and evaluation framework 30 natural assets 31 economic assets 46 social assets 49 categorising `threat 51 identifying threat risk levels 52 threat descriptions 54 sub-strategies historic emphasis and new issues 61 the multiple issues approach to decision-making 63 strategic partnerships 68 rigorous priorities 72 costs shared fairly 72 focus on the large scale 73 cultural heritage 73 clear accountabilities 74 adaptive management systems 74 3 establishing the vision 19 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 4 our approach to catchment management 27 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 5 goulburn broken assets 31 5.1 5.2 5.3 6 identifying threats to the catchment s natural assets 51 6.1 6.2 6.3 7 deciding which actions to take 61 7.1 7.2 8 capacity building values and principles 67 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 4 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy

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table of contents 9 what we will achieve goals targets and actions 76 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.5 water 78 land 81 biodiversity 86 climate change 88 bibliography 89 appendix 1 what the catchment community has achieved since 1997 90 a1.1 a1.2 a1.3 a1.4 a1.5 a1.6 goulburn broken irrigation program 90 goulburn broken dryland program 91 river health and water quality 91 climate change 92 biodiversity 92 policy developments 93 appendix 2 developing the rcs ­ who we consulted 96 appendix 3 description of some works actions 97 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy 5

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map 1 goulburn broken catchment cobram nathalia numurkah yarrawonga kyabram shepparton tatura benalla rushworth euroa nagambie seymour mansfield alexandra jamieson kilmore marysville matlock goulburn broken catchment produced by the gis group department of primary industries tatura centre ph 03 5833 5222 september 2003 jw00121 disclaimer this map is based on publicly available data the creators do not warrant that this map is definitive nor free of error and do not accept liability for loss arising from use of this product beyond its intended purpose contains dpi/dse cgdl information c state of victoria 2002 gbcma boundary roads rivers 20 10 0 20 40 kilometers 6 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy

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acronyms acronym aav affa anzmcffa anzecc ari bis camba cma cogs dse dpi ea ec ems epa epbc eov evc ffg gb g-mw gmln gmos gvp iucn jamba janis explanation aboriginal affairs victoria department of agriculture fisheries and forestry australia australia and new zealand ministerial council on forestry fisheries and aquaculture australia and new zealand environment and conservation council average recurrence interval goulburn broken biodiversity integration strategy china ­ australia migratory bird agreement catchment management authority city of greater shepparton department of sustainability and environment department of primary industries environment australia electrical conductivity units ­ a measure of salt concentration environment management systems environment protection authority environment protection and biodiversity conservation act 2000 end of valley ecological vegetation class flora and fauna guarantee act 1988 goulburn broken goulburn-murray water goulburn murray landcare network genetically modiÞed organisms gross value of production international union for the conservation of nature japan ­ australia migratory bird agreement national criteria for a comprehensive adequate and representative reserve system for australia s forests agreed in 1996 by the joint anzecc/mcffa national forest policy implementation agreement sub committee koorie economic employment and training agency local area planing murray darling basin megalitre national action plan for salinity and water quality department of natural resources and environment natural heritage trust native vegetation management strategy regional catchment strategy signiÞcantly enhanced aquatic refugia state environment protection policy shepparton irrigation region special protection zone triple bottom line a method for making explicit the trade-offs between social economic and environmental outcomes to be achieved by the strategy threatened species network united dairyfarmers of victoria victorian catchment management council victorian farmers federation victorian river health strategy water quality strategy keeta lap mdb ml nap nre nht nvms rcs sear sepp sir spz tbl tsn udv vcmc vff vrhs wqs goulburn broken regional catchment strategy 7

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section 1 executive summary 1.1 the goulburn broken catchment s assets the goulburn broken catchment is home to 189,500 people and is regarded by many as the `food bowl of the murray darling basin the region s agriculture output ­ estimated to be worth $1.35 billion a year ­ supports a regional economy that has an annual economic output of $7.8 billion and employs about 77,000 people this strong performance is due to the region s abundant natural resource assets and the ecosystem services these assets generate the way we manage our water land and biota assets is critical to the future sustainability of the region and its community 1.2 threats to the catchment s assets salinity water quality decline ßooding pest plants and animals soil degradation and degradation of biodiversity and ecosystem processes are the major threats to the region s natural resource economic and social assets many of these threats have been known for a number of years and the region has in place a sophisticated range of programs to address them new research has however revealed that issues such as dryland salinity and soil degradation particularly soil acidiÞcation are much greater problems than Þrst thought in addition the competition for the region s water is increasing ­ and there will be pressure to balance the demand for increased environmental ßows and a fully allocated water resource this will require some difÞcult decisions to maintain and improve river health and water quality we will need a balance of measures including waterway management nutrient reductions Þsh passages and environmental ßows 1.3 what we achieved over the past five years the catchment s natural resource management programs are world s best practice we have won national and international acclaim for the efforts of our community and agencies in dealing with issues such as salinity water quality and biodiversity a signiÞcant feature of our approach over the past Þve years has been stronger integration of land water and biodiversity management our review of achievements revealed that good progress is being made with all of the region s programs either through meeting targets or through better understanding the issues and challenges we have also developed a greater understanding of the value of our natural assets in terms of the ecosystem services they contribute to the region s productive capacity because of the complex series of interactions that make up the region s environment degradation of any of the natural assets will have an impact on other assets we need · further options for managing salt disposal in the irrigation area drainage diversion remains an important part of managing salt exports but as drainage ßows decrease because of increased water use efÞciency the salinity concentration will increase reducing the water quality for diverters an economic profile of the goulburn broken catchment 2001 michael young and associates · better matching of water use and land use to land capacity transfer of water entitlement has presented the opportunity for achieving this the water market is driving the increased water productivity ml but further effort is needed to ensure that environmental beneÞts are maximised 8 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy

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· to take advantage of the changing land use patterns within the catchment the change is driven by factors such as water markets commodity prices and demographics a new `mosaic of land use pattern is emerging the strategy needs to consider how our natural resource investment inßuences this mosaic and how we can drive this change to increase the value of our biodiversity assets · to explore the opportunities presented by demographics and the need for land use changes within the dryland for landscape change this will enable new approaches to be developed to achieve implementation targets in the dryland area · to increase our understanding of the impact of threats and threatening processes such as salinity and intensiÞcation of agriculture on biodiversity assets and the need for stronger efforts in conserving and restoring these assets 1.4 looking to the future our regional community is growing by 2020 we expect the population to be 220,000 and the cultural mix will be diverse the world demand for food will continue to increase driving an expansion of our agriculture sector this growth in production and population will place increased pressure on the region s natural assets over the past 20 years we have seen a trend in the intensiÞcation of agriculture production we are using less land for agriculture but have managed a signiÞcant increase in agricultural production this trend is expected to continue land is moving from agricultural use to rural living uses particularly in the areas with easy access to melbourne within this context the goulburn broken catchment management authority in consultation with partner agencies local government and the community is proposing the following vision for the catchment a catchment recognised locally nationally and internationally for quality agricultural produce and where community values contribute to the benefits of abundant and well-maintained environmental assets used for tourism and recreational activities the environmental footprint of irrigation and dryland farming will be significantly reduced with farmers occupying less land and using less water whilst managing their resources more sustainably new opportunities will arise for increasing the ecosystem services provided by the land retired from agriculture and by improved environmental flows the region s economy will be robust with much of the agricultural produce processed within the region generating employment and wealth creation opportunities for a regional community actively engaging in natural resource management programs goulburn broken regional catchment strategy 9

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1.5 changing landscapes we need to supplement our existing efforts the best management practice approach alone will not deliver the outcomes we seek we have identiÞed landscape change as the new direction for the next Þve years our existing programs remain very important and will be continued and if funds are available accelerated we must look to new ways of addressing some of the more intractable issues facing the region such as dryland salinity biodiversity decline and ßoodplain management landscape change is an ongoing process in irrigation areas intensiÞcation of agriculture is doubling production every 10 years while the area of land used for irrigation is declining across the catchment we could expect to see a signiÞcant shift in land use patterns over the next 50 years and this will strongly affect the future landscape the result is likely to be a mosaic that comprises · an intensive agricultural zone with a smaller ecological footprint ­ `double the production from half the land · an increased `conservation zone where the land previously used for traditional agriculture is managed for nature conservation and ecosystem services · rural living areas where land particularly near urban centres is converted to hobby farms and smaller farms where the main household income is from activities other than agriculture and which may offer additional conservation beneÞts our landscape change initiatives will include · restoring the lower goulburn river floodplain · pursuing water savings to enhance environmental ßows and sustainable regional development · exploring market-based approaches including environmental management systems ems · pursuing multiple beneÞts from our investments by building on the successful environmental management grants approach and including other market-based mechanisms such as `auction systems `annuities and attracting private investment to enhance public investment in vegetation banks · identifying priority area projects such as the south west goulburn that is potentially a major source of salt to the goulburn river and ultimately the murray river · improved regulatory framework the management of dairy shed efßuent in the irrigation area is one area where an increased regulatory effort is required and the gb cma will work the implementation committee murray dairy the united dairyfarmers of victoria udv and the environment protection authority epa to develop an appropriate program to take us to 100 compliance · research into water management · enhancing community engagement through the use of `deliberative forums ­ an approach that brings together a cross section of the community to review the best available technical evidence about a particular issue and to promote public debate on the processes for dealing with that issue · expanding salt disposal options for the irrigation areas · exploring opportunities for the catchment to support greenhouse gas abatement programs 10 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy

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1.6 what we will achieve this strategy sets the context for the catchment s sub-strategies and action plans timescales for targets and actions reßect the timescales of different biophysical processes some threats can be addressed in the short term by direct intervention in other cases such as dryland salinity management actions will take many years to have a measurable impact on the threatening process targets are at different scales of development many have been subject to extensive consultative processes some are interim only but are included because they provide a useful reference point see body of document for details asset overall riverine assets in-stream resource condition target maintain 2003 condition of 2,400 km of streams until at least 2016 improve condition of 1,400 km of streams by 2016 ensure no decline in condition of 800 km of fragile in-stream environments by 2016 maintain or enhance 2003 condition of 100 km of aquatic environment by 2016 increase length of river accessible to Þsh by 200 km by 2016 improve condition of channel form over 200 km of stream by 2016 public frontages water quality maintain 2003 condition of 350 km of all public frontages rated as `good or `excellent until at least 2016 reduce potential phosphorus loads by 65 by 2016 by reducing phosphorus loads from · irrigation drains by 50 · dryland and diffuse sources by 20 · wastewater management facilities by 80 and · urban drainage recreation ecologically healthy rivers representative rivers heritage rivers native vegetation riverine health will be maintained and enhanced when managing for recreation purposes maintain condition of ecologically healthy rivers by 2016 improve condition of six rivers to ecologically healthy status by 2016 maintain representative river in ecologically healthy condition maintain condition of 50 of lengths of heritage rivers by 2012 maintain extent of all native vegetation types at 1999 levels in keeping with the goal of net gain listed in victoria s biodiversity strategy 1997 improve the quality of 90 of existing 2003 native vegetation by 10 by 2030 increase the cover of all endangered and applicable vulnerable evcs to at least 15 of their preeuropean vegetation cover by 2030 threatened species wetlands increase 2002 conservation status of 80 threatened ßora and 60 threatened fauna by 2030 maintain extent of all wetland types at 2003 levels where the extent area and number has declined since european settlement improve condition of 70 of wetlands by 2030 using 2003 as the benchmark for condition goulburn broken regional catchment strategy 11

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threat and impact management targets intermediate outcome threat or impact managed threat activity stock grazing induced saline water and high water tables ­ irrigation saline water and high water tables ­ dryland keep groundwater below 2m and remove saline water by consistently pumping groundwater from 216,000 ha of land per year reduce salt loads from the dryland areas by 34,000 tonnes per year reduce area of dryland that would otherwise be salinised in foothills and river valleys of highland areas 1,500 ha treat high recharge areas to protect and enhance 5,000 ha of biodiversity assets manage 30,000 ha of salinised land in the riverine plain nutrient rich turbid water and 20 urban stormwater projects suspended solids no of waste-water management facilities in-stream near-stream erosion 250 km weed invasion changed ßow pattern impact habitat loss ­ terrestrial habitat loss ­ in-stream 2,000,000 native plants planted 200 km increased Þsh passage 100 km signiÞcantly enhanced aquatic refugia established habitat loss ­ wetlands improve ßoodplain wetland linkages in 10 areas of national and state signiÞcance 2016 2016 2016 2016 460 km 20 ßow-stressed high value rivers 5 rivers 2020 5,200 km 2012 target time frame 2050 2050 2050 2050 2016 2016 2012 2016 2012 2012 12 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy

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1.7 capacity building catchment management presents a series of complex and inter-related challenges our overall goals are often in conßict for example economic development can have environmental costs some of the on-ground works can support multiple goals for example revegetation assists with achieving biodiversity salinity and water quality objectives an integrated catchment management strategy is required this approach allows for these complex relationships to be made explicit and the trade-offs to be identiÞed and considered so that our efforts work towards maximising the `triple bottom line for the catchment that is the balancing of social economic and environmental outcomes a good example of a process aiming to identify the potential trade off decisions and to make them more explicit are the biodiversity risk mitigation protocols the way we do business in natural resource management is as important as the works we are trying to achieve integrated catchment management recognises that actions to address one resource management issue may interact both positively and negatively with actions designed to address another resource management issue the processes that we put in place must enable trade-offs to be identiÞed and addressed the cma s values and best practice outline how this will occur they emphasise the central role of the community and the need to ensure its members are appropriately engaged the standards also cover important actions such as monitoring evaluation and research and development 1.8 supporting documents this strategy sets out the `blueprint for achieving the vision the strategy is supported by a range of substrategies investment plans and reports it is in these documents that the details of our programs can be found see below these documents are located on the gb cma s website www.gbcma.vic.gov.au table 1.1 supporting sub-strategies and plans regional catchment strategy 2003 riverine health strategy · water quality · floodplain · waterways · riparian and in-stream native ßora and fauna · flows · recreation · wetlands salinity · dryland · irrigation biodiversity · biodiversity integration strategy · native vegetation strategy · threatened species and non-threatened ßora and fauna · non-vascular plants · invertebrates pest plants and animals · rabbits · weeds others · climate change · soil health goulburn broken regional catchment strategy 13

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section 2 why a strategy and what is it 2.1 policy and legislative framework the victorian government established the goulburn broken catchment management authority in 1997 it is a statutory authority responsible for the coordination of natural resource management programs within the region under the catchment and land protection act 1994 the gb cma is required to update the regional catchment strategy rcs every Þve years that establishes the planning framework for land water and biodiversity management in the region the rcs must support the objectives of other related state government legislation in particular the environment protection act 1970 the planning and environment act 1987 the conservation forests and lands act 1987 the flora and fauna guarantee act 1988 the water act 1989 the waters of victoria state environment protection policy sepp in preparation and other groundwater and regional surface water sepps strategic guidance for the rcs also comes from various government policies and strategies the main ones include victoria s salinity management framework biodiversity strategy and the native vegetation and pest management frameworks development plans policies and instruments e.g relating to industry forestry landcare regional development non-government organisations and municipal strategic statements the strategy must also address the obligations of the catchment under commonwealth legislation in particular the rcs must support the environment protection and biodiversity conservation act 1999 commonwealth policies such as the national strategy for ecologically sustainable development and the national action plan for salinity and water quality because of the importance of the catchment to the murray darling basin mdb the catchment must pay particular attention to the policies of the murray darling basin ministerial council as required by the murray darling basin agreement act 1992 the policies include the mdb salinity and drainage strategy the mdb integrated catchment management policy the mdb cap on future diversion of water within the basin it is not possible for the strategy to describe in detail how the region intends to meet this range of obligations rather it is an overarching document that takes a longer-term view of the challenges and opportunities facing the region priority issues and programs have been identiÞed for the period 2002 to 2007 these priorities are described in this document but the detail of the programs to address these issues is found in the accompanying sub-strategy documents the rcs however must have sufÞcient detail to enable the commonwealth and state governments to guide their investment under the national action plan nap for salinity and water quality and the natural heritage trust nht 14 goulburn broken regional catchment strategy

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2.2 the scope of the strategy the goulburn broken rcs sets the framework for natural resource management within the catchment it cannot contain all the detail of the threats and programs relating to the region s natural resource management this very detailed information is found in the supporting sub-strategies action plans and technical papers the region s sub-strategies are standalone documents about either the threatening process such as salinity and pest plants or the asset that we want to protect such as rivers and biodiversity rcs sets vision and directions identiÞes issues assets and management options sub strategies objectives targets for asset protection and enhancement regional catchment investment plan annual and Þve year works program figure 2.1 the rcs planning framework sub-strategies attempt to isolate issues to help us to understand and communicate them the strong linkages between issues in natural resource management make the task of isolating issues very challenging the sub-strategies set out a long-term program of works and describe the options and trade-offs for addressing particular issues the sub-strategies produced in the goulburn broken catchment reßect the evolution of natural resource management in many cases these documents were pilots for victoria and australia and are well advanced in implementation they include · shepparton region land and water management plan 1990 · goulburn broken dryland salinity management plan 1990 · goulburn broken water quality strategy 1996 · goulburn broken native vegetation management strategy 2000 · goulburn broken weeds action plan 2000 and · goulburn broken rabbit action plan 2000 these documents continuously evolve in response to changing knowledge several documents commissioned during 2001/02 update previous approaches while several others focus on new and emerging issues for example the shepparton irrigation region sir catchment strategy 2002 considers all natural resource management issues the documents generally combine some or all of the elements of asset protection resource-use and asset threat goulburn broken regional catchment strategy 15

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